Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1962-12-09
BY FRANK GETLEIN
Art Critic OF The Star

Art Critic Of The Star
One Of many beguiling no.
tons afloat in the art world
is the one left over from the
gay '90s that the artist be-
trays his vocation when he
takes a working interest in
anything beyond form and
color, the qualities Of paint
and the problems Of compo-
sition.
Although formulated most
strongly in the '90s, the no.
ton goes back at least to the
18th century's idealization
of the Noble Savage, the pure
spirit interrupted by civili-
zation who should lead us, as
the scriptural little child, to
a higher plane of existence.
AS developed through the
centuries and as still held by
many art admirers of good
will and small brain, the no.
ton beguileS because 1t
brings together two mutually
excl usive characteristics:
One, that we can gain great
understanding Of our times
and troubles from the work
Of the contemporary artist;
and two, that the artist him.
self should vigorously resist
any awareness of our times
and their troubles.
Double Angle
It will be readily seen that
this double position reduces
the artist to a kind of me-
dunn, passing along, from the
spirit world, messages he does
not himself understand. This
double position miraculously
combines the vanities Of
Charles Dickens and Oscar
Wilde. Dickens flattered him
self that his novels produced
measurable steps in social
reform, but he would never
have dreamed of claiming
that they did so because of
his deliberate ignorance of
conditions in need of reform.
Wilde, on the other hand,
boosted that the perfection
Of his work lay precisely in
its total unrelation to life.
At the Phillips Collection
right now may be seen about
two dozen paintings capable
of restoring a little reason
to the continuing discussion
of the artist and society.
These are the small pictures
of. a monumental series
painted about 81 years ago
by. Jacob Lawrence, probably
the foremost American Negro
artist we have had so far.
Racial History
Lawrence has not been IAN
artist who happens to be a
Negro" to vary a popular
formula. Being a Negro, a
member Of that incredibly
maltreated race, has provided
the whole force of his work.
He has dedicated his art to
telling one part after another
Of the story Of the Negro in
America, a story, largely, of
white cruelty, insensitivity.
greed, lust and exploitation.
The history Of the Negro in
America has been mainly
shaped by whites: Those who
based an entire economy on
slavery and their descend
ants who have fought
viciously every effort for JUS
tice In a range that embraces
political representation in a
democracy and the use of
public transportation and
public parks. The fearful
weight Of these generations
Of exploiters is felt through
out the work Of Jacob Law
renee.
At the Phillips, the two
dozen pictures are from the
series Lawrence painted
called THE Migration Of the
Negro" The subject is the
great movement into the
Northern cities that began
during World War I and still
continues. The pictures were
commissioned by Fortune
magazine to illustrate an ar
ticle on the migration. Al
though the magazine used
only 26, Lawrence painted go.
Two men wanted the series
badly. Duncan Phillips and
Alfred Barr, jr.. of the Mu-
scum Of Modern Art, New
York. Instead Of Tipping a
coin, they agreed to split the
pictures. The Phillips Collec-
ton has the odd-numbered
ones; the Modern the even
numbered.
In Complete Control
Those now on view at the
Phillips argue nightly for an
eventual reuniting OF the
whole series somewhere.
somehow. sometime. In the
meantime. however. the works
available do succeed in pre-
senting a unified and con-
vincing view Of the social
event described by the title.
ART or
SOLOMON ISLANDS
loFoe, Primitive, colorfvl
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