Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-06-09

is utterly fascinating to see
it in action.
WashingtOn's Own
Washington's proudest
boast-or at least, lou6sst
boast-of an art of its own
falls into the category but
oddly enough the Washing
ton School" of color vibrators
is very thinly represented,
due, apparently, to upstag-
ing all around and to the
sense Of injured merit. The
day before the show opened,
according to Gallery person.
mel, Washington vibrator
Tom Downing withdrew his
large painting Of circles ar
ranged in circles because he
was displeased with the place
1t was hung.
This has left the school
represented only by Gene
Davis. the stripe man, who
has scored another break
through with a six-part
painting. Each part is 8
feet wide by 8 inches high
and is hung about 8 inches
above the next one. In
their present arrangement,
top to bottom, the horizontal
parts go red, yellow, unpaint-
ed. yellow-and-orange verti-
cal stripes, light blue and
medium blue. Presumably,
the order may be changed by
the artist or by the purchaser
if one is found. Sharp OBJ
servers will note that the
short vertical stripes adorn-
ing the long horizontal stripe
that Is fourth from the top
constitute q breakthrough
within a breakthrough, which
itself is a breakthrough in the
bre through business.
Breakthroughs aside, Stripes
No. 2" maintains untarnished
Mr.. Davis established record
for making bright colors into
dull paintings.
Fast COIOrs
One of the great values of
the show, by the way, is for
Washington viewers who, on
the basis of the Washington
Schools endless break
throughs with circles and
squares and stripes and chew
rons. have been inclined to
dismiss the whole manner as
adolescent infatuation with
the look of ones own colors
There is a good deal of ju-
venile posturing in the Wash
ington branch, but the man.
ner itself is practiced in New
York, in the Midwest, in Can.
ada and in Europe with dis.
tinction. grace and occasion
ally wit.
To wit: Movement Natu-
REL" by Jacob Again, consists
of several dozen small white
disks attached to small black
springs attached to a flat
black board. The undersides
of the disks are painted in
various colors and when the
springs are sprung-by wind
or hand-the still compost
ton Of black and white be-
comes a lively simmer with
fleeing touches Of color.
More classic and quite in
its use of hidden color is RE
Election No. 40" by Luis Tom
asello. Three dozen white
blocks are mounted in rows
on a white ground and your
first impression is Of cubisp
gone literal. But the blocks
are mounted on their corners
and the sides you do not see
are painted in plain. bright
colors. The white ground, in
medium gloss, reflects the
color within the white and
the effect, as with many
works in the show. is imme-
diately engaging: a whole
company Of ghost colors dim
ly revealed in the white.
Pro Old Pros
The show, naturally, has a
full representation Of the
old pros who have been prac-
ticing the manner for years
and have attained complete
refinement, artists as individ-
ually different as Burgoyne
Diller. Josef Albers, Fritz
Glarner. Ad Reinhardt and
Alexander Liberman. They
share not only the general
manner Of Journalism" but
Just about total personal
command Of their means.
). Extending the m ann Ell
somewhat is the large-scale
exuberance Of Elbswort h