Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-08-18

IIldl dS HldIkS VI JIl6 CdSI6
of the time.
But solid value appears in
other artists heavily repre-
sented. Childe Hassam is no
surprise in this line Of work,
but a couple of his outdoor
scenes are real beauties. An
other American impresSioniSt
well represented Is John
Twachtman. His country
scenes, especially "Hemlock
Pool" convey as strongly as
ever the poetic sense of the
woodland to which we still
respond on the rare occasions
when we find some wood
land.
An extremely popular ar
fist of the period since fallen
much too much into disre-
gard was Abbott Thayer,
known for his mildly stuffy
moraliZing pictures of
motherhood and similar sub
jects. The collection has a
slew Of Thayers and it's quite
true, he did get stuffy in the
big ones. But he was also
an extremely accomplished
painter and this survives in
portraits and still life groups
that need no apology on any
score. A studio seated nude
shows an admirable grasp of
anatomy and Cornish Head
lands" reveals a side of
Thayer probably little known
at the time and all but for
gotten today. He had real
feeling for the lie of the land.
Important Dewing Works
There are fine individual
items by Chase, Sargent and
the sculptor Daniel Chester
French. But probably the
most important single reve-
lation that the collection as
now hung contains for the
contemporary visitor is the
excellence Of Thomas Dew
ing.
Dewing has one Of the
truly invisible paintings in
what has been called in
visible collection. This is a
tondo called Dawn" 1t is
on the ceiling of the small
pavilion through which
visitors enter the collection
and not one In a dozen looks
up to see 1t. Three female
figures are seated on clouds,
toying with stars and moon
as Aurora's rosy fingers
penetrate their cloudland.
This is the kind Of thing
that most people rather OBJ
ject to In Thayer, but Dew
ing could do 1t with none of
the portentousness that sur
wives to embarrass us in
Thayer. The figures are deli
cate and graceful, not work.
horses of the studio. Anat-
omy is accurate but not in
sisted upon. The whole con-
ception is charming.
Similarly Dewing rescues the
feeling of his time for young
girls embodying nature and
sentiment. Hermit Thrush"
does not show the bird but
only two girls listening for
It: in the hands OF almost
any of his contemporaries,
the theme would be banal
and repulsive. Dewing handles
1t with greet care and
creates a dusk-green vision
of listening figures.
THE Spinet" does some
thing quite different with
the same passion OF the pc
Rod for the jeune file. Here
she is playing the instrument
of the title, This again is
common enough in the COM
monplace painting Of the
day, but Dewing was diff
ferent. We don't even see
the girls face. Focus is on
her bare shoulders and her
hair, against the murky
background Of the spinet and
the room. A very effective
composition, quietly but
richly painted.
To Expand Activities
The National Collection
will also expand It's activi-
ties in its new quarters. High
on the list Of things to do
will be attention TO contem-
porary American art. an area
almost totally ignored so far.
A planned series OF one-man
retrospectives will survey the
! work OF the veterans OF con-