Evening star. [volume], December 12, 1936, Page B-3, Image 19

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
SCULPTURE TAKES STAGE IN APPEAL TO LOVERS OF ART
"Dancer and Gazelles,” by Paul Manship, a comprehensive
exhibition of whose work will be held at the Corcoran Gallery
of Art.
- ____A
By Leila Mechlin.
Paul Manship to Exhibit in
The Corcoran Gallery of Art.
OMORROW will be the last day
of the Exhibition of Paintings
and Sculpture for Federal
Buildings, sponsored by the
Treasury Department’s art projects,
in the Corcoran Gallery of Art, after
the closing of which the exhibits will
be pomptly removed and the gallery’s
permanent collection of American
paintings replaced.
The next notable exhibition on the
Corcoran Gallery’s schedule will con
sist of sculpture by Paul Manship.
This will come shortly after Christ
mas and will undoubtedly prove of ex
ceptional interest.
Paul Manship holds an enviable
place among American sculptors, and
more than almost any other has in
fluenced sculpture in America in the
present day. He was born in St. Paul,
Minn., on Christmas day, 1885; studied
first at the Art Institute in his native
city and then at the Pennsylvania
Academy of Fine Arts. These gave
him foundation and opportunity to
manifest skill, but the determining
factor in his career, and, incidentally,
that of others, was the winning of a
fellowship in sculpture at the Ameri
can Academy in Rome, which gave
him three years—from 1909 to 1912—
in Italy, with periods of travel and
contact—Intimate contact—with the
best of ancient as well as classical art
This experience, mingled with his
own creative ability, brought iorth
works which, while adhering to the
great tradition, possessed marked in
dividuality, an individuality so strong
that it has unconsciously impressed
Itself upon the vision of other work
ers in this field by whom a similar
style has been adopted. In a measure
this was good, but no reflection can
possess the strength of the thing re
flected, and as time passes the image
fades.
Manship, better than others, realized
from the first that nothing can be ac
complished save through technical
mastery — craftsmanship — and he
spared no pains to acquire this essen
tial to adequate expression. His bronzes
are wrought with a perfection of detail
seldom seen today—but detail sub
ordinated to unity of effect, transcrip
tion of original conception as a whole.
Sculpture has to do with form, but
gains its magic, in large part, through
the sensitiveness of touch of the art
ist, registered in the modeling and
surface finish. This magic Manship's
work has to a great degree. Whether
Paul Manship's sculpture is classical
or modem has proved perplexing, but
the fact is, it is both. It shows great
simplification and directness in treat
ment. but it has the dignity and the
quality of universality which is as
sociated with the great art of the
past.
An exhibition of Manship's sculpture
was held last year, by invitation, at
the Tate Gallery, in London < an honor
never before bestowed upon an Amer
ican artist), and highly praised by
British critics and connoisseurs. Since
November 15, and continuing until
day after tomorrow, a collection of no
less than 75 of his works has been,
and will be, shown in the Virginia
Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond. From
there it will come here. This collec
tion comprises portrait busts, medal
lion portraits and bronze groups, ani
mals Bnd figures, showing great va
riety in theme and conception, besides
medals, designed and modeled for
numerous organizations and purposes.
The Corcoran Gallery of Art, it will
be remembered, owns his “Dancer and
Gazelles,” which was also acquired by
the French Government and is in the
Luxembourg Museum. Under commis
sion from the Treasury Department,
Mr. Manship has lately modeled a
statue of Samuel Osgood for place
ment in the new Post Office Depart
ment Building, in this city. He is a
National Academician, a member of
the American Academy of Arts and
letters, National Sculpture Society
and other professional bodies, and
France has made him a member of
the Legion of Honor. His exhibition
here may be anticipated with great
Interest.
Outdoor Sculpture Museum
Established in South Carolina.
JN THIS connection, mention may
well be made of the unique outdoor
sculpture museum which Mr. and Mrs.
Archer M. Huntington have created
on a plantation—Brookgreen—on the
Waccamaw River near Georgetown,
8. C., and have presented recently, with
an endowment of $1,200,000 for main
tenance and further enrichment, to
the State within whose boundaries it
chances to lie. Here during the past
five or six years have been installed,
most perfectly, no less than 130 works
in sculpture by American artists. It
Is described quite correctly as “a sculp
tor’s paradise,’’ but it has been made
such to all art and beauty loving
visitors, to whom it is freely open.
And this is the kind of thing we have
sadly lacked in America, where our
Ideas of sculpture have chiefly run
to soldiers’ memorials and portrait
statues, rather than playful and purely
esthetic works.
Brookgreen is a historic plantation,
several thousand acres in extent, cho
sen by Mr. and Mrs. Huntington as'
a Winter residence and so brought
back to life. An avenue of live oaks
leads to the house, there are box
bordered paths and enchanting vistas.
Mere in the moot lovely environment of
Southern foliage and flowers, sunshine
and shade, with terraces, pools, walls
and fountains, appropriate works In
sculpture have ideal setting. On the
gate posts are bird forms by Paul
Manship, and within the gardens no
leas than 11 of his other works are
to be seen. In a roofless structure of
brick, assuring seclusion, small, Inti
mate works are shown. For once
sculpture is to be seen in proper rela
tionship with landscape and growing
things.
This outdoor sculpture musem, to
which one must make a pilgrimage to
see—as it lies off the much traveled
roads—was. as has been said, the
logical outgrowth of the interest of
its originators and donors, in art
generally and in sculpture in par
ticular—for Mrs. Huntington (Anna
Hyatt) has attained great distinction
as a sculptor, and Mr. Huntington is
widely known as art patron, poet and
traveler. Through Mr. Huntington's
munificence the Hispanic Museum in'
New York came into existence and is
maintained. Mrs. Huntington’s eques
trians of "Jeanne d’Arc” and "El
Cia” are known the world over as
given placement in this country,
France and Spain.
The creation of an outdoor sculp
ture museum in so congenial a setting
must to them have been irresistible.
But they might have kept it for them
selves alone, instead of sharing it all
so generously—and they have not.
Also, of the 130 works set forth at
Brookgreen, a comparatively small
number are by the part-donor. A com
plete list of sculptors represented
names 109 or 110, among whom are
not only those who have attained dis
tincticn, but those whose reputations
are still in the making and without
regard to schools or trends. This is
a great work, and its gift and endow
ment an epoch-marking event in the
annals of art in America.
Retrospective Exhibition of
Sculpture by Anna Huntington.
TT HAS become the custom of the
American Academy of Arts and
Letters in New York to accord each
year to one of its artist members the
privilege of a retrospective exhibition,
opening in November at the time of
the annual meeting and continuing for
six months. Last year the artist so
honored was Cecilia Beaux, the dis
tinguished portrait painter. This year
the honor has gone to Anna Hyatt
Huntington, sculptor, and the showing
she makes is amazing, not only in
number of exhibits, but in quality.
One hundred and seventy works are
set forth in the academy gallery, at
156th street and Broadway. Her
"Jeanne d’Arc,” which is on Riverside
drive, New York; in Blolc, France,
and elsewhere, and her “El Cid,”
works, in the court of the. academy
group, New York; in San Diego, Calif,
and Seville, Spain, are shown in re
ductions, but the four heroic figures
at the base of "El Cid,” full size, oc
cupy four corners of the spacious gal
lery in which her well-known "Diana"
holds central place. For the most
part, the other works are on a small
scale and of animal themes or of bird
life. There is great variety. The later
works are more animated than the
early ones, as if the sculptor, having
served her apprenticeship, were now
able to give free rein to her imagina
tive tendencies. But throughout the
work evidences deep searching for
truth and sincerity.
None other today has perhaps made
so extended and faithful a study of ani
mal life. Her tigers and other animals
of the cat family show a complete
understanding of physical characteris
tics, the play of muscles under the
loose skin, the grace of lithe move
ment, the alertness of eye. Especially
well does she also portray horses
and colts—from those which worthily
bear "El Cid” and the "Maid of Or
leans” to the freakish new-born, try
ing his wobbly legs. It has been truly
said that in her “lovingly observed
forms of animals the true flavor of
her skillful plastic expression is real
ized.”
Some of these works are full size,
while others are small enough to be
held in the hand. When monumental
impressiveness is desired, Mrs. Hunt
ington knows how to give it, but her
works “in little” are never trivial. To
the contrary, they, in exceptional meas
ure, possess what among art lovers is
described as "precious” quality.
During Mrs. Huntington’s recent so
journ In the South wild birds and sea
fowl have engaged her attention, and
several of her works in this exhibition
are of groups of such—among them
the white heron. These have experi
mentally been cast in aluminum.
She shows two portraits very sym
pathetically rendered—one of her
mother, Mrs. Alpheus Hyatt, when an
octogenarian; the other of the late
Henry Davison. It is unusual for one
to be so equally happy in so many
forms of expression. To those to
whom sculpture has particular signifi
cance and charm—and more especially
to those who are Interested In animals
in sculpture—this exhibition provides
a source of unusual pleasure, well re
paying the trip to New York. It will
remain on view until the 1st of next
May.
Corcoran Gallery Acquires
Whistler Etchings.
gy THE will of the late Julius Gar
flnckel the Corcoran Gallery of
Art has come into the possession of a
collection of etchings—25 in number—
by James McNeil Whistler, among
which are some exceptionally fine and
rare impressions. Mr. Garflnckel
gathered these as opportunity offered
during a considerable number of years
and the choice made gives indication
of special discrimination in taste as
well as Judgment. These etchings
were loaned by Mr. Garflnckel to the
Corcoran Gallery and exhibited in Oc
tober, 1934, creating much interest and
calling forth expressions at apprecia
tion. At the conclusion of the exhibi
tion Mr. Garflnckel wrote the director
of the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Mr.
Minnigerode, that the happy circum
stances of the display would give the
prints additional glamour henceforth
for him—a most gracious attitude for a
collector-lender. These prints will
"Shadows;’ an etching by Kerr Eby, in a series on “War," issued by the American College Society of Print Collectors.
MASTER QUALITY IN LOCAL EXHIBIT
London and Richmond Share With Washington in Appreciation of Noted Artist Repre
sented Here—Remarkable Outdoor Museum Established on Carolina
Plantation—Whistler Etchings as Gift.
make valuable addition to the Cor
coran Gallery of Art's growing print
collection, but it will be some months,
pending settlement of the estate, before
possession is actually obtained.
Dramatic Warr Etching
By Kerr Eby.
TT IS at this season that the print
societies issue their print-of-the
year to members—a custom which has
become quite universal. Within the
past fortnight prints have been re
ceived by local collectors from the
American College Society of Print Col
lectors, the Society of American Etch
ers and the California Print Makers.
The first of these is especially not
able—a large and very impressive plate
by Kerr Eby entitled “Shadows," pic
turing a column of tired soldiers pass
ing at night by a stuccoed, one-storied
building, partially destroyed, while a
mounted officer reviews them, slump
ing on the saddle of his wearied-to
death horse. It is a dramatic theme,
magnificently portrayed with great re
serve and reticence on the part of the
etcher. Eby has never achieved a
more brilliant success, but it was not
success that his mind was on when the
plate was etched. It was war—a sub
ject which has literally obsessed him
during recent years because of his first
hand experience in Europe in 1917-18.
When asked to write something
about the print or how he did it, he re
plied: “It is a difficult thing to write
about one's offspring, but there is one
thing I can say about this plate—it was
not just a job done to fill an order. It
was going to be made anyway, to be
added to the series of war things. It
had to be war, as my mind is at pres
ent running almost wholly in that
groove. The reason for this is the
strong feeling I have that now is the
time to do anything one can. It is
now or never. There is no sense of
defeatism in this, for not only in the
matter of war, but in all other things,
I believe there is to be a great renais
sance of decency. We are just about
fed up with rottenness and fear. All
of us.”
To this, with special reference to
the plate, he added:
“A very curious thing happens when
an artist is driving at a specific point.
All that self-consciousness of trying to
put a capital A on art. and all the
wondering if you are abreast of the
times, or "old hat,” goes to the winds.
Into these war things I have put all
I know, technically and otherwise. I
actually do not care a ‘tinker's dam’
whether they are art or not, so long as
they say what I want to say. This, of
course, may be the illustrative point
of view—but it is at least conducive to
an inward peace."
Commenting upon this print, John
Taylor Arms, who is perhaps one of
the most technically brilliant of our
American etchers, refers to both its
spiritual and technical qualities, and
concludes his very intelligent and ex
pert estimate as follows:
.“It is one thing to make a repre
sentation by means of the rules of
graphic delineation, an etching needle,
and a skillful hand—it is a very dif
ferent thing to create a work of art.
In ‘Shadows’ Kerr Eby has done both,
but the latter is by far the greater ac
complishment."
Twenty-eight prints and drawings—
“starkly beautiful, unforgettable”—by
Eby, with accompanying text by the
artist—a “powerful contribution to the
movement against war”—have been
lately published in book form, under
the title "War," by the Yale University
Press, and a collection of Mr. Eby's
war etchings is being widely circulated.
It is an unusual thing for a creative
artist to take such great concern in
the affairs of life, and so to bend his
energies and dedicate his talent to
righting them. Art of this sort has
not only a reason for being but a place
all its own.
Prints Being Shown
At Public Library.
'T'HE “Prints for Christmas Gifts”
exhibition at the Public Library Is
a lively little show, evidencing great
variety In viewpoint of the contribut
ing artists, as well as diversity In
method. But will they sell? Are these
the kinds of prints of which one
oovets possession for oneself or one’s
friends? They may be. This Is purely
• personal matter, and determined by
personal taste, but it is often re
marked and demonstrated that the
lay public requires subjective Interest
and expects to find beauty In the
works of art It takes Into the home.
Some of the prints now on view at
the Public Library have this Interest,
but in them the quality of beauty is
not overabundant Technically they
are interesting—in some cases ex
tremely engaging—and in almost every
Instance they are individualistic—but
pictorlally very tew have real allur*
yk
“Flower Study" by Olinka Hrdy, on view in the Gallery
of Modern Masters.
which for lack of a better word may be
called "charm.’* without which few
works of art have been known to win
their way in a cold, unresponsive world.
Perhaps of all the really clever works
set forth those which most nearly ful
fill this requirement are the litho
graphs of A. G. Arnold, mostly snowy
landscapes, very well composed and
sensitively rendered, pleasing and pic
turesque. Have we, Indeed, as the
French critic, Camille Mauclair, avers,
developed a "hatred of nature and
beauty” and a "passion for ugliness for
its own sake"? It would at times seem
so. Art is in the doing, and may be
manifested in the rendition of any
subject whatsoever, but none can
doubt that in the choice of theme is
reflected the taste and mind of the
artist. If he renders an ugly theme
I voluntarily it must register personal
preference. The graphic arts afford
great opportunity for artistic expres
: sion, and print collecting is a hobby
which, if not ridden too recklessly,
even the owner of a slender purse can
indulge. But the urge to acquire must
be kindled by the print Itself, and be
so insistent that it cannot be downed.
There are such prints for the Christ
mas shopper as well as all-the-year
round collector, and if the exhibition
at the Public Library may not contain
them in majority it does at least point
the way to discovery and location.
Water Colors by a
Belgian Artist on View.
AN INTERESTING and unusual
collection of water colors is on
view in the art gallery of Howard
Bulletin of Exhibitions
CORCORAN GALLERY OP ART—Permanent collection—American
paintings and sculpture. Barye bronzes. Clark collection—Euro
pean paintings, ruga, tapestries, lace, etc. Drawings by Sargent.
NATIONAL GALLERY OP ART, UNITED STATES NATIONAL
MUSEUM—Permanent collections, Evans, Gellatly, Ralph Cross John
son, Harriet Lane Johnson and Herbert Ward African sculptures.
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, DIVISION OP GRAPHIC ARTS—
Exhibition of etchings by Morris Henry Hobbs of Chicago, opened
November 30.
FREER GALLERY OP ART—Permanent collections Whistler paintings,
etchings, drawings and the Peacock Room, Oriental paintings, bronzes,
pottery, miniatures, etc.
ART GALLERY, HOWARD UNIVERSITY—Exhibition of water colors
by Camille Van Driessche.
PHILLIPS MEMORIAL GALLERY—Second Annual Regional Sales Ex
hibition of works by artists of Washington, Maryland and Virginia.
STUDIO HOUSE—Exhibition of easel paintings by artists who have
been commissioned to paint murals for Federal buildings in Wash
ington. _
■nexTiuc MUSEUM OP THE DISTRICT OP COLUMBIA—Per
manent collection rugs, tapestries and other textiles of the Near and
Par East. Open Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 3 to 6 p.m.
Admission by card obtainable at office of George Hewitt Mirers, 730
Fifteenth street.
THE ARTS CLUB OF WASHINGTON—Exhibition of oil paintings by
Margaret 8. Zimmele and water colors by Gertrude A. Kay.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, DIVISION OF FINE ARTS—Exhibition of
recent accessions; Pennell lithographs; drawings by American illus
trators. Exhibition of original illustrations by Walter Appleton Clark
—recent Pictorial photographs of the Statue of Liberty
by Jeanette Griffith.
PUBLIC LIBRARY, MAIN BUILDING—Exhibition of prints for Christ
mas gifts—by local artiste.
MOUNT PUSASANT BRANCH—Exhibition water colon by Susan B.
Chase and Frances Wheeler.
GEORGETOWN BRANCH—Paintings by members of the Lanrtscspe
Club. _
INTIMATE BOOKSHOP LITTLE GALLERY—Paintings by Bernice
Gross.
LITTLE GALLERY, 3040 8 street—Water colon and prints by local
artists at moderate prices.
MARGARET WITHERS SHOP—The Twenty Women Painters exhibi
tion of small framed paintings.
GALLERY OF MODERN MASTERS—Paintings and Assigns by Oilnska
Hrdy.
PAN-AMERICAN UNION—Exhibition of photographs of Mexico by D
L. Laldlg and G. K Fischer.
University. They are by Camille Van
Driessche, a Belgian by birth, who
was brought to this country when a
child and first studied in Chicago,
where for many years he made his
home. But his art education was
continued in Europe. He was a pupil
of the Royal Academy in Ghent and
studied under masters in Brussels and
in Paris. Recently, after some years
absence, he has returned to the
United States and opened a studio in
Washington.
The collection now on view in- '
eludes flowers and still-life subjects, I
Belgian street scenes and one or two !
portrait studies. They are done in
practically every instance in the
Dutch method, opaque color scrubbed j
on with the semblance of oils or!
pastels, without sparkling high lights
or resonant depth in shadow, but very
toneful and impressive. Especially
fine and successful are the flower and '
still-life paintings. In color these are
harmonious and, what is more, have
atmosphere—unity of effect. A gray I
tone predominates, but through this a ;
variety of colors shines with a jewel- I
like richness. After all, no method '
skillfully and knowingly used can be
outdated.
Colorful Water Colors to Be Seen
At Mt. Pleasant Branch Library.
IN THE Mount Pleasant Branch
Library, water colors by Susan B.
Chase and Prances Wheeler are now
on view. Numerically, honors are
evenly divided, each artist contribut
ing her full share. Mrs. Chase, who
is the secretary of the Washington
Water Color Club, uses transparent
color on white paper and paints
freshly and broadly, interpreting
places and things seen with truth and
sincerity; Mrs. Wheeler, on the other
hand, mixes her colors with Chinese
white which gives them the quality
of oils, paints more heavily, and to a
greater extent reduces her composi
tions to patterns. In this way the
works of these two artists offset one
another. The cumulative effect,
however, is harmonious and very col
orful.
Forthcoming
Exhibitions
rPHE Washington Water Color Club
will hold its Forty-first Annual
Exhibition in the Corcoran Gallery
of Art from December 27 to January
30. Paintings to be shown in this
exhibition must be delivered at the
Corcoran Gallery of Art, New York
avenue entrance, unpacked, on De
cern 18. Entry blanks and further in
formation may be had by applying to
Mrs. Susan B. Chase, secretary, at
2017 I street northwest.
The Society of Washington Artists’
Forty-sixth Annual Exhibition will
follow immediately on that of the
Water Color Club, opening in the
Corcoran Gallery of Art January 31,
and continuing through February 22.
Entry cards, obtainable from Miss
Lucia Hollerith, secretary, 808 Seven
teenth street, must be in by January
18, 1937. This society, at* its most
recent meeting, elected to membership
three painters and one sculptor now
residing in Washington. These are
Paula MacWhite, wife of the Min
ister of the Irish Free State. Duane
Crawford, Nelson Williams and Margot
Broxton, all of whom have exhibited
with the society and other profession
al bodies.
Eben Comins Shows Mexican
Types at Wellesley.
UBEN F. COMINS, after being ab
sent in Mexico all Summer and
in New England for some time this
Fall, has reopened his studio in this
city for the season. Mr. Comins went
to Boston lately, to deliver, in person,
a portrait of Mr. Edward Holmes,
president of the Museum of Fine Arts,
of that city, for which he had been
commissioned. While there, he gave
a talk to the art students of Wellesley
College, where his exhibition of
“Types” from Mexico was on view.
Washington Artists
Memorialized.
AT THE Cardoso High School is
now being held a memorial ex
hibition of works by deceased Wash
ington artists, assembled by the senior
class of the Department of Commercial
Art. Those so honored are Max Weyl,
the centenary of whose birth will be
celebrated next year; Lucien Powell,
fi. Jerome Uhl, Walter Paris, Paul
Pascal and Bladen T. Snyder. There
are 42 works Included In the showing,
the majority of which are by Wehl,
Powell and Snyder. Those whose
memories go back half a century re
call these painters as active in the
upbuilding of art Interest In Wash
ington, and will renew acquaintance
with their works with pleasure. As
added tribute, a catalogue giving blo
A
"Young Elk Running,” sculpture by Ann Hyatt Huntington,
on exhibition at the American Academy of Arts and Letters,
New York.
•
ARCHIVES SETTING
(Continued From Page B-l.)_
resenting “The Future” is the figure
at the left.
In the frieze that adorns the upper
portion of the main block of the build
ing are 13 medallions, each 8 feet in
diameter, which represent, respective
ly, the Senate, the House and 10 major
departments of the Government and
the Nation. Seven of these medal
lions were executed by Robert Altken
and the six others are the work of
James Earle Fraser, famous New
York sculptor, whose beautiful cre
ations adorn many sections of Wash
ington.
Likewise, the pediment on the Con
stitution avenue side and the figures
on either side of the entrance steps
are Mr. Fraser’s work. The central
figure of this pediment represents
“The Recorder of the Archives,” and
it is seated on an architectural throne
which rests on recumbent rams, sym
bols of parchment. A decorative frieze
that runs above the rams is formed
of the flowers of the papyrus plant,
symbol of paper, the two mediums that
make possible the housing of docu
ments. Attendant figures receive,
gather or contribute records, and
groups of dogs at either end are the
symbols of guardianship.
The figures on the granite pedestals
represent heritage and guardianship.
A RAMP running from Seventh
street to the basement of the
building is used for the transfer of
documents from their present de
positories, and trucks deliver their
cargoes safely to a large receiving
room where they are checked, and
those in need of cleaning, fumigation
and repair removed to the Division
of Repair and Preservation.
Here, by a method of compressed
air, which operates in reverse fash
ion to a vacuum, dust or dirt is blown
from the pages of books or documents
and papers. These cleaned books,
piled on hand trucks, are then wheeled
into a large fumigating tank, where
they are kept for about two hours and
a half, and subjected to a chemical
that thoroughly fumigates and kills
all organic life without endangering
the workmen who happen to come
into contact with it.
The third step m this division is
preservation, and this is affected in a
unique manner devised originally by
the Bureau of Standards for the
preservation of news print and here
adapted to laminating all papers or
pamphlets by a process that welds
the sheet between transparent sheets
of cellulose acetate under heat and
pressure. As the acetate is thermo
plastic, it flows over the surface of
the paper, making it airtight. Many
advantages are gained by this method.
While the process welds the document
between the acetate sheets, the result
is one single sheet, with no measure
able thickness, transparent and pro
tected from possible alteration, ex
terior conditions and handling.
Under the old method, using crepe
line or Japanese tissue instead of the
modem acetate, it took an entire day
of a good operator's time to treat 20
letter-size sheets. By means of the
modern hydraulic press used in the
archives a minimum of 120 sheets an
hour are permanently preserved under
the improved method.
The new method not only costs
less but there is as much as a 50 per
cent decrease in space required to
house the documents after they have
come from the press.
DOCUMENTS which bear a date
later than 1840 cannot be per
mitted to come in contact with water,
because of their composition, and
when such papers arrive folded they
must be spread on trays and treated
under humidity to erase the creases.
They are then stacked under blotters
and put under a hydraulic press to
dry. There is a small laboratory in
connection with this division, where
new or improved methods for treating
and preserving old papers can be
experimented upon and worked out.
Prom this division, elevators carry
the documents to what is at present
known as the "Division of the De
partments,” but which will eventually
be divided into separate divisions for
each department of the government,
as "Division of Commerce,” “Division
of Treasury," etc. Here papers are
transferred from their original con
tainers to Archives containers and
identification inventories are made
of all deposits. With the assistance
of lists that come to the Archives
buildings from the various depart
ments with the deposits, the material
is placed in the stacks, later to be
catalogued, indexed and filed by the
Cataloguing Division. So far as pos
sible, the classifications given the
material in the department where it
originated, is retained. But an orig
inal system, similar to that now em
ployed at the Library of Congress,
will eventually be worked out by the
staff that is at present occupied with
that responsibility.
The stacks are built three levels to
a floor, so that there are 21 levels
through the center of the building,
aDd it is planned to fill in certain
present courts to accommodate other
stacks as expansion becomes necessary.
They are entirely fireproof, with hu
midity control that includes air con
ditioning for temperature, for humid
ity, and for the acid content of the
air. There is an automatic fire alarm
system and burglar alarm system that
gives immediate warning in the guard
rooms and the captain’s office. Each
stack section is like a sealed room
and only employes of the National
Archives are allowed to enter. Shelves
and drawers are made of steel as well
as floors and ceilings of the separate
levels. In the main, a system of flat
filing is observed, under hinged, dun
proof covers of steel.
QNE of the finest equipped labora
tories in the world for reproducing
documents is that of the Photographic.
Reproduction and Research Division
of the Archives, which is concerned
with preservation and restoration as
well.
Here may be found a completely
modern photostat machine that can
reproduce letter size sheets at the rate
of 8 per minute when such copies are
needed in a hurry for conference or
other purposes. Here too is a large,
modern studio camera that Is used
for delicate work, where documents
are damaged and must be “filtered.”
Fascinating indeed to the efficiency
expert is the card copying machine
that reproduces index cards or un
bound documents on microfilm, for
all the world like a motion picture
reel. An almost incredible amount
of space is saved by this method,
which makes it possible to reproduce
a case of cards whose cubage is
27,962 cubic inches upon 88 cubia
Inches of microfilm, at a cost of
.006875 cents each. To give an even
more graphic idea of space saved,
4,100 index cards'can be contained,
in microfilm, in a box 4 Inches square
and one inch deep. Even colored
cards can be photographed by this
machine, after a “densotometer” has
established an even quality or density,
in accordance with which the camera
is set.
The microfilm, when consulted for
reference, is inserted in a “reading
machine," operated by a handle, and by
means of which the card is reflected,
enlarged, in a glass plate. The reader
turns the handle at will until he
wishes to stop at a certain card. There
is a reading machine in each of the
search rooms and in the library for
students who wish to refer to the con
tents of any card file.
fyJOTION PICTURE films that fall
under the cataloguing of “his
toric” films, and as such have been
acquisitioned by the National Archives,
are shown to accredited students or
groups upon application to the archiv
ist in the projection room on the fifth
floor.
This miniature theater is equipped
with perfect acoustic devices as work
ed out by the Bureau of Standards, in
co-operation with the chief of the
Motion Pictures and Sound Record
ings Division, Capt. John G. Bradley.
This bureau has also co-operated, it
might be mentioned, with Vernon D.
Tate, chief of the Photographic, Re
production and Research Division.
The projection room is paneled in
cathedral oak, and the seats supply
the one color note. They are up
holstered in a beautiful shade of green
velvet Every precaution known to
science has been taken in this division
to safeguard stored films and records
against fire. The films are transferred
in steel trucks, under lock and key,
and are placed in stone and steel
vaults that are maintained at a tem
perature of 40 degrees and have air
vents leading directly out of doors, as
the fumes or gases generated by tha
films cannot be returned through the
main air-conditioning system. A sys
tem of flues for the escape of flames in
case of fire has also been established,
and each vault chamber can be sepa
rated from the others, so that fire in
any one could immedlateily be iso
lated from all other chambers or any
other section of the building.
Insulated "Are doors” separate the
vault chambers, within whose walls is
space for storage of more than 5,000.
000 feet of film. Safety devices for
shutting off broken films and a water
cooling system that prevents the film
from catching fire under the heat of
100-watt lamps are some of the
features of the two ultra-modern pro
jectors In the booth. This projection
room also contains turn tables for
transmitting recorded speeches and
for the transmission of records. Also
in this division are rooms for editing
films and the laboratories.
graphical data has been compiled,
decorated and printed by the stu
dents under the advice and direction
of their teacher, John E. Washington.
Studio Talk
By Eugen Weisz.
'TUB Corcoran School of Art
A announces a second talk In the
series of studio evenings, Wednesday,
A
December 18, by Eugen Weisz, rice
president of the school and well
known painter and lecturer. Mr.
Weiss will select several of his favorite
paintings from the Corcoran Gallery
of Art’s permanent collection, and
comment upon them with the inti
macy usual in a small studio gather
ing.