Evening star. [volume], January 30, 1937, Page B-3, Image 17

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

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IMPRESSIVE AND NOTABLE WORK SHOWN IN ART EXHIBIT
_ _- -i ■ ■
"Church in the Rocks,” by Alexis Many, on exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery of Art.
By Leila Mechlin.
THE Society of Washington Art
ists’ forty-sixth annual ex
hibit, which opens to the public
In the Corcoran Gallery of Art
tomorrow afternoon (the “varnishing
day” private view was this afternoon)
shows none of the frailties of ad
vancing age, but, to the contrary,
youthful vigor and enthusiasm. The
works exhibited will be found to be
exceedingly varied, sufficiently experi
mental and distinctly up,to date. Ap
parently the jury of selection was so
open-minded as to find merit in many
different forms of expression, with
the result that a really stimulating
and enlightening survey of contempo
rary painting is given.
The place of honor, midway of the
long west wall of the gallery of
temporary exhibitions in which this
collection is hung, has been given, by
common consent, to a painting by
Alexis Many, for many years a teacher
In one of the local high schools, an
artist of great originality and fine taste,
who could almost always be counted
upon for distinguished achievement.
The title of his work is "Church in
the Rocks,” and, upon examination, a
little church, Spanish in design, is
seen to the left center, perched upon
a narrow ledge on a mountainside;
but primarily this is an imaginative
composition, abstract, but very dec
orative. The rugged, towering moun
tains which are depicted might be
anywhere—figurative rather than
real—sculptured by the hand of God
refined and finished by stern time
through the foreordained processes
of nature. It is a big and splendid
conception which, while of today, is
► rooted in the depths of ancient tra
dition. At no time has Mr. Many
produced a more impressive and nota
ble work.
To the right and left of the Many
canvas, at about equal distances, and
In a measure as pendants, are to be
seen two large figure compositions—
one by Margaret Moffat Yard of this
city, the other by Catherine Morris
Wright of Philadelphia.
Miss Yard’s is a double portrait of
two young girls, singularly alike in
appearance, both dressed in white and
seated on the steps of a house or
studio, with trees and foliage for
background. The title is “The
Artists.” The color scheme Is rather
high-keyed, ti~ .reatment flat and
the emphasis principally on line and
repetition.
Mrs. Wright’s composition, on the
ether hand, is distinctly three-dimen
sional. She pictures two small chil
dren at a lunch tabic, waited upon
by a competent-looking maid. Again
the composition is good, and the qual
ity of indoor atmosphere well inter
preted. One may feel that the faces
of the children might have been car
ried a little farther to advantage, but
undoubtedly the artist was concerned
not with actualities, but effect—which,
by the way, she renders admirably.
'THERE is an unusual number of
interesting and well-painted fig
ure subjects in this exhibition. Cath
erine C. Critcher shows a strong, col
orful painting of a Mexican woman
and child, done, doubtless, last Sum
mer while at Taxco; Hattie Burdette
Is represented at her best by her
portrait of Miss Helen Lippitt in white
satin evening gown (reproduced and
commented upon in these columns a
few weeks ago): Mrs. Mathilde M.
Leisenring shows a head of ‘‘Dolores,"
a middle-aged woman, very sympa
thetically rendered, and Hans Schle
reth contributes a portrait study of
an ecclesiastic,- gravely and knowingly
painted. Nor are these all. Edward
Shorter of Macon, Ga., a former stu
dent of the Corcoran School of Art,
, chows here a portrait study of a
“Mr. C." so strong in structure and
co direct in handling that it is dis
tinctly outstanding and full of promise:
“The Banana Man,” by Catherine P.
Melton, is an ambitious work worthy
of commendation, as is also “Pete of
Taos,” a sunny, outdoor portrait by
Alleen Shannon. Other works in this
particular field have been contributed
by Gladys Milligan, Alice Elizabeth
Stinson, Frances Carroll Todd, Julia
Eckels and Mildred Hardy Taggart.
To this exhibition C. Law Watkins,
associate director of the Phillips Me
morial Gallery in charge of educa
tional activities, and also head of
Studio House and its school, has sent
a small painting of “Mary Drobak,”
a three-quarter-length standing pose
and about one-fourth life size, ren
dered with great gravity, reticence and
yet considerable spirit—a painting
which seems' to miss by a very narrow
margin being a very exceptional work.
Certainly in this little figure one finds
distinct individuality, vitality and re
serve. In style and feeling this paint
ing is distinctly conservative—In fact,
“academic,” using the word in the
true sense of “technically sound.”
Mr. Watkins did not begin to paint
until a few years ago, long after at
taining maturity, and he has acquired
the art by living with and studying
the works of accomplished artists of
this and other days.
Turning to other subjects: Two
essays by local painters are unique
end engaging. These are “Europa
ind the Maidens," by Omar R. Car
rington—a most amusing still life—a
white porcelain and somewhat dilapi
dated bull an a studio table cur*
rounded by gayly dressed dolls, or
figurines, and painted with discern
ment as well as directness and humor,
and ‘‘Cray Awnings," by Roger M.
Rlttase, painted from a high, bedlzsy
lng polnt-of-view, with delightful dis
regard of the force of gravity, but
keen consciousness of the charm of
pattern. Another canvas quite out of
the ordinary Is a scene at the "Zoo,”
painted by Alice Acheson, with per
haps a keener sense of that which Is
comic than that of beauty—but highly
entertaining and, without question,
clever.
QUTSTANDING for artistic excel
lence are two small convases, very
different in character and style but
alike In competence and understand
ing. A Richmond artist, Jeanne
Woods, Is accountable for one of
these and Paula MacWhite. the wife
of the Minister from the Irish Free
State, for the other. Miss Woods'
quality, also merits special attention.
And more than a word of commenda
tion should go to Howard E. Chapmen
for an excellent landscape with figures,
"In the Fields,” by which he Is rep
resented.
Sheffield Kagy Is perhaps best
known for his work In the graphic
arts, but he is admirably represented
In this exhibition by a painting of the
top of a "Coconut Tree.” with its fruit
hanging beneath Its tuft of foliage, as
seen against the deep blue of semi
tropical sea and sky. Mildred B.
Stone sends an unusual composi
tion, somewhat conventionalized, of
"Cypresses After Flood,” which once
seen will not soon be forgotten.
TV'O SMALL part of the favorable
Impression which this exhibition
makes upon the visitor at first glance
Is undoubtedly due to the interesting
and colorful still-life paintings in
cluded in its catalogue. At least three
“The Artists,” by Margaret Moffat Yard, on exhibition at the Cor
coran Gallery of Art.
! painting is entitled “The Sapling
' Fence” and shows a little cottage
perched on a hillside against the sky,
meagerly protected by a very slight
fence built with saplings. It is hard
to say why this small canvas is so
outstanding, but one knows at a
glance that it is—it is so simple but
so right, and assured; so altogether
as it should be that it leaves nothing
to be desired.
Mrs. MacWhite’s painting—which
is somewhat larger—is of “Piedra
Lumbra, New Mexico," and was painted
there a year or more ago. To those
who do not know this country it may
seem in color exaggerated, but it is
really very true—and it is painted
in such wise that it carries conviction.
It, too, has that inexplicable "right
ness” derived, in this instance, per
haps, by unity in treatment, with
emphasis placed precisely right. Al
though in a high key, this painting
is distinctly toneful—a combination
which is rare.
Edgar Nye, who in recent years has
been somewhat given to extreme sim
plification, is represented by a work
which, while still in his characteristic
manner, has finer quality than any
which he has previously shown. It is
entitled “Wind Clouds,” and while
somewhat dreary and dramatic, is
excellent in composition and does re
veal beauty in no small measure
through effects of light and color and
in artistic treatment.
Minor S. Jameson s "Tacomc Hills,
Harold A. Roney's Quarry,” Helen P.
Collison’s "Snow Scene,” and A. J.
Schram's “Winter Road” all interpret,
for seeing eyes, beauty in varying
aspects of nature—and after all, how
can an artist better fulfill his calling?
Mr. Jameson has painted a broad
landscape partly veiled with mist—
very subtle and very lovely; Mr. Roney
presents a symphony in browns pleas
ingly patterned; Miss Collison inter
prets delightfully the effects of sun
light on snow regardless of design,
while Mr. Sc hr am presents, with ut
most realism, a Winter scene which
epitomizes the convention of snow in
the country.
In this connection, mention may
well be made of a painting by Eliza
beth E. Graves of a “Cape Cod House”
which, because of its strength and
simplicity, deserves much more than
passing note. With great skill she
has painted the little white clapboard
house behind a screen of tall trees,
in such wise that it takes its place
perfectly in the composition but at
the same time retains its individuality.
Marguerite Munn’s "Lonesome Road.” I
for color, composition sad decoratjj* I
of these show flowers or objects
against the light of a white-curtained
window—a difficult problem, but one
Invariably engaging. Alexander Clay
ton has so painted an arrangement
of potted plants, the leaves of which
make pleasing pattern; Clara R.
Saunder, with greater subtlety, has
pictured a little statue—a cast from
the antique—daintily offset by foliage
with her studio window as background
and as seen on a gray day, and Gladys
Nelson Smith has frankly painted a
window, with dark-colored, still-life
objects on the sill and in the fore
ground making sharp contrast.
Essentially naturalistic and very
well rendered are a bunch of “Black
eyed Susans” In a dark vase, by Eliza
beth Muhlhofer, and an exquisitely
delicate group of Iris, "Purple and
Gold,” by Lillian M. Abbot. From
California has come a charming still
life—"Eucalyptus Leaves”—in a vase,
as seen against a light background, by
Lilia Tuckerman, and from Savannah,
Ga., a bunch of flowers in a "Blue
Vase,” by Mary Cabeniss. But none
of these exceed in charm or in skill of
rendering Lona Miller Keplinger’s
fascinating “Winter Bouquet,” or the
even more reticent "Single Dahlias,”
by Lucia Hollerith; "Yellow Prim
rosee,” by Ferol Sibley, and “Glox
inias," by Katherine Rhoades.
The jury of award, composed of Ed
ward Bruce, Leon Kroll and, in place
of Gifford Beal, who was unable
to attend, Mrs. Forbes Watson gave
the special prize of >100 for the most
meritorious work in the entire exhibi
tion to a bronze “Whippet,” by Ralph
Humes, with medals of honor to the
following painters:: C. Law Watkins,
for figure painting; Garnet Jex, for
landscape painting, with honorable
mention to Edgar Nye and for still
life to H. K. Wires. The name of
Hans Schuler was added to the jury
for sculpture, and the medal In this
class was awarded to Betty Thomp
son Clear for a head, "Eleanor,” with
honorable mention to Eleanor Mulll
ken for her "Atalanta.”
The Watkins painting so honored
was that of Mary Drobek, already
described and commended; the still
life by Wires was of a "Sunny
Widow”—a small canvas much in
the spirit of the three already de
scribed; the landscape by Jex was
characteristic, colorful and engaging
—children "Sledding in Waterford,
Va.,” on one of its steep, picturesque
streets. It Is interesting to note that
of the seven works singled out for
distinction, three were in sculpture—
'blit Uu sculpture section ofLhls es
Artists’ Society Here
Gives Vigorous Survey
Sculpture Takes Stronger Position and
Shares in Recognition—Lectures to Cover
Wide Art Range—Club Members Elect.
hibitlon Is much larger than ever
before and of higher standard.
Twenty-seven pieces of sculpture in
bronze and stone and other media
are Included, while of paintings there
are, all told, but 78. Owing to exigen
cies of space and time, the sculpture
section will not be reviewed until next
week, when it can be considered more
fully. The exhibition continues until
February 23, approximately three
weeks from the time of opening.
Biennial Exhibition
Of Works in Little.
'T'HE Washington Society of Minla
x ture Painters, Sculptors and
Gravers is exhibiting in the Corcoran
Gallery simultaneously with the So
ciety of Washington Artists, and is
putting forth a most interesting show
of works in little in various media.
This society is the child of a much
older and better known organization
of similar name in London, of which
for many years Alyn William, the
distinguished miniature painter of
London and Washington, was presi
dent. Its purpose is to show minia
ture works in painting, etching, sculp
ture, bookmaking, illumination, bind
ing, and other arts which, if exhibited
with works larger and hence out of
scale, would lose in effect and signifi
cance—and at the same time empha
size the charm and intimacy of sure
creations. The local society has not
exhibited for a couple of years, owing
to the scarcity of exhibits in the class
the organization desired to show.
Further comment will be made on
this fascinating exhibition later.
Water Colors of Spain
By Wells M. Sawyer.
AT THE Arts Club. 2017 I street
northwest, two exhibitions of ex
ceptional interest open tomorrow
afternoon with the usual tea at which
Mrs. Ralph Graves and Miss Marie
E. Walcott will act as hostesses. These
will be both of water colors; the
painters Wells M. Sawyer, formerly
of this city, and Russell Train Smith
of Chapel Hill, N. C. Mr. Sawyer's
paintings, which will be shown in the
gallery, are all of Spain and were
painted in that country, now war
racked and despoiled, during the past
10 years. They give glimpses of the
coast of Mallorca, of scenes In Malaga,
in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada
Mountains and in the High Pyrenees,
as well as in Granada, in Andalusia
and Cataluna. These paintings found
favor among the Spanish critics as
well as public, and were exhibited by
invitation in the National Gallery of
Modem Art in Madrid and in the Gal
lery of the Belles Artes Section of the
Friends of the Country in Malaga.
Some of them were shown here in the
National Gallery and in the galleries
of Milch and Ferergi in New York.
They have most lately been exhibited
in the gallery of transient exhibitions
of the Telfair Academy in Savannah.
At the present time, when all eyes
are turned to Spain in fear and hope,
they are of both sad and poignant
interest.
Russell Train Smith to
Exhibit at the Arts Club.
'T'HE paintings by Mr. Smith, who
by the way is assistant professor
and acting head of the lately organ
ized Department of Pine Arts of the
University of North Carolina, are
recent works done to an extent In
modern manner—not modernistic, but
up to date, fresh, vigorous, significant.
Some presumably will be souvenirs of
a sojourn in Yucatan when the
painter was a member of the Carnegie
Institute's expedition and engaged
chiefly in making measured drawings
of the Maya masques and other works
in sculpture. But others will be
transcriptions of New England land
scape, well seen and sympathetically
interpreted—as were for instance his
two Winter pictures included in the
Washington Water Color Club's most
recent annual exhibition. Russell
Train Smith was born in Concord.
Mass., in 1905, graduated from Harvard
with a B. A. degree in 1927, and three
years later from the Harvard School
of Architecture. Winning the Nelson
Robinson scholarship, he then had a
year of travel and study abroad, when
his Interest definitely turned to paint
ing. This is his first one-man exhibi
tion in Washington, but he has previ
ously exhibited in Boston, New Or
leans and other cities.
Paintings by John Marin
To Be Shown in Studio House.
CTUDIO HOUSE, 1614 Twenty-first
u street northwest, announces an ex
hibition of 15 water colors and 3
oil paintings by John Marin, from
February 3 to 21. A retrospective ex
hibition of Marin’s work was held in
the Museum of Modem Art In New
York last October when the entire
building was given up to the showing.
The works to be set forth at Studio
House were, for the most part, in
cluded in the larger exhibition.
John Marin is no stranger to those
in Washington who follow the current
exhibitions or present trends In art.
For a good many years now, Marin
has been represented, and at his best,
in the permanent collection of the
Phillips Memorial Gallery. In fact,
Mr. Phillips was among the first to
acclaim the greatness of this painter
and acquire his works, and he has
never deviated from his loyalty. One
room in the Phillips Memorial Gallery
is at present entirely given over to
John Marin’s works.
It 1s truly said in the Studio House
announcement that, “always the cen
ter of controversy, the paintings of
John Marin have aroused bitter argu
ment and opposition, as well as the
unqualified praise of critics,” and there
is every reason to believe that opinions
will vary concerning the forthcoming
display. Mr. Marin has developed a
mode of expression all his own—a
kind of hieroglyphics—an artistic
shorthand—which to some is utterly
lllegibile and to others full of mean
ing. Alfred Stleglitz, the distinguished
photo-pictorlallst, who has for more
than a quarter of a century been the
leading exponent of post-impression
ism in this country, has exploited and
backed Mr. Marin as agent and friend
ever since he cast aside tradition and
developed his own unique and distinc
tive style—and it is through the gen
erous co-operation of Mr. Stieglltz
that the exhibition at Studio House
has been made possible.
The work of John Marin has. what
is more, a peculiarly personal Interest
for Washingtonians, Inasmuch as the
painter is a stepbrother of Charles
Bittinger, president of the Society of
Washington Artists and past president
of the Arts Club, whom Washington
claims as a native son and in whose
scientific work in color as well as
paintings it takes pride. When
Charles Bittinger and John Marin
were lads Mrs. Bittinger of this city,
long widowed, married Mr. Marin of
New York, whose first wife had died
when his son John was a very small
child—henceforth the boys were as
brothers growing up under the same
roof and influence. Both determined
to follow art as a career and were
sent abroad to study—both returned
with a good grounding in fundamen
tals and an equal regard for tradition.
If anything. Marin was at that time
more bound by tradition than Bit
tinger, who always had an inventive
and inquiring mind. But how wide
has since been the divergence! While
Bittinger has interpreted things seen
with great accuracy and sense of
beauty, Marin has forsaken old paths
and gone on flights to the unexplored
in the realm of art. There could not
be a greater contrast than in the works
of these two men. Be that as it may,
one strong cord binds these “brothers”
together—devotion to the memory of
she who was “mother” to both, with
out distinction, and who was beloved
and admired by all who were privi
leged to know her—a musician and in
the truest sense an art lover.
The exhibition of paintings by
Marin at Studio House cannot fail to
attract exceptional attention.
Drawings by American Artists
From the Hatch Collection.
'T'HE exhibition of etchings, litho
graphs and drawings by Clifford
Beal, in the print rooms of the Phil
lips Memorial Gallery, may be ex
tended a few days into the coming
week, but will then be replaced by a
collection of drawings by American
artists, past and present, assembled
and lent by John D. Hatch, Jr., former
ly of Seattle, now of New York, a
special assistant of the Carnegie
Corp. in the art field. Interest in
drawings is undoubtedly increasing,
as evidenced not only by the recurrence
of exhibitions but by the prices brought
in public sales. After aU, good draw
ing is an essential part of good art.
Weisz to Give Course of Lectures
On the History of Art.
'T'HE Corcoran School of Art an
nounces a series of 12 illustrated
lectures by Eugen Weisz, to be given
in the school on successive Thursday
evenings at 8:30 o'clock, beginning
February 4 and continuing through
April 22. The entire history of art,
from the days of antiquity to the
present time, will be covered. One
lecture, toward the end, will be given
to consideration of technics and tra
ditions in painting and sculpture,
after which will follow lectures on
"Modem Art and Art in America.”
This course is very similar to if not
Bulletin of Exhibitions
CORCORAN. GALLERY OP ART—Permanent collection, American
paintings and sculpture. Barye bronzes. Clark collection—European
paintings, rugs, tapestries, lace, etc. Drawings by Sargent. Exhibition
of sculpture by Paul Manship. Water colors by Conly Schnaetzel.
The Society of Washington Artists’ forty-sixth annual exhibition
and exhibition of the Washington Society of Miniature Painters,
Sculptors and Gravers.
NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, UNITED STATES NATIONAL
MUSEUM—Permanent collections, Evans, Gellatly, Ralph Cross,
Johnson, Harriet Lane Johnson and Herbert Ward African sculptures.
Two stained glass windows by John La Farge and other recent
accessions. Oils, water colors and etchings by Thomas Moran, in
celebration of artist's centenary.
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, DIVISION OP GRAPHIC ARTS—
Exhibition of etchings by John Costigan.
FREER GALLERY OF ART—Permanent collections, Whistler paintings,
etchings, drawings and the Peacock Room, Oriental paintings,
bronzes, pottery, miniatures, etc.
PHILLIPS MEMORIAL GALLERY—Permanent collection, paintings by
old and modem masters; also works in sculpture. Drawings by
American Artists, past and present. Recent acquisition, "St. Peter,"
by Goya.
STUDIO HOUSE—Exhibition of paintings by John Marin, opening
February 4.
TEXTILE MUSEUM OP THE DISTRICT OP COLUMBIA—Permanent
collection, rugs, tapestries and other textiles of the Near and Far East.
Open Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 3 to 5 pm. Admission by
card, obtainable at office of George Hewitt Myers, 730 Fifteenth street.
ARTS CLUB OF WASHINGTON—Exhibition of water colors of Spain
by Wells M. Sawyer and water colors by Russell Train Smith.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, DIVISION OF PINE ARTS—Exhibition of
recent accessions: Pennell lithographs; drawings by American Illus
trators. Exhibition of original illustrations by Walter Appleton
Clark—recent accessions. Pictorial photographs of the Statue of
Liberty by Jeanette Griffith.
INTIMATE BOOKSHOP. LITTLE GALLERY—Exhibition of water colors
by Philip Coffin, Frank Letts and Col. Fltsmaurice Gay.
PUBLIC LIBRARY, MAIN BUILDING—Water colors by Roy Clark.
SOUTHEASTERN BRANCH LIBRARY—Paintings by members of
Landscape Club.
LITTLE BLUE GALLERY, 3040 S street—Lithographs by A. G. Arnold.
"Europa and the Maidens,” by Omar Raymond Carrington, on exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery
of Art.
the same as that given by Mr. Weisz
at the Washington Club last Winter
under the auspices of the Margaret
Yard School, which proved very popu
lar. It has been arranged primarily
for the benefit of the students of the
school, but subscription—$5 for the
course—is open to the public, and
tickets may be obtained at the school
from the secretary.
This course by Mr. Weisz should
not be confused with the occasional
Informal talks to be given, as oppor
tunity affords, by visiting artists—
such as that given this week by Leon
Kroll, who came to Washington to
serve on the jury for the Society of
Washington Artists' annual exhibi
tion. These Informal, occasional talks,
Illustrated by paintings in the perma
nent collection of the Corcoran Gal
lery of Art, are free and tickets to a
limited number issued upon request.
A very live spirit seems to be anl
! auer. At the same time a revised
constitution and by-laws was adopted,
vesting governing power in an execu
tive committee. This committee will
consist for the current year of the
regular officers and two mem. ere—
Rowland Lyon and Robert E. Motley.
The following appointments were
made: Benson B. Moore, chairman
of Membership Committee: Rowland
Lyon, chairman of Exhibition Com
mittee, and H. W. Moore, chairman
of Banquet Committee. It was also
voted to hold an exhibition in the
Pall of the year, at which a purchase
prize, with medal to the winner,
would be instituted and awarded.
Former Washingtonian
Exhibits in New York.
("VRREN LOUDEN, a former pupil
of the Corcoran School of Art,;
is holding an exhibition January 25
... TW"""*' ■
•‘Coconut Tree" by Sheffield Kagy. on exhibition at the Corcoran
Gallery of Art.
i
mating the Corcoran School this Win
ter.
Officers Are Elected
By the Landscape Club.
rTHE Landscape Club of Washington
A at its annual meeting this month
elected the following officers for the
ensuing year: President, Henry Wads
worth Moore; vice president, A. J.
Ted Meurer; secretary. Omar R. Car
rington: assistant secretary, Roger
M. Rittase; treasurer, C. F. Witten
to February 6 in the Progressive Arts
Gallery, West Fifty-seventh street.
New York. After attending McKinley
High School and the Corcoran School
of Art, Mr. Louden went to New York
and entered the Art Students’ League.
Among his teachers have been
Thomas Benton, John Steuart Curry
and Klmon Nicolaides, the last also
one time of Washington. The ma
jority of the paintings now- on view
were painted in France, while a few
were made in Illinois, and among
American Airships
———.——————^»
(Continued From Page B-l.)
Inventive talents, has interested him
self to an extraordinary degree in the
potentialities of American designed
and constructed airships. He is Ro
land B. Respess of Cranston, R. I.,
who first conceived the idea of an air
ship built upon principles employed
in suspension bridges. This was seven
years ago and Respess has devoted
himself in these seven years to per
fection of his plans, spending in ad
dition about *100,000 of personal funds
for construction and testing of his
models and for authoritative opinions
of American engineering and scien
tific experts, This he has done with
a view to offering something to the
United States Government that will
serve at least as a starting point and
inspiration to other inventors and
engineers of this country who may
have suggestions for improvement on
his design, for it is an American air
ship that is being encouraged, rather
than the Respess or any other model,
and it is the desire of those members
of Congress who are enthusiastically
in support of the O’Connell bill to In
vite the best brains of the Nation In
developing such an airship.
It soon appeared, however, that the
Respess airship was more satisfactory
than its designer’s modest first judg
ment Indicated, for when plans and
models had been submitted to repre
sentative engineering firms and had
been tried out and tested from every
angle in the laboratories of the Gug
genheim School of Aeronautics, at
New York University, and in other
laboratories, it was universally pro
nounced superior In every degree to
the existing Zeppelin model. In co
operation with the Guggenheim school,
Respess had developed his airship
following standard procedure, and with
their advice a scale model was made
and tested with very satisfactory re
eitth * __
One of the most famous suspension
bridge organizations in the world,
that of Robinson & Steinman, was
next consulted. These consulting en
gineers, headed by the eminent Dr.
Stienman whose bridges are known
in every section of America, as well
as In Brazil, Germany and in other
sections of the world, were employed
to design the suspension-type frame
of the airship, which was to be con
structed upon specifications prepared
by the Bureau of Aeronautics of the
Navy Department.
Vl/TTH the knowledge and experience
fitting him to analyze the Zep
pelin arch-type frame, the aerody
namic and load stresses Imposed on
an airship in flight, and to design an
airship structure with the application
of the suspension-bridge engineering
principles, Dr. Steinman, once the
new model was built, rendered his
judgment, after it had been submitted
to the severest tests to which such a
structure would be subjected in actual
service.
He said, i^ part: “Whatever may be
said of the performance of the Zep
pelin airship will apply equally to the
Respess airship, but the Respess air
ship would have, in addition, the fol
lowing advantages: Greater strength
and safety, greater inherent strength,
increased length of life, decreased
maintenance costs, more efficient use
of material, reduction in cost of con
struction, reduction in time of con
struction, ease of construction, sim
plicity, accuracy and definiteness of
calculation.’’
He stated further, of this American
designed ship: "The stresses of this
airship never reverse, thereby remov
ing all fear of failure in the hull
through fatigue and crystallization.
The net pay load will be unusually
high, facilitating economical commer
cial operation.”
Thn— interested in Amer
them—very timely—one of a heavy
rainstorm, not lovely, but very real
istic.
Water Colors by Artists From
Abroad Shown in Corcoran.
A COLLECTION of 17 water colora
by May Conly Schaetzel, a visit
ing artist from Paris, may be seen
in the southeast gallery of the Cor
coran Gallery of Art until February
7. The most interesting of these are
of colorful flowers in vases placed
against the light, as, for Instance,
the one of "Dahlias.” reproduced on
the cover of the catalogue. The artist
shows a colorful sense and courage,
but not great proficiency in the han
dling of her medium. Her work, which
has a certain charm, is rather thin
and immature. Great changes have
taken place in recent years in the
handling of water color as a medium
and such superb work has been done
that a heavy demand is put upon
all contemporary water colorists.
lea’s building American ships for our
commercial advancement and military
protection will be interested in this re
port as one that emanates from an
international authority, fully cognizant
of the construction of Zeppelin frama
airships as built by Germany, and of
details of British airship construction;
thus the conclusions were for tha
American design as against the best
•production of other nations which had
designed, constructed and successfully
operated large airships.
AT ABOUT this time a further ex
pression of faith in our American
engineers and their ability to oopa
with and surpass existing lighter
than-air craft designs came from a
German who had been an authority
on the subject in his own country and
is now an American citizen—Dr. Theo
dor von Karman. In the press of
California, Dr. von Karman was
quoted as urging the United State*
to push ahead in commercial airship
construction, for, he said, “trans
Atlantic air service will be accom
plished only by dirigibles." The press
dispatch from California stated fur
ther that Dr. Von Karman, who had
been director of the German Aero
nautical Institute at Aachen before
coming to the United States, praised
American aircraft builders’ skill and
said American ships had been sub
jected to unfair comparisons with Ger
man aircraft.
"It is not quite fair,” Dr. von Kar
man stated, ‘‘to compare the Navy’s
record of three military airship disas
ters with the successful record of the
Graf Zeppelin, a commercial transport.
Because of their construction and use,
military aircraft present greater prob
lems. Germany lost more than 50
Zeppelins during the World War
through enemy bullets and disasters
such as those that overcame the Ma
con and Akron.”
Lette-s have been received by Rep
resenta’ ive O'Connell from profession
al societies and engineering organiza
tions til over the United States
indorsirg the American-designed air
ship anl the report of the Stelnman
engine*: •s.
After two weeks of independent
study o! designs, data, computations
and stri ctural details, the Connecticut
Society of Professional Engineers re
ported to interested members of Con
gress that the Respess design possessed
structural merit over the conventional
type of airship for its inherently
greater strength with less material, its
lower construction cost, the greater
factor of safety in storms, at anchor
and in maneuvering, its greater pay
load and the greater strength of its
bow and stem. This was the con
sensus among representatives from all
branches of professional engineering
who were involved in the study.
TTHUS there is bountiful evidene*
that Americans can design air
ships that will, in actual operation,
equal and exceed the proved success
ful flights of such dirigibles as tha
Graf Zeppelin and the Hlndenburg,
It Is proposed, however, should Con
gress pass favorably upon the project,
to assure an even greater measure of
safety than that resulting from su
perior construction by using helium
gas, which is non-explosive, instead of
the explosive hydrogen gas used In th*
Hindenburg and similar type airships.
Exhibition
Japanese Wood-block Prints
ASIAN ARTS
1143 Connecticut Avenue
ABBOTT SCHOOLS
FINE AND
COMMERCIAL
Life
Portrait
Etching
Lithography
Oil Pointing
All Typee of Commercial Art
1143 CONNECTICUT AVE.
1 J