Evening star. [volume], June 19, 1937, Page B-3, Image 17

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

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• - I —
Soufca Deserved Honor
Asked at New Bridge
Great Composer, Whose Genius Added to
Gloy of Flag, Left Priceless Collection
o University of Illinois Archives.
By Alice Eversman.
THE 'solution introduced in the Senate this week by Senator Copeland
to name the new Pennsylvania Avenue bridge after John Philip
Sc£a, and thus erect a memorial to the great Washington composer
an bandmaster, draws attention again to this city’s neglect to honor
Hs f am on son. Several reasons make the choice of the bridge particularly
fitting, fo near it Sousa was bom and near it he is buried. Paralleling this
new stru une is the Kev Bridge.#---.
named a|pr the composer of "The
•Star Spailed Banner,” and the pro
posed najing of the second bridge
after the nan who wrote “The Stars
•nd Stridi Forever” would but con
tinue thereverence due to men who
have imnjrtalized the flag in music.
This cdntry has few patriots who
merit su^ an honor and few who
•dual Soik in the qualities of char
acter, lo; Ity, service and love ol
country, [e was a commissioned offi
cer in th three branches of military
eervice ai did his part in the World
War by t tanizing a music battalion
and raisi? money with it. During
the Liber1 Bond campaign he “auc
tioned ol hts performances, receiv
ing, for sample, a contribution ol
$100,000 >r the playing of "Dixie"
and $20 000 for “Maryland, My
Marylant1
For 12 ’ears he was leader of the
Marine Ifnd and made its many pre
eentatlonjin Washington memorable
Throua his persuasion he was per
mitted bjpresident Harrison to allow
the peopj to enjoy its concerts for the
first timj He toured the world with
his orgajzation later and was deco
rated byjsdward VII of England and
made ahember of the French and
Belgium Keadem.v. At nearly every
concert (he favorite selection was
The Sts and Stripes Forever.”
*J"HE i tense patriotism which
brou it forth the stirring descrip
tion of le flag's glory by Key was
also pres it in the many compositions
written : John Philip Sousa. Every
historicajmoment during his lifetime
was confemorated in music. At the
time of -esident Garfield's death, he
wrote th| dirge, “In Memoriam,” and
played i at the funeral. "The Ses
UUicente iial" and "The Saint Louis
Expositii ’’ were written to commem
orate thje events in Philadelphia and
St. Lou Among his compositions
were 12 koras, 100 marches and many
wings. Iesides the enormous output
«f origfcl works, he made many
•rrangeints that are of great value
to bandise.
Sousarlaimed that his accumula
tion of iisic was "one of the greatest
UbrarieAf band music in the world.4
When J died, he bequeathed this
▼aluabiscollection to the University
of Illinjs, of whose famous college
band hlwas the only honorary con
ductor. pere, in a room set aside as
the Sotja Memorial Library, repose
the 3,ok band arrangements which
came tithe university in 40 trunks
In an ^joining room are his direc
tor's pljform, the music stand, pic
tures al other mementos.
When the trunk containing the
platfora was opened, an ordinary
broom fth its handle sawed off was
found | the top tray. This broom
played p important part in Sousa's
perfornjnces, for he insisted that the
red vel(t carpet with which the plat
form ij covered be spotlessly clean
Knowiij by experience how a concert
might bdelayed because a broom could
not be |und, he solved the problem by
one with him on tour,
precious personal belonging
bb of a pencil, still tied to the
th which Sousa was wont to
ut or an interpretive indica
he music he was directing.
J-JAVNG worked to perfect his own
bad all his life, Sousa was
keenlytnterested in the coming gen
eratioijof bandsmen, particularly the
bands >f the University of Illinois.
There re three bands at the univer
sity ai, in combination, Sousa called
them the world's greatest college
band.'I He enjoyed conducting this
ynuthll group and, at the time he
was jade honorary conductor, he
wrote'"The University of Illinois
March’ which is now in the library.
Manytf the members of Sousa s band
receivj their first training in the
univelty organization, whose direc
tor, Ibf. Albert Austin Harding, was
a cH friend and warm admirer of
Sousa
Thl college organization, which
had he complete approval of the
great t authority on band training
DE ;ree in music
r0 BE CONFERRED
NVA BOULANGER, distinguished
I enrh pedagogue, will receive in
Bbsen a the honorary degree of doctor
of m sic from the Washington Col
lege Music at its thirty-first annual
romn ncement ceremonies this eve
ning t 8:30 o’clock in the concert
room: of the college.
Th awarding of certificates, di
plomi and degrees will be made by
Fann Amstutz Roberts, president ol
the allege, immediately after the
acadfiic procession. Those receiving
the t o-year college certiflate in plane
are nthony Chanaka, Violet Ihre
Elizal'th Powers of Richmond, Va.
and Larjorie Vesta Wilkins; in vio
lin. 1 izabeth Bullock.
Thi teacher’s diploma in violoncellc
'Will e awarded to Anne Langston
Farquar; in piano, to Lucia Peres
of Q ito, Ecuador. The degree ol
dachear of music in piano will b<
receivd by Martha Lanyon Ristine
itudeit of Mrs. Roberts and Edwin
Hugh s.
Th< name of the recipient of th<
1937- 8 Hugh Rowland Roberts me
morial award will be announced anc
a rewption for the graduates and
their guests will follow the txercises
MUSIC INSTITUTE
IN FINAL RECITAL
' I ktus Washington Musical Institute
1 will give its ninth rectal since
occupancy of its new quirters in
December on Friday at 8:3t p.m.
In iplte of the difficulty attend an)
upon adjusting a full ,academic
schedule to its new and permanent
location, in the middle of tie school
year, the Washington Muical In
stitute will have given nine recital!
from December to June.
At this final recital certlfkates will
be presented to Carolyn Kootts, Janet
Harlow and Jack Henry for complet
ing fourth grade preparatory work,
and to Jean Guaragna ant George
Gibson for completing Sirh grade
or intermediate work, the musical
program will demonstrafe work of
the preparatory, intermediate and
college departments.
i r
in the world, is doing unique work in
the way of preparing future bands
men. The three bands which make
up the college group are the First and
Second Regimental Bands and the
Concert Band, numbering a total of
320 members. Entrance to member
ship is determined by examination,
although a choice is given the students
between taking the military drills and
tactics prescribed by the university or
joining the musical organization. The
first two divisions play for all athletic
events and military ceremonies, in
addition to the study of concert
music. Through this latter, the
musicians are prepared for the con
cert band, which is a select organiza
tion numbering about 110 members.
The bands have been an institution
in the university curriculum for 47
years, and for 30 years the training
of the members has been In the hands
of Prof. Harding. The repertoire,
which comprises hundreds of selec
tions, embraces the finest symphonic
works of the great masters.
Prof. Harding has a noteworthy
library of his own, which is now
enriched by the valuable Sousa col
lection. During the year, the bands
perform about 300 compositions and
in addition do a useful work In explor
ing orchestral and instrumental lit
erature for numbers adaptable to
band transcription. This service has
been Invaluable to publishers and
bandmasters who are seeking to
enlarge the possibilities of bands.
rpHE University of Illinois bands
have also a clinic for bandmasters,
w'hich has been helpful to many and.
in co-operation with the School of
Music, trains talentld players to
become conductors and arrangers.
The enthusiasm with which the musi
cians follow their work and the high
artistry of their performances have
been generally commented upon by
musical authorities.
This musical group from a Western
city has felt the inspiration of Sousa's
attainments and of his interest in
everything pertaining to the progress
of musical appreciation. Their cher
ished possession is the legacy he left
them, which they have reverently
retained intact and In appropriate
surroundings. Yet the city of his
birth, and the beneficiary of his
genius, has, so far, made no effort to
honor him with a fitting memorial.
_^ i p-imv, u. l., BA 1 U n L>A I, tJUINfl 1H, l»df.
Singer in Sylvan Theater Opening and Artist of Next Season
In the performance of “Pinafore” by the
Estelle Wentworth Opera Group, which will
open the Sylvan Theater season on Tuesday,
the role of "Buttercup” will be sung by Alice
Brennan. At right is Josef Hofmann, noted
pianist, who during the jubilee tour celebrating
his 50th anniversary as a concert artist, will
appear as soloist with the National Symphony
Orchestra.
Opera First
For Sylvan
Series Here
Wentworth Singers to
Appear Tuesday in
“Pinafore.”
rJpHE Summer festival season will
open at the Washington Monu
ment on Tuesday night in the Na
tional Sylvan Theater when the Com
munity Center Department and the
office of National Capital Parks will
present the first in the series of
12 outdoor events, lasting until the
first week in September. The open
ing event will be the Estelle Went
worth Opera Group in •'Pinafore,”
preceded by a festival concert by the
Washington Otvlc Orchestra, at S
o'clock.
Conductor Samuel Page Ford of
the Civic Orchestra has chosen a
program of Gilbert and Sullivan
music, as well as other appropriate
selections preceding “H. M. S. Pina
fore,” which Mias Wentworth will
conduct as well as play the entire ac
companiment.
Leading roles will be sung by Nina
Norman as “Josephine,” J. Edmond
Veitch as "Capt. Corcoran." Ray Baine
as “Sir Joseph Porter, the first lord
of the admiralty”; Richard Hill as
“Ralph Rackstraw.’’ Margaret Phillips
as "Hebe,” Alice Brennan as “Little
Buttercup." Other roles will be sung
by Kenneth Burgess as “Dick Dead
eye,” Harry Yeide as “Bill Bobstay"
and Melville Veitch as “Bob Becket”
of the crew of “H. M. S. Pinafore.”
Tickfts are now available at the
Willard, the Washington Hotel, the
A. A. A. and the Commmunity Cen
ter Department in Franklin Adminis
tration Building. The public is al
ways welcome to sit on the grass for
the Summer festival programs.
In case of inclement weather on
Tuesday night the festival will be
given on Wednesday.
City Shares
In Salzburg
Opera Tour
Important Event of
Next Season Here
Is Announced.
'J'HE forthcoming visit to Washing
ton of the Salzburg Opera Guild
promises to prove one of the most im
portant events of the 1937-8 music
season in Washington. Announced as
one of the five attractions to be of
fered in Dorothy Hodgkin Dorsey's
evening concert series at Constitution
Hall, the Salzburg Guild, with orig
inal cast, symphony orchestra and
technicians direct from Salzburg, will
give a single performance here on the
evening of November lfi, although no I
announcement has yet been made as
to what opera or operas will, be given
at that time.
This reticence on the part of the
management is due entirely to a de
sire to present that opera which
seems most in demand among Wash
ington music lovers and Mrs. Dorsey
Invites all opera enthusiasts to write ^
her at Droop's, 1300 G street north
west, indicating their choice of rep
ertoire. The Salzburg repertoire in
cludes the following opera:
"The Coronation of Poppea,” by
Claudio Monteverdi, composer of
"Orfeo,” adapted by Ernst Krenek,
author of "Johnny Spielt Auf," with
Krenek conducting. An opera deal
! ing with an episode in the life of Nero
I and a profound and moving dramatic
, musical production. Two Mozart op
i eras: “Cost Fan Tutti" and "The
Goose of Cairo,” both brilliant operatic
comedies in the vein of "The Marriage
of Figaro.” "Le Pauvre Matelot” (The
Poor Sailor) by Darius Milhaud, a
[ musical Grand Guignol. "The Ma
trimonial Market,” by Jlossini.
B—3
In Local Music Circles
mummmmmmmmmmmmmammt
THE public is cordially Invited to
attend a recital of a group of
young voice student/, to Esther
Linking, to be held in the Pen
Vomen’s room at the Orafton Hotel,
Connecticut avenue and De Sales
treet, Thursday at 8 p.m. Joan Aller,
Charles Burton, Judy Conklin, Harry
Sauzza, Edith Harper, Weston Jones,
Calbot Meyer, Sylvia Radish, Marjorie
Reed and Billy Ringle will be heard
n solas and duets. Plano solos will
x played by Judy Conklin, Edith
iiarper, Nancy Linking and Marlorie
[teed. Alden H. Emery, Jr., will con
tribute a flute solo. A studio chorus
ilso will assist. It wili be composed
if the above mentioned and Barbara
krmiger, Betty Dort, Robert Emery,
lanet Hartley, Shirley Howes, Eliza
seth Killian, Dorothy Marsh, Karlian
Meyer, Kanneth Meyer, Joan Ray,
Elsie Swan, Sonny White and Anthony
Winston.
Mrs. Emery and Karlian" Meyer
will serve as accompanitsts. Mrs.
Emery's "Night Song" will be sung
ay the chorus, the baritone solo be
ing sung by Mr. Burton.
Thelma Callahan will present a
group of her pupils in a piano recital
Thursday in the Petworth M. E.
Church, Grant circle and New Hamp
shire avenue northwest. Two-piano
numbers and solos will be played by
Virginia Baker, Genevieve Billhimer,
Marian Bonavlta, Leon Briggs, Betty
Jean Dodge, Margaret Evans, Olive
Fewell, Dorothy Fiedler, Ann and
George Filgate, Frank Hermann, Har
rison, John and Warren Leffler,
Jacqueline Lewis, Jean Macy, Jean
Oliver, Margaret O'Meara, Virginia
Perin, Fred Powell, Olive Rickard,
Wilmer Schantz and Jean Sherwood.
Presentations will be made by Rev.
R. L. Wood. National Federation of
Music Clubs certificates will be pre
sented to winners in the recent con
test for Juniors by Eva Whitford
Lovette, president of the District of
Columbia Federation of Music Clubs.
Florence Vincent Yeager will pre
sent her pupils in voice and piano in
recital at Hamline Church, Sixteenth
and Allison streets. Thursday at 8:15
p.m. The following pupils will be
heard: Betty Phillips. Dorothy Jean
Decker, Charlotte Wenzel, Margaret
Ann Jackson. Rosemary Lennon, Billy
Phillips, Lillian. Virginia and Car
leen Chandler. Helen Miller, Nancy
Ellen Repaas. Janis Housley. Margaret
Hinson, Sevilla Hinson. Ruth Orr,
Jane Orr, Dolly Ashby, Harry M. Wil
kins and Florence V. Yeager.
The Walter T. Holt Studios will
present a group of students in a re
cital of mandolin, banjo and guitar
selections at Christ Lutheran Church,
Eighteenth and Gallatin streets north
west, Friday at 8:15. The pupils to
be heard will include Bob Rappleye,
Joseph Bowles, Phyllis Buxbaum,
Joseph Perna, Langdon H. Fulton,
Ruth Peterson, Lawrence Schurmann,
Charles A. Baughman, Louise and
Leslie Teller, Robert Guy, Ethel Selby,
Living Printmakers Figure
in Popular Recognition
as Well as Masters.
group by Barye. “Hercules and the
Boar,” sold for $950.
IN THE field of prints, excellent val
A ues have been maintained, appar
ently, for the works of living print
makers. as well as the masters of the
past. For instance, D. Y. Cameron's
etching of the “Five Sisters, Window,
York Minister,” sold for $1,450, and
McBeys “Camel Patrol” fetched
$1,600. Etchings by Whistler and by
Zorn changed hands at prices quoted
in four figures, and prints by Muir
head Bone, living and producing today,
sold, in several instances, for $300 to
$900, the latter price being given for
a very fine proof of “Spanish Good
Friday.” Practically all of these works
were originally published at prices
which even comparatively slender
purses could afford. Of course, how
ever, it was works of the masters of
the past which brought the spectacu
lar amounts, such as the $10,500 paid
for Rembrandt's "Hundred Guilder
Print,” a second state, at the disposal
of the Leonard L. Stein collection, sold
by the American Art Association-An
derson Galleries or> April 2. The buyer
was a Kansas City dealer. This print
catalogued by both Hind and by
Bartsch, was acquired by Mr. Stein
some years ago from a German col
lector. It derives its name from hav
ing brought 100 guilders, the equiva
lent of $40, when sold at an auction
in Rembrandt's lifetime. Another
copy of this same print was sold the
last of April in the same salesrooms
for $1,750—presumably a less brilliant
impression. Other leading prices ob
tained at the sale of the Stein collec
tion were etchings by Rembrandt, as
follows: “Dr. Faustus in His Study,”
• o cno • Kru.i.i
Thieves” and “Christ Presented to the
People,” $1,500 each: engravings by
Durer, "Adam and Eve,” a very fine
Impression, $5,500; "The Coat of Arms
With a Skull.” a brilliant proof, $3,000,
and “Melancholia,” $3,000.
The demand for Currier * Ives
prints evidently continues, whether
from admiration on the part of the
collectors or the conviction that they
are “good investments,” it is hard to
say. At any rate, “Home to Thanks
giving” fetched at the H. Q. Trow
bridge sale $1,010, which was within
$440 of record price, and other prints
by these print publishers sold for from
$265 to $525. Another item of general
interest in this report was the sale of
a folio first edition of Audubon's
“Birds of America” for $6,600. These
prints were, it will be recalled, colored
by hand.
ANY one who has not attended one
of the great auction sales of art,
either in New York or London, has
missed a very exciting and interest
ing experience. The procedure is es
sentially by rule, strictly observed, and
the audience is very sympathetic and
attentive. When bids are closely con
tested, feeling runs high, and when
a record price is obtained it is not
uncommonly greeted with applause.
The exchange of ownership of works
of art thus effected is beneficial,
broadening interest and establishing
values. The bidders, as a rule, are
private collectors (or their agents)
who enjoy the element of chance and
are willing to take reasonable risks.
Art museums, in most Instances, in
this country buy through dealers, be
cause of greater convenience—but to
the museums, in the long run, many
of the notable works bought and sold
in the open market go. The greatest
of our American public collections
have been built up through private
munificence and gift.
$
Talbert S 1 g a f o o se, Mina Moore,
Barnes and John Lawson, Welle*
Pendrlch, Annabel Bird, Bernard Pas
cal, Julia Blumenauer, Jack Foote,
Elaine Thomas, A. D. Hilton, Albert
Selby, D. M. Gates. Marguerite Le
Noir, Lilian Selby, Harry Ryan and
F. I. Hart. A section of the Nordlca
Mandolin and Guitar Orchestra will
assist in the program.
Mary Gastrock Belt, teacher of
piano and voice, will present her
pupils in their last recital of the
season this evening at the Dowd
Studios, 1735 Connecticut avenue, at
8:15 o'clock. Those taking part will
be Jeanne Corkran, Flora Johnson,
Camille Jones, Harriet Franklin, Helen
Joan Emeigh, Jean Rittenhouse, Helen
Amouri, Wilor Maxwell, Alma Padg
ett, James Finton and William Rowe.
Helene Finnacom, graduate member
of the Washington Pianists’ Club,
presented her pupils in a piano re
cital on Friday at the Brookiand
Baptist Church. Those who took
part were Betty and Lois Newkirk,
Margaret and Grace Paul, Henry
Eberly, Donald Nelson, Gloris Mln
chells, Barbara Martin, Robert and
Margaret Rowland, Charlotte and
UaUaIm tli.i_ mrx_1 .. _
-* "“•wi iview: AjUIJ
ham, Lois Ann Conklin, Billy and
Fiona Mertz, Dorothy James, Buddy
and Catherine Coleman, June Skiles,
Clara Norris, Mary Louise Harrison,
Margaret Anne Putnam, Lois Par
sed Dorothy Hill, Jean Smith, Mrs.
A. Coleman, Nell Duree Norris and
Virginia Finnacom.
The pupils of Josie F. Fraily will be
heard in a piano recital in Stansbury
Temple on Friday. Miss Fraily wiil
be assisted by Amelia Patterson, Syl
via Gotkin, Mrs. S. Pope, Norma Bell
Carty and Hope Haverty.
Minor Melody Chorus will present
the biblical drama entitled "The Great
White Throne," under the auspices of
the young people of the Vermont Ave
nue Baptist Church, Wednesday, at
8.30 p.m, at the Vermont Avenue
Baptist Church. Proceeds will go
for the benefit of "mortgage burning”
rally.
Dorothy Louise Linton will present
a group of her pupils in a piano re
cital Friday at 8:15 p.m. in the parish
hall of the Incarnation Lutheran
Church. In conclusion Miss Linton
will play the first movement of the
Rubinstein "Concerto in D Minor,” as
sisted by Benjamin Ratner at second
piano. Those participating will be
Jack Strothman, Jean Kendig, Burton
Reiner, Richard Rouse, Lorraine Mar
shall, Barbara Smith, Janet Stroth
man. Jacqueline Parks, Betty Jane
Crosthwait. Betty Jean Peters, Carol
Ruth Merrifield, Wilma Eppley, Doro
thy Jane Peters, Helen Louise Buckley,
Elizabeth Agee, Betty Ann Richards,
Marilyn Blanken and Patricia Curran.
Rae Alice Ebner presented In Indi
vidual recitals Francis Lacey, Evelyn
Cooley and Norma Ebner on Wednes
day at her residence studio, 862 Ven
able place, assisted by John Wesley
Flora, cellist.
Sylvia Kaplowitz of the Homer L
Kitt Studios of Music will present a
group of her accordion and piano stu
dents in the third recital of a series
tomorrow at 8 o'clock at the Play
House, 1814 N street northwest.
Elena de Sayn, violinist, gave a
recital Tuesday evening at the Sis
ters’ College of the Catholic Uni
versity, assisted by Malton Boyce at
the piano.
Last Saturday the pupils of Etta
Schmid Wells and her assistant,
Marjory Morrison-Smith, gave the last
program of a series of Saturday after
noon musicles at the Cleveland
Park Studio. Rae Alice Ebnerm, pupil
of Mrs. Hesselbach, was the guest ar
tist. Mrs. Wells and Miss Morrison
Smith leave next week for New York,
where they plan to study during the
Summer.
The Pepcn Glee Club entertained
the Lions Club of Anacostia at the
Beaver Dam Club, Landover, Md., on
June 9 Harry Yeide is conductor
and Cornelia Long Kinsella the accom
panist.
VIOLIN STUDENTS
TO GIVE RECITAL
J7LENA DE SAYN, violinist and
violin pedagogue1, will present a
group of her students in solo and
ensemble in a violin recital Friday
evening at R:30 o'clock at the Grafton
Hotel, Connecticut avenue and De
Sales street. The recital is open to
the puplic.
The program will include Frit*
Kreisler's new "Concerto in C Ma
jor," rendered by Norma Coombs;
Haendel's "Sonata in D Major.” bv
Ellen Dawson; Purcell's "Golden
Sonata" for two violins, in which two
youthful violinists, Mary Alice Fegus
son and Marlon Maxwell, aged 10
and 13, respectively, will be heard.
The last two will be heard also in
solos, as will Sally Osbum and Bobby
Creveling.
Miss de Sayn will play two selections
and will lead the ensemble. Helen
Spassoff will be the accompanist.
--—•
ROSE D’AMORE IN
PIANO SELECTIONS
ABEL WALKER WILLEBRANDT.
prominent lawyer and socialite
of the city, will present Rose d’Amore
in a piano concert at the Sulgrave
Club on Thursday evening. Miss
d'Amore, former pupil of Rudolph
Ganz. will offer her interpretation of
the following groups: “Variations in
P Minor,” Hadyn; "Sonata in D
Minor,” Beethoven: "Claire de Lune”
and "Minstrels,” Debussy; "Soaring."
Schumann, and "C Minor Nocturne"
and "Scherzo in B Minor,” Chopin.
• — ■ ■■ •
MUSIC TEACHERS
TO MEET IN FALL
'T'HE Washington Music Teachers'
Association will not meet again
until October, the Executive Board
deciding to omit the customary anni
versary celebration on June 10, due
to the fact that most teachers are
busy with the concluding of their
teaching season.
Warren F. Johnson, Organist
Church of the Pilgrims
Sunday Evening
•■Prelude end rueoe”_Tuanet
"Haae Plea”_Ptadellavra
Armando Jannuzzi
Grand Opera Dramatic Tenor
Voice Specialist
Italian Method
Seheet at b»l rente
Adame 3687-J
151# Oak St. N.W. (Car. l«tk) •
SALES OF ART AT AMERICAN AUCTIONS SCALE PRICE PEAKS
f
Top Bids Are Achieved by
Tournai Tapestries in
Well-Attended Sales.
By Leila Mechlin.
HERE is probably no better in
dex to the financial side of a
country than the record of art
sales covering a given period.
During the recent years of depres
sion such sales went down to a
phenomenal low, from which seem
ingly bottomless pit they have grad
ually risen to the normal of the days
of prosperity preceding. The Amer
ican Art Assoclation-Amderson Gal
leries of New York City, the leading
art auctioneers of this country, vieing
with Christie's of London in reputa
tion and price setting, report re
ceipts of $2,970,997 realized In 70 sales
of art and literary property which
took place between late September,
1936, and May 27 of the current year.
Top prices of the season were—
$43,000 each for two Tournai Gothic
“Country Life” tapestries, a record
price for tapestries sold at auction
in this country; $32,000 for a Brus
sels Gothic allegorical tapestry;
$30,000 for an early American silver
punch bowl of Monteith type by
John Coney, silversmith of Boston,
and $10,500 for the so-called “Hundred
Guilder” etching by Rembrandt of
“Christ Healing the Sick.” Another
exceptionally high price was $7,700
paid for a painting by Frederick
Remington entitled “Indian Warfare”
(also known as “Custer’s Last Stand”)
which was far in advance of the
amount previously brought by this
popular artist’s work.
The attendance at these sales was
further evidence of a reviving market.
No less than 73,000 persons visited
these galleries during the past sea
son, in addition to which about 26,000
were present at Inisfada on Long
Island when the Genevieve Garvan
Brady collection was sold. This was
the outstanding sale of art property
for the season and brought the high
est total, $471,761, for one such sale
since 1929.
JT WAS at the Brady aale that the
two Gothic tapestries were bid in
for $43,000 each and that other record
prices were realised. The sale of
these tapestries is of particular in
terest to us here in Washington in
asmuch as they were of approxi
mately the same date and very similar
to four included in the W. A. Clark
collection in the Corcoran Gallery
of Art. The Brady tapestries entitled,
respectively, "The Fortune Teller”
and "The Fishermen,” were woven
at Tournai in the Duchy of Burgundy
near the end of the fifteenth century
and bear the arms of the Efflat fam
ily, in whose chateau near Clermont
Ferrand they formerly hung. In the
middle of the nineteenth century they
came into the possession of M. Achille
Jubinal, whose "Anciennes Tapisaeries
Historiees”—printed in Paris in 1838—
was the first great. Illustrated book
ever published on tapestries. In short,
the history and ownership of these
tapestries is known practically from
the time they came into existence
until today, and they are in most ex
cellent condition.
By experts the "Fortune Teller”
tapestry, also known as “Visit of the
Gypsies” or "Gypsies on the March,”
is the finest of a group of shepherd
and hunting tapestries woven on the
famous Tournai looms. The tapes
tries in the Clark collection In the
Corcoran Gallery of Art are hunt
ing scenes of the Duke of Burgundy
and most probably belong to the same
series, although they are catalogued
as woven at Arras. However, as George
ft
•
Leland Hunter In his admirable book
on the subject of tapestries has said,
all great Gothic tapestries are French
Gothic, whether woven in Northern
France or in the French Netherlands,
for under Philip the Good, Duke of
Burgundy, in the fifteenth century.
Bruges and Ghent and Tournai and
Brussels were all capital cities of
French culture, and on order of this
Burgundian duke the greatest art of
the period . was produced. Beside
which, Arras and Tournai are not
more than 40 miles apart, and there
is reason to believe that In some
Instances the two looms co-operated
In the use of cartoons. Be that as it
may, the tapestries in the Clark col
lection are very similar to those
which until lately hung at Inisfada,
and one can gain from them an ex
cellent idea of the character of these
priceless works.
JJY ALL connoisseurs, the Flemish
Finnish Gothic tapestries are
ranked as most fine. Crowded with
figures, essentially pictorial, they re
main flat and function perfectly as
wall decorations. Would that the mu
ral painters of today would take note.
In them red of a lovely quality is dom
inant and so excellent were the dyes
used that their colors are still almost
undimmed. Also, as Mr. Hunter points
out, these tapestries stress line rather
than form; there is no attempt to
Imitate the painted picture or to create
the Impression of a third dimension by
i> idellng or perspective. But how
lovely they are—how animated and
engaging!
ft
Unfortunately, at some time in their
long past, the tapestries in the Clark
collection must have been cut down to
accommodate their placement in cha
teau or castle. But after all, one does
not miss what one has never possessed
—and the depredation has not been
great. The largest of the series meas
ures 12 by 16 feet; the next In siae
is 10 by 14 feet, and the two others
are each 10 feet high by respectively
10 and 11 feet (approximately) wide.
They are beautifully shown, it will be
recalled, in a separate gallery lighted
by a window of early glass
But to return to the Brady sale and
the current art market. An Ispahan
rug of the sixteenth century included
in this collection, which, by the way,
took five days to disperse, brought
<19,000, and for a Chippendale sofa
covered in needle point, <3,160 was
paid. Then came the surprise of the
record price of nearly <8,000 for the
painting by Remington and <6,100
each for two canvases by Charles M.
Russell, the cowboy painter—“Hunt
er’s Luck” and “The Holdup”— paint
ings primarily of interest because of
subjects, illustrative of scenes once
thought typically American. Such
prices are completely out of scale far
those paid for works by artists of
greater reputation in this and other
sales throughout the year.
In fact, there has been great fluc
tuation in values in paintings of late,
which may be attributed to confusion
of ideals or waning interest In this
particular field of art. The highest
price for the season for a painting
sold by the American Art Association
' S .
!
Anderson Galleries is reported to be
$10,000 paid for a portrait of Rea
bum of “Master George John Fraser.’'
Sergeant’s portrait of “Mme. Helleu”
went for $4,700; Van Dyke's “Edward
Sutton, 9th lord Dudley,” which once
was owned by Gainsborough, brought
only $2,900, and Orpen’s portrait of
his little daughter, "Kit," sold for
$2,200. On the other hand, a paint
ing by Corot brought $9,000; a “Shep
herdess” by Millet, $3,700; a Turner,
$4,100; a Troyon, $3,500, and a Bou
guereau, $2,900.
With these, prices for works by de
ceased American painters were com
parable, “The Butterfly Orchid,” by
Henry Golden Dearth, brought $2,500,
and “October Afternoon," by J. Fran
cis Murphy, $1,600.
But It was not ao very long ago that
Childe Hassam was asking $15,000 for
his canvases, and that a like amount
was paid for a painting by Tarbell.
Probably these heights will never be
recovered, at least not within the life
time of present-day buyers. However,
at the Rothschild sale in London two
months ago, a tiny painting by Pieter
de Hooch, a Dutch Interior with figure,
was bid up, by leaps to $5,000, to the
astonishing sum of $87,500—and even
this amount is but a fraction of what
Mr. Mellon is reported to have paid
for some of the rare works that he
has acquired for the National Gallery
of Art.
Vl’EANWHILE, however, the prices
1 A go up for early American silver
and furniture. The Herbert Lawton
collection, comprising exclusively the
$
works of American artists and crafts
men. realized $93,407. At this sale
a silver teapot by Jacob Hurd brought
$4,400, an Adrian Backer tankard,
$3,100, and the John Coney punch
bowl, with removable rim, the record
price of $30,000. The last was con
signed by George C. Gebeltn, the well
known silversmith of Boston, and was
sold during a pause in the dispersal
of the Lawton collection.
At this same sale the Museum of
Pine Arts, Boston, was lucky enough
to get Copley's portrait of "Elizabeth
Ross Tyng, Aged Sixteen,” for $5,000.
Another notable sale of early Ameri
can silver during the past season was
that of the collection assembled by
Mrs. Miles White, jr.. of Baltimore,
well known to Washingtonians by par
tial exhibition here and also in the
Baltimore Museum. An early Ameri
can tankard, made in New York, and
given by George Washington to Dr.
Elisha Cullen Dick of Alexandria, Va.f
included in this collection, sold for
$5,900; a tankard by George Fielding
of New York brought $3,800, and a
porringer by John Coney, $1,500.
High prices prevailed also for slight
works by painters of the French mod
em school. In the Cornelius J. Sulli
van sale, a small pencil drawing by
Seurat sold for $5,700; for a wash
drawing by Picasso, $1,050 was paid;
a water color by Cezanne fetched
$1,500, and a painting of “Tahiti” by
Gauguin was bid in for $1,700. On
the other hand, a bronae figure of a
dancer by Degas was purchased for
only $426. Fashion and vogue go far.
it would seem, in the determination of
riluea But again a surprise a bronae
" 4‘"
“The Fisherman (Spring)," a Tournai Gothic Tapestry, Circa 1550, which brought $43,000 in the Genevieve Garvan Brady
sale at Inisfada, Manhasset, Long Island, under the management of the American Art Association, Anderson Galleries, Inc.