Evening star. [volume], September 29, 1946, Page C-7, Image 42

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

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
Art
and
Artists
Emotional Levels
Of Successive Ages
Show in Exhibition
-
6y Florence S. Berryman
The Rosenwald collection at the
National Gallery of Art has been
greatly enriched in the last year, as
may be seen by a visit to the spe
cial exhibition of new acquisitions,
which opened last Sunday, to re
main for two months. Although
about-40 “high lights" of the show
were mentioned on this page a week
ago these constitute less than half
of the exhibition, which comprises
more than 100 items.
Viewed as a whole, the show pre
sents a kaleidoscopic glimpse of the
dominant intellectual and emo
tional atmospheres of successive
ages, and of the general character
of different nations, as well as the
genius of individual masters.
The group of 11 miniatures on
vellum, from illuminated manu
scripts, comprises the first items in
this category to be added to the
Rosenwald collection. They are
large, fresh and brilliant in color,
and in unusually good preservation.
These little paintings, dating from
the 13th to the 15th centuries, and
also the 15th century engravings
and wood cuts, are predominantly
religious in subject and reverent in
tone.
Turning to the etchings by Rem
brandt and other Dutch artists we
find interest in the ordinary people
and scenes of their own world.
Eighteenth century French prints
reflect the love of pomp and pag
eantry of that period.
The 19th century, which was pre
eminently France’s in the art field,
is represented with prints as varied
as w'ere the characters and crea
tions of the Nation's artists. Dela-!
croix's lithograph, “Combat Be
tween the Giaour and the Pasha"!
(reproduced», is a typical example
of the gift which enabled him to
carry romantic art to its maturity.
(This lithograph, incidentally, il-i
lustrates a passage in Lord Byron's
poem, “The Giaour.”)
The classic realism of Ingres,
Daumier's social satire, the impres
* sionistic naturalism of Degas and
Mary Cassatt, Odilon Dedon’s mys-|
tic visions, are succeeded in the
last sections of the show by mod
ernists of France. England. North
ern Europe and the United States.
Some of them are internationalists,
whose works reflect the chaos of
our age, and present disquieting
contrast to the serene religious
faith of the earliest a-tists in the
show.
* * * *
Corcoran Has Exhibit
On Latin American Natives ,
The Corcoran Gallery of Art has 1
opened Its new season with a one
man exhibition of water color* and 1
oil paintings by Carl Folke Sahlin ]
of Coconut Grove, Fla. He had an <
exhibition of earlier work in the '
same field at the National Museum '
in January, 1945.
The present show Is composed :
of pictures painted during his wan
derings through South America
since that date. The majority of
them depict native inhabitants,
mostly Indians, in their distinctive
and colorful dress. Mere than 50
paintings are catalogued, not a few
of which have two works in a single
frame. They represent Cuba, Vene
zuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru.
Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Paraguay
and Brazil. There are also two
paintings of Florida Seminole*.
The paintings are large and illus
trative in character, dealing natural-'
istically with the subjects as Mr.
Sahlin saw them. Consequently j
there is a certain amount of styliza
tion. possibly subconscious, in his
treatment. Some of the pictures;
would make good illustrations for a
book on types and costumes of the
respective peoples.
If I recall correctly Mr. Sahlin's
show at the National Museum, the
present work is a definite improve
ment from the technical standpoint
—bolder in color and more assured in ,
handling. The earlier exhibition
had more variety in subject matter, ,
i
handcrafted
PICTURE
FRAME?
ftfTlallflnoofe
UM I9M ST.N.W. HI.90I9
ftUILTTO^J^^^N DU A£
I 4
“Combat of the Giaour and the Pasha,” a lithograph
by Delacroix in special exhibition of new Rosenwald
acquisitons at the National Gallery of Art.
and the spontaneity of initial im
pressions.
This exhibition will remain on
view through October 8.
* * * *
Silk Screen Work
At Whyte Gallery
The Whyte Gallery's current ex
hibition of serigraphs by the Silk
Screen Group of New York, which
will remain only through tomorrow,
is a colorful show with prints to
appeal to a wider range of tastes
than one might imagine at first
glance.
The group is a nonprofit organ
ization of artists with particular in
terest in developing this medium.
It was formed in 1940 by pioneers
in the use of silk screen as a fine
arts medium, although it has long
been used commercially, being a
method of making stencil color
prints. It is said that American
artists began to experiment with
silk screen in 1932. But rapid prog-i
ress and public notice date from'
1938. when the Federal Art Project,'
WPA, of New York, materially aided
the experiments.
The Whyte Gallery showed prints
by some of these artists several years
ago The Division of Graphis Arts,
United States National Museum, had
an exhibition two summers ago, of
the process as used commercially.
And last autumn the Barnett Aden
Gallery had a one-man show of silk
screen portraits by Harry Sternberg,
a member of this group, although
he Is not represented in the current
exhibition. Still other appearances;
of silk screen prints in Washington1
have removed the novelty so that
one can judge them on their merits
as works of art.
Despite wide differences in the
artists’ techniques, the exhibition
gives a general effect of unity not
to be observed in a group show of
oil paintings, for instance. But as
one examines the serigraphs, one
finds they range from abstract to
naturalistic, with many gradations
in between. Some have soft and
delicate colors which would har
monize well with traditonal in
teriors; others are bright and clash
ing, a third category 'is dark and
somber. Subjects, too, have con
siderable variety.
Thirty-four serigraphs on view at
the gallery represent 19 artists Ed
ward Landon has four—a sharp,
fresh New England village scene in
winter, and three abstractions, of
which ‘‘Yellow Bat” with a golden
color scheme, has the most effective
decoratiave quality.
Robert Gwathmey's ‘ Non-Fiction''
is social comment very much like
that of his paintings in character.
Sol Wilson’s two glimpses of working
men in dark-toned scenes, might as
well have been done in some black
and-white medium.
Coast Scenes Have
Dramatic Sky Effect
I liked best Harry Shokler's two
beautiful coast scenes. “Net Mend
ers,” with its dramatic sky effect,
and “Montauk Pishing Village,” both
of which have admirable color and
a feeling of fresh cold air. Harry
Shoulberg’s “Rockport Harbor” is
more modem, with color intensity
that emphasizes the blue, of the sea
on a summer day. In the same
category are Doris Meltzer’s "Light
house” and Ernest Hof’s “The Bay,”
muted in color, done in soft gray,
green and brown.
“Old Frame House,” by Charles
Barrows, is handled in such a way
that it bears a strong resemblance
to a gouache. “Roses,” by the same
artist, is also appealing, fresh and
youthful. Ruth Gikow’s “Flowers
and Fruit.” dominated by a strong
red, is semiabstract.
The cheerful colors of Riva
Helfond’s “Circus Grounds" capture
some of the gayety of the subject.
Ruth Starr Rose continues in “There
Is a City Called Heaven” to interpret
the Southern Negroes and their
spirituals, as she does in her 11th
ographs, which have been shown in
I
MATERIALS j
V Quality \
I Since JS6S
MUTH
710 13th St. N.W. NA. 63M g
, Washington at the Whyte Gallery
! and elsewhere. Bernard Steffen’s
vegetable still life makes a handsome
j gold-and-green composition.
* * * +
{Bikini Bomb Paintings
Paintings and sketches of the atom
bomb experiment at Bikini Island,
made by Capt. Charles Bittinger. are
on exhibition in the entrance foyer
of the old Navy Building at
Eighteenth street and Constitution
avenue, to remain for another week
or 10 days.
The artist, a native and resident
of Washington, and long identified
with art circles here, has given much
of his time in recent years to paint
ing for the Government, such
phenomena as eclipses of the sun.
During the war he was head of
research and design of camouflage
for ships, United States Naw.
* * * *
Important Annual
The Society of Washington Artists
will hold its 56th annual exhibition
in the foyer of the Natural History
Building, United States National
Museum, October 9 through 29. It
will comprise work in oil and sculp
ture not previously exhibited in
Washington, by members of the
society, regardless of present address,
and by other artists of Maryland,
Virginia and the District of
Columbia.
All works, unpacked and ready for
hanging or placement, will be re
ceived next Tuesday at the Natural
History Building. The jury of selec
tion and the Hanging Committee
will be made up of three officers and
Executive Committee of the society:
President, Henry Olson; vice presi
dent, Omar R. Carrington; treasurer,
Lee Atkyns; correspondent secretary,
Clarge Fontanini; Executive Com*
mittee, Gladys Milligan, Paul
Thompson, Katherine Wheeler. Shef
field Kagy and Jack Berkman.
A competent jury, not members of
the society, will award The Evening
8tar Prize of (100 for the best paint
ing in this exhibition; an anonymous
prize of a $50 Liberty Bond for paint
ing, and the society’s prize of $50 in
portraiture. The jury will also award
a medal in each of four classes.
* * * *
Metropolitan Contest
The ninth Metropolitan State Art
Contest will be held in the foyer
of the Natural History Building,
United States National Museum,
from November 6 through 29, under
auspices of the District of Columbia
Chapter, American Artists’ Profes
sional League, assisted by the Entre
Nous Club.
This exhibition will be open to all
artists living within 20 miles of
Washington. Entry cards can be
obtained from Mrs. Miles C. Trow
bridge, chairman, District of Co
lumbia Chapter. AAPL, 11 Aspen
street, Chevy Chase, Md„ and a
specified part of it must be mailed
to her on or before October 26, with
an entry fee of $1. A bulletin of
instruction and information on
frames, mats, removal of rejected
and accepted work and other details
Is also available from her.
All works must be delivered ready
for exhibition at the National
Museum October 31. Awards will be
made on the opening afternoon,
November 6. There will be cash
awards in each class, the same as
last year, with perhaps one or two
additional. The jury of awards will
be composed of Anne Abbott, George
E. Muth, jr., and Harry Lewis Raul.
Benson B. Moore, Minnie Briggs
Raul, Jean Donner Grove and Omar
Carrington will serve as a jury of
selection along with the committee
of the AAPL, composed of Mrs.
Trowbridge, Mrs. James H. Under
wood and Mrs. Clarence E. Dawson,
the last two directors of the District
of Columbia Chapter, AAPL.
I Public Library |
By Ruth McCoy
lUaderi' Adviger. Washington Public
Library.
Within easy traveling distance of
Washington is one of the most in
teresting and beautiful sections of
Pennsylvania. ~ The Southeastern
counties are often referred to as the
land of the Pennsylvania Dutch or
Pennsylvania German. A glance
over the low hills and gently sloping
valleys presents a panorama of
fertile and well-cared-for farms and
buildings of these thrifty people.
J. L. Rosenberger in his “The
Pennsylvania Germans" tells how
they came, chiefly from the Palat
inate in Germany and from Switzer
land, to William Penn's colony to
escape persecution. Prom the be
ginning they settled apart from the
English and have maintained even
to the present day manners and
customs peculiar to their culture.
Many have been charmed by these
people and their pleasant land and
have written interesting accounts in
such books as "The Dutch Country,"
by Cornelius Weygandt; “Hex Marks
the Spot," by Ann Hara, and 1 Penn
sylvania Dutch Stuff,” by E. P.
Robacker.
ART
Water Color at Large, Eliot
O’Hara. (Minton Belch. > A text
on water color techniques, illustrated
with reproduction* of the work oi
famous artist*.
4
American Mystery
Of 7355 Makes
Whodunits Fade
AMERICA, 1355-ISM
By Hjalmar R. Holand. (Duell,
Sloan A Pearce; $4.)
Readers who like their true detec
tive stories will find a remarkable
work of that sort in this volume. It
is a new chapter In Its author’s now
famous effort to solve the mystery of
the pre-Columban Norse relics which
have been discovered in North
America. While it is a matter of rec
ord that the Norsemen were on the
continent in advance of Columbus,
the locations in which their trophies
have been found have pussled
scholars. There is the famous tower
in Newport, and there is a collec
tion of objects of Norse workman
ship which have been discovered in
Minnesota. What is the story behind
these oddly scattered remains? Mr.
Holand has been working on that
question for many years.
The detail of his solution is too
complicated to be given in a review,
but it sums up as follows: In 1365, a
group of 8wedes and Norwegians
were sent out by royal order to dis
cover the lost inhabitants of a
Greenland colony who, fleeing
the hostile Eskimos, had sup
posedly gone 8outh to New England,
or, as they called it, Vinland. The
searchers came to what is now New
port and scoured the country round
about. Finding no trace of the colo
nists, they decided to send a branch
expedition north into Hudson's Bay.
Forty men were dispatched. The
others stayed behind and built the
tower. It was primarily a church,
but also could serve as a fortress.
The north-bound group became lost
and wandered into Minnesota,
where, turning southeast, they made
a passage of the State by lakes and
rivers. Their aim was to rejoin their
comrades, but they never did, and
at that point the clues fade out. The
Newport group eventually went
home and made a report to the king.
Mr. Holands grounds for estab
lishing this story rest on records in
the archives of Sweden, Norway and
Iceland, on his identification of the
architecture of the Newport Tower
with the Scandinavian churches of
the period; on his own translation
“Newport Tower” frontispiece for Hjalmar R.
Holand’s “America, 1355-1364 ”
of the famous Kensington Stone,
which, found In Minnesota in 1808,
reported the progress of the ex
ploring group as late as 1362, and
on numerous stones along the Min
nesota lakes and streams which bear
the characteristic marks of the
Norsemen's mooring tools. The
whole reconstruction is not new;
he has been working on it for
years and has published accounts
of his researches before. His present
book brings to the record his theory
about the Tower and his report of
the latest mooring stones to be
found. He also speculates as to
whether the Norsemen may not
have reached the Mandan Indians
of the Dakotas and brought them
the Christian religion, of which
there were traces in their beliefs.
It is an utterly fascinating book.
I would not trade it for a carload
of whodunits of the fictional variety.
M.-C. R.
LAW.
Federal Roles of Criminal Pro
cedure.. (New York University
School of Law Institute.) The offi
cial rules and notes of the Advisory
Committee appointed by the Su
preme Court of the United States to
draft the rules of criminal pro
cedure, with discussion by a number
of members of the committee.
Ballet Dancer's Story Lavishly
Coated With Russian Dressing
SIX CURTAINS FOR NATASHA
By Caryl Brahms and S. J. Si
mon. (Lippincott Co.; $2.SO.)
Reviewed by
MARGARET CHILD.
Natasha'a six curtains had noth
ing to do with that household item
of lace which hangs in the parlor.
Natasha was a ballet dancer from
Omsk and to her a curtain meant
an encore. Six of them would rep
resent the golden moment of her
life.
Natasha's husband was a ballet
director, by the grace of his father’s
and his father’s father's rubles.
Therefore, it would seem a simple
matter to star Natasha in a pre
sentation which would win for her
the coveted six curtains. However,
the little dancer’s ambition was
not only greater than her ability or
the town of Omsk, but all the avail
able rubles of husband Vladimir, his
father and his father's father.
So the Stroganoflf ballet company
set out for St. Petersburg where
the Czarina served her favorite bal
i lerinas pancakes on gold plates and
1 where backers were as plentiful as
| bortsch.
The adventures of the Stroganoff
in Petersburg read like a fantastic
dream remembered and recorded
on paper come daylight. The book
has a strong “You Can’t Take It
With You’’ craziness lavishly coated
with Russian dressing. Jealous bal
lerinas and bemused theatrical
"angels,’’ financially embarrassed
impresarios and famous names of
the pre-revolution ballet fouette
through the pages at a breathless
pace.
The flash-back method used to
tell the story is overdone and the
humor sometimes strained—after all
how dizzy can a group of people
be? But if souffle is your dish, you
might like this airy melange.
Bo*ks|
^ FOR THE
WHOLE FAMILY
IN OUR
DOWNSTAIRS
BOOKSTORE
Can you afford
books you read
only once ?
IF NOT, JOIN
• w
I
\
FOR BOOKS TO RIRIAP ANP REMEMBER
Membership in this book club costs you nothing,
but it helps you avoid wasting time and money on
books which become dust collectors after only one
reading. Nonfiction books are the kind you enjoy
reading, reread often and then treasure forever.
Subscribe now and get a FREE copy of the revised
edition of a treasury of science. See below.
r _
NO MATTER HOW you
feel about books.. .whether
you think of them as nec
essary or a luxury, whether
you read to stop time or to kill time...
you cannot afford to waste hours or
cash on the sort of books you'll be
ashamed of owning after one reading.
The best test for a good book is: can
it be reread with profit and pleasure?
It is to find and distribute, at low cost,
books like these that this new kind of
book club was organized.
The Nonfiction Book Club is not
just "another” book club. It’s designed
for those who read not to drug them
selves but to widen their mental hori
zons. If you read for information as
well as pleasure... if you read because
you want to understand and know
about the events, ideas and phenome
na that crowd the universe ... then,
the Nonfiction Book Club is the club
for you. Nonfiction books are the im
portant new works that will become
the prized additions to your home li
brary. They are the books'that you and
yours will reread many times in the
years to come.
How the club operates. Mem
bership of course is free. Shortly after
the first of each month you receive a copy
of the magazine, Nonfiction Book News,
which brings you the judges’ advance re
ports of forthcoming selections, as well
as feature articles, illustrations and bio
graphical sketches of the authors. You
then decide whether or not you want
the current selection. If the Nonfiction ,
choice is a book you want, you do noth
ing. It will be mailed to you on the 21st
of the same month. If, however, you do
not want the selection, you specify some
other book, or none at all, simply by
notifying us before the 21 st of the month
on the form supplied. Purchase of die
monthly selections is entirely voluntary.
To be a member in good standing you
need only accept 4 selections of the 12
offered each year. v
What It costs. Though the kind of
books that will be chosen for the Non
Th« best new books at
a saving!
You pay less than the published price,
if the book it over $3.00. You pay no
more than the published price if it is
$3 00 or less.
SRHi Membership costs you nothing.
FRif: A monthly magazine with news
about the latest books.
IRIli A book worth $3 to $3 when-you
join.
Hil: One bonus book with each 4
purchased.
fiction Book Club are usually priced at
I3-.00 to $5.00, members will never have
to pay more than S3.00 for any selection.
You pay no more than the published
price (plus a few cents postage) when
that price is $3.00 or less.
Froa to all mambars. With each
4 selections purchased, you receive a free
book dividend worth $2.75 to $5.00.
You will also receive a free subscription
to the 24-page monthly magazine, Non
fiction Book Newt.
TO MW AUMNftS
A TRIASURY OP SCIINCI, edited by H*iow
Shdphy. Modern min i univerie seen through
the eyes of the greatest scientific writers. Kttis»d,
with a new section on atomic fission. Selections
from 100 books. 772 pages, $3.95.
START WITH ONE OF THESE SELECTIONS
MAN, by George Steu art. Another unusual book
by the distinguished author of STORM and
names ON the land. The surprising, lively and
sometimes impudent story of Man through the
age*... told as autobiography. $2.75
BAANDEIS: A Free Man’s Life, by Alpbtut
Thomas Mason. The first, full-scale, authorita
tive biography of the great lawyer, great judge
and great American whose ideas became reali
ties and whose philosophy became the law of
our land. 728 pages, 30. illustrations, $5.00.
(Special edition for subscribers only. $3.00).
This distinguished Beard ef Judges selects the books
LI Wit •ANNITT
Daily Book Reviewer of
the New York Herald
Trtbune.
*
JOMPH MNIY JACKSON
Chief of bode reviewing
»uS, San Francisco Cbron
kU.
fi
N. KIRTUY f. MATHMl
Professor of Geology at
Harvard University.
A
MAH INK COUPON NOW I M money required of this time. A limited numbet
of the free bonus books have been printed for our charter subscribers. To be sure of getting your copy,
fill out and return this coupon today. You take no riakl
y
NONFICTION BOOK CLUB, INC., SS7 Fourth Avoituo, Now York 10, N. Y.
PLEASE enroll me u t member of the XeaSetlen Book
flub. I am to reeelre a free ropy of A TBEASUBY
n Of SCIENCE: I am alto to recetre without expenee.
your monthly masulne. Bor erery 4 N'ontcilon Beak Club
1 ic tact lent eureheeed I am te raeelre. free, the current book
, dirldead. I a free te aecept at lean four monthly tolectioni
~~ C dielnc each year. Too win notify me (f each aelectlen hy
| way at the meathly maaaalna ao that I may ranee It II I
£ with, pleaoe eaad It ana checked at rlfht:
□ August selectin' (IflBACLBB PROM MICROBES)
92.00 (plua a few rente poet age)
C ieetomker leleetlen (MAN. AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY)
92 75 (Phil a few cents poet age*
Q Oeteber selectien (BBANDEI8 A Free Mini Life)
93.00 (plua a few oenti poet ago
□ I will make my flrit selecting after I have received y<m
magaalne. Benue book will be tent with Aim selection
JlMM print pltinlp