PHILADELPHIA ART NEWS
ALL THE NEWS OF PHILADELPHIA ART IMPARTIALLY REPORTED
JANUARY 17, 1938
Vol. 1 - - - No. 6
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WOMEN PAINTERS AND SCULPTORS
PHILADELPHIANS REPRESENTED IN NEW YORK SHOW
Philadelphians figure prominently in the Forty-Seventh Annual Exhibition of the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors. The show, on view at the American Fine Arts Building, January 4 to 21, includes works by no less than seventeen local artists.
In the painting division, Florence V. Cannon is showing “Trees”; Isabel Branson Cartwright, “The Garden in Summer” and “Betsy and Lorraine”; Beatrice Edgerly, “De Profundis” and “Arizona: Arms and Armor”; Hortense Ferne, “Three Ring Circus”; Edythe Ferris, “The Wives of the Dead” and “Anemone in Light”; Sue May Gill, “Figure in White” and “Emilie Dooner”; Margaretta S. Hinchman, “Lark in Latimer Street”; Lucile Howard, “Monemvasia: Greece”; Mary LaBoiteaux “Hawaiian Arrangement” and “Parlor Flowers”; Dora K. Nelke, “Jamaica”; Elizabeth Page, “Pleasant Valley”; Constance Pendleton. “Ascending Roofs”; M. Elizabeth Price, “Southern Magnolia”; Alice T. Roberts, “Old Man River” Rachel B. Trump, “George Jacobs”; Gene Alden Walker, “Madonna of the Flood”.
Philadelphia is represented in the sculpture section by Marion Sanford’s “Toby”.
The National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors, one of the oldest art organizations in America, was founded in 1889, a time when women were not encouraged to exhibit their work. Since then, the prejudice against women artists has of course vanished, but the organization continues to be valuable, not only because of its sponsorship of several exhibitions every year, but also because of its travelling shows composed of members’ work. The Association was among the pioneers in this field of art activity.
In addition to the Philadelphians showing in the current exhibit, exhibiting members of the Association, from the Philadelphia area include: Helen Atwood, Mary Ashburton, Constance Cochrane, Beatrice S. Fenton, Harriet W. Frishmuth, Mrs. Lucy Lederer, Mrs. Ann Heebner McDonald, Anne McTighe, Mrs. Mary E. Marshall, Louise Pershing, S. Gertrude Schell, Alice Seipp, and Pearle Aiman VanSciver.
INSERT WINS
Out of all the replies to our query, “The Insert? Shall we continue its use?”, only three of our readers have answered in the negative. The majority in favor of its inclusion is overwhelming. You have commanded and we obey—long live the insert!
BANNED BY HITLER
NOTED GERMAN ARTIST EXHIBITS IN PHILADELPHIA
Kaethe Kollwitz, now showing at the Carlen Galleries, and acclaimed by many as one of the greatest living women artists, has under the Nazi regime, met the fate of so many liberals and non-Aryans. Expelled from the Prussian Fine Arts Academy in Berlin, she is now forced to live a life of seclusion her life’s work, “the epic of the proletariat”, brought to an arbitrary end.
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Self-portrait 1920
By Kaethe Kollwitz
The print reproduced above is one of a long series of annual self-portraits which give interesting data on the artist’s life. She was born in Koenigsborg, East Prussia in 1867. In her youth she went to Berlin to study engraving under Stauffer Bern, the well known artist. In 1891 she married Karl Kollwitz, a Berlin physician. Her two sons served in the World War, one being killed.
At this time she became greatly interested in pacifism and in social problems. In one series of wood-cuts she depicted scenes from the French Revolution. Another set of prints showed the sweat-shop conditions, the misery and unrest of the hand-loom weavers in Silesia, conditions which resulted from the introduction of the modern power loom in 1848.
Both during and after the World War, she designed posters to raise funds for charitable organizations. She also did some modeling during this period, executing a two figure war memorial.
EXHIBITION OF RUGS
WORK FROM MANY NATIONS INCLUDED
By JANE RICHTER
An international exhibition of modern rugs is an encouraging spectacle. Particularly is it encouraging, when it is placed in the middle of a typical rug department where one vacillates between pleasure and disgust at the alternately good and bad of average floor coverings. Strawbridge and Clothier have done at once a wise and a brave thing in sponsoring this exhibit of modern rugs from eleven nations.
The rugs vary as to size, shape and pattern but there are certain characteristics which apply to the group as a whole: the almost universal use of geometric rather than naturalistic design; the wide range of clear yet unobtrusive colors; and the simplicity. Here are rugs that are both beautiful in themselves and in combination with other furnishings. They have individuality but avoid being stridently dramatic.
The United States has, naturally enough, the largest number of entries, many of the most prominent designers in the country being represented. Two rugs planned by E. F. Zimmerman are here, one particularly interesting. This is in a blue weave that resembles homespun and is tufted in a cream, circular pattern. Stanislaus V’Soske is represented by two sculptured rugs, similar in type to those recently displayed at the Art Alliance.
The foreign work frequently reveals the nationality of the artist. Evelyn Wyld, of France recalls certain abstractions of Modern French painting in her design. The rug is a tan oblong with heavy brown fringe. The central design is composed of incised and raised surfaces which create an effect not dissimilar to the poise and quiet of a George Braque. English conservatism is seen in Marian Pepler’s rough grey rug, in which the pattern is formed by thin white and red lines with regular accent of black.
The exhibition originated at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and is lent to Strawbridge and Clothier’s through the courtesy of that institution.
ARTHUR LEA DIES
Arthur H. Lea, former president of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, died in Chestnut Hill January 7. Mr. Lea was well known as an art lover, at the time of his death being senior vice-president of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
FRESH PAINT
By WELDON BAILEY
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Abstraction, by Morris Blackburn, On View at Sketch Club
Photograph by Chappell
What is the artist?
Is he, like the appendix, a thing of utter uselessness and occasional annoyance—or is he a vital organ in the social system?
What is the art gallery?
Is it an organization of swindlers, a business house run on a cold-blooded percentage basis for profit, or a privately owned institution where practical financial considerations are less important than the desire to serve both artist and discriminating public in the best possible way?
There are artists and artists—galleries and galleries. Without artists and galleries we would find ourselves impoverished, and with the wrong kind of artists and galleries the situation offers equal hopelessness.
There are many unsolved problems relative to both the creator and dispenser of art. There seems to exist more dissension than harmony between artist and gallery—many misconceptions, and frequent lack of co-operation necessary to put art where it belongs: into the homes of the people.
Beginning with the next issue of the Philadelphia Art News, we propose a series of editorials in which we shall consider impartially the vital problems of the situation, in the hope of contributing toward the ultimate Utopia of artist AND gallery, rather than artist VERSUS gallery.
At the moment, one of Philadelphia’s most stimulating exhibitions is in progress. Thirteen local painters have grouped representative works in the gallery of the Philadelphia Sketch Club, to offer a showing of canvases devoid of “commercialism” in any respect. They are pure paintings which have not been executed by commission, or for any possible material advantage.
This, in itself, is definitely stimulating. It is rare, in any walk of life, to find those who give willingly without receiving, and our artists do more of it than any other professional fraternity. Likewise, there is the added interest of comparison between these, the purists in art, and their more mercenary brethren. The result is more than advantageous to these painters.
Leon Karp is one of the most distinctive contributors. His works are almost invariably sombre, and the two canvases shown here are among his finest: a seated woman and child, and a flower study. (There are, incidentally, no titles attached to any of the paintings.) In the larger canvas, the figures are realized with great delicacy and expressiveness of gray against black.
The impact of pigmental dynamite is to be found in the nude study by Arthur Carles, who shows likewise a floral canvas of extraordinary force and vigor. Walter Reinsel has felt the swirl of trees and has controlled them beautifully, no less than the figure lying in a hammock—on the whole, a fine organization of mass.
Lucius Crowell’s oils are full of individuality. Each creation is a separate problem in color and composition, always accomplished with immense verve. From Emlen Etting come two abstractions in which are revealed a decided inclination toward discs and circles of color. Being absolutely “non-representational”, they are, nevertheless, as thoroughly personal to the artist as a canvas can be.
Walter Stuempfig’s two small pictures, one of musicians, the other obviously the interment of Christ, are works of finesse, delicacy and great purity of color. Earl Horter’s study of a harbor is most unassuming, tonally, and for all its static quality, manifests enormous variety of form. There is also one of the spontaneous water color nudes for which Horter is noted.
In point of area covered, John Kucera, of Gimbel mural fame, is most lavishly represented, there being four quite large canvases, more like small murals than large easel pictures. There is no doubt of Kucera’s native feeling for the mural—he seems to conceive habitually in extravagant dimensions, and there are few young painters who have more breadth than he. However, we get more from his canvases when we examine them as miniatures than when we are sufficiently removed to embrace visionally the entire work. At close range they reveal small areas of positively exquisite color and plasticity, which otherwise are completely lost. Kucera will grow, and his present occasional lapses in pictorial unity will, we trust, disappear. He should mature enviably.
As the antithesis of Kucera’s turbulent and dramatic point of view, we may cite five of the latest canvases of Morris Blackburn, who has lately undergone something of an aesthetic metamorphosis. Interested primarily in the interpretation of form by means of flat areas and lines of color, we can imagine the ease with which many spectators will miss the idea. Upon superficial observation they appear to be little more than patterns, but sufficient contemplation uncovers a very definite sense of form. Blackburn’s palette has begun to reject grays, and, despite the contrast afforded by his brilliant segments of positive color, they are quite at ease with each other.
Matthew Sharpe has produced a remarkable decorative canvas—a symphony in blue, violet and green, unobtrusive and restful, although sizable. Another still life of fruit from the same painter, is more reminiscent of his former treatment. Leon Kelly, who relies almost too much upon black outlines, is represented by three canvases of amazing forcefulness—a large still life, small figure study, and a landscape which is one of the finest Kelly’s we’ve seen. In this instance the black outline has not run away with the picture, but contributes vitally to the solidity of ground and trees.
The iridescent charm of Raphael Sabatini’s color is well known, and his present canvas, of cactus and fruit, is an achievement in visual poetry. An impressionistic landscape from Carroll Tyson completes the showing, and seems curiously out of place, so definitely does it breathe the air of another world. However, it is fresh air, and invigorating.
Realizing that this exhibition by no means exhausts the list of “non-commercial” painters, we should like to find more such groups springing up to give us equally stimulating shows.
The Ninth Annual Exhibition of Prints by Philadelphia Artists is now to be seen at the Print Club. It is a lively and varied show, offering an excellent cross-section of Philadelphia printmaking.
The jury consisted of Mrs. William B. Linn, Mrs. William T. Tonner, Staunton B. Peck, Benton Spruance and Hobson Pittman, awarding the John Gribbel Memorial Prize of fifty dollars to Robert Riggs for his technically superb lithograph—“Elephant Act”. Cynthia Iliff was given Honorable Mention for her aquatint, “Patterns of Time”, a beautifully handled and decorative comment upon tombstones, while similar distinction was accorded Richard Hood for “Sunday Shampoo”, a drypoint nicely conceived along the vignette principle, with shades of Blampied in its cross-hatching. “Afternoon in Arizona”, an aquatint by Arthur Bloch, Jr., was likewise handed an Honorable Mention, and we can’t imagine why.
Outstanding in the lithographic section is Benton Spruance, whose “Fencers” is a masterful and imaginative interpretation. Here resides the drama of the moment beautifully expressed. Earl Miller’s “Indian Woman, Lydi”, with her flat, poster-like hair and delicate skin, offers an unique graphic appeal, while Henry C. Pitz retains his usual ruggedness. For the sake of variety, we are one day looking forward to a bit of pure lyricism from Pitz; we’d like to see what he does with it.
A distinct, and excellent, technique in lithography is furnished by Julius Bloch in “Tired Hitch-Hiker”, well composed and eloquent. Alfred Bendiner waxes quite merry in “The Romance of Archaeology—‘Discovery’”—its verve and humor are outstanding. We like Bendiner’s work and he should have a wide audience.
Last, but by all odds not least, among the lithographs, is the creation by Barbara Crawford called “Ladies Prepare”. To this we give the cake, and why it was not granted at least an Honorable Mention we fail to comprehend. It is graphically the most vitally creative contribution to the show.
Among those represented by the bitten plate or drypoint, Jacob Landau’s etching “Amputation in Middle Ages” is arresting because of the delicacy with which he has delineated a gruesome subject: a gentleman engaged (none too gracefully) in having his leg sawed off without benefit of anesthetic. It is a fine plate, and our only quarrel is with the figures, which savor somewhat patently of draughtsmanship common to Renaissance artists.
Isabelle Lazarus Miller shows us a “Merry-go-round” in aquatint—a delightful print, light in touch and full of amusing patterns. From Frank Vanacore comes an etching, “Road Makers”, which merits considerably more than little attention. It is a valid document of honest expression with no finesse dangling around—which, in this case, adds great power to its simple linear construction. Herbert Pullinger shows etchings of the “Old Post Office, Philadelphia” and “Broad Street Station and City Hall”, while Edwin F. Faber creates a plate appropriately enough labelled “Cataleptic”, a courageous but rather stiff attempt at the macabre.
The first things that met our eyes in the block prints were “Little Fighter” and “The Clown” by Julia Bloch, both cats upon their hind legs, the former black upon a white background, the latter white on black. Both are bold and do their duty effectively. Karl Sherman utilizes Van Gogh swirls in his dark “Apple Harvest”, and Michael Gallagher, in “Coal-Pickers”, achieves strength and graphic activity. Angelo and Salvatore Pinto contribute striking wood engravings bearing astonishing similarity of treatment. They reveal the patience and love of texture inherent in their creators.
Herman Bacharach’s “Corn” is notable for its static but forceful decorative flatness of line and mass. Hobson Pittman’s “House at Beach Arlington” is a drama of clouds, and Florence V. Cannon’s block print, “A Permanent”, makes the most of formal white lines cut simply upon a black surface. Mary A. Frack shows the color print we like—a composition of “Butterfly and Roses”. It is unusual in its delicacy of yellow against gray and black.
Other contributors are Wuanita Smith, Raymond M. Bancroft, Wilmer S. Richter, Richard E. Bishop, Hortense Ferne, Gwyneth King, F. Townsend Morgan, James H. Finken, Ada Williamson, Horace Sheble, and yours truly.
An interesting comparison of the work of brother and sister may be made at the Warwick Galleries’ exhibition of lithographs by John W. Gregory and Dorothy Lake Gregory.
Voted one of America’s seventy-three best print-makers in the recent nation-wide poll conducted by “Prints” magazine, John Gregory is represented in many museums and private collections. He works exclusively with lithographs on stone and is one of the few lithographers who do their own printing. Dorothy Lake Gregory is the wife of Ross Moffett, artist, and has illustrated a number of books for children.
Fantasy and decoration are the outstanding characteristics of Miss Gregory’s prints. “The House of Seven Gables, Salem, Mass.” is by no means unlike the treatment of Wanda Gag, and has much decorative charm. Other worldliness is the key-note of “Alice and the White Knight”. It manifests a hard, decorative line and cunningly embodies many of the characters of Lewis Carroll’s classic. Much the same general tonal idea is to be found in “Little Women, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy”. It is nevertheless, somewhat unyielding.
In contrast, John Gregory’s vision is more palpably of this world—with, however, an occasional dash of quaintness when he looks at his fellows. Their picturesque physical traits find witty expression in such prints as “Full Speed Ahead, Boston Public Gardens” and “Characterization”.
In looking about him, the artist has captured the real simplicity of shacks, harbors and houses. Devoid of technical elaboration, they are quietly composed and have a great deal of graphic substance.
Lithographs, wood-cuts and etchings by Kaethe Kollwitz at the Carlen Galleries constitute one of the finest print shows that Philadelphia has seen.
The personality of Kollwitz is quite as gigantic as most of her prints. With the possible exception of Rosa Bonheur, never has there been a more vigorous and masculine woman artist. Complete mastery of draughtsmanship is but the means of expressing her reaction, not to the German scene, but to the poorer class of Germans around her. She looks at her people with god-like compassion—she loves and pities them, and makes us do the same.
More than that, she may teach many of our younger propagandists in art that telling a social tale does not necessarily involve sacrifice of the first qualities of art; that in the work of a great artist (which we regard Kollwitz to be), the social message can become an integral part of a fine work without obtruding itself unduly.
The lithographs are most numerous, and here we find the artist’s most potent and free expression. They have the spontaneity suggestive of working directly, and without preliminary sketching.
Frequently utilizing the flat of the crayon, Kollwitz disdains all non-essentials and produces prints of enormous breadth and carrying power.
Grace Thorpe Gemberling has a little secret of her own when she prepares her colors. We don’t know what it is, but we have felt its effect—the undeniable stamp of an artist’s color personality, as witness her canvases now to be seen at the Women’s University Club.
Color personality, incidentally, occurs none too frequently. When it does, monotony is often its train-bearer. Fortunately, no such thing can be said in this case, and we have ample reason to believe that it shall not in the future.
As personal as are the creations of Grace Gemberling, there is extraordinary variety in her canvases.
This artist’s delineation of well-worn houses is unique as her interpretation of them in color, and there is nothing we like more than the simple but fruitful wedding of line and color mass.
Control of detail is, in this case, an additional gift. Canvases may be flooded with subsidiary graphic or pigmental themes, but there is never confusion.
Grace Gemberling is one of Philadelphia’s most promising painters.
Commenting in the exhibition catalogue of oils by Fritz Noyes now to be seen at the Boyer Galleries, Carl Shaffer calls the painter “as much philosopher as artist”. We should like to add that he is equally a pigmental inhibitionist.
In these canvases there seems a definite lust for color, but lack of courage to exploit it adequately. Consequently, many works that should have genuine brilliance are really inconsistently gray.
There are, however, two canvases: “Cedars in Cove” and “Cedars in Shadow”, both simple and poetic, wherein the artist has taken the gray bull by the horns and created something that does not hope to be colorful, but embodies a scheme of tone that is beautifully and completely unified.
A warm palette is in the possession of Louis Ribak, whose gouaches are being shown at the Philadelphia A. C. A. Galleries.
It is an agreeable warmth, that sings harmoniously not only with Ribak’s line, but with the general composition of this artist’s pictures. The vision is uncompromising, pictorially—the painter has seen acutely, and painted simply, effectively, and in so subdued a manner that there is scarcely a pure color in the exhibit.
Nevertheless, this grayed color is extremely rich, because of its pigmental syntax. The most remarkable inclusions are “Fall Plowing”, a poem of earth and clouds, “Second Street”, a shaded road with and impact of design and color tone, and “Rockport”, with vigor in its rocks and freshness in its blue sea.
The Annual Water Color Exhibition of the Plastic Club is a keen disappointment.
Water color, infinitely more than oil, is the medium of the individualist. The very process of using it induces—and, in fact, specifically involves—the whimsey of the moment.
In this show, the most patent quality is heavy, pedestrian and sometimes stupid painting. We look almost in vain for free, sparkling treatment. Katherine H. McCormick, Lizette Paravincini, Elizabeth F. Washington and A. Christaldi are all well known local contributors but, unfortunately, they are not represented by their happiest work.
The most sprightly paintings are from the brushes of Augusta H. Peoples, Johanna Boericke and Katherine Farrell.
“Young America in the Arts” is the title of the Art Alliance’s current exhibition. Studios and galleries in this section and New York have been thoroughly combed for unusual talent in painting, prints, sculpture and crafts. Restriction was placed upon the age of the artist, none over thirty years being considered. The principal duty of this show is defined as unearthing obscure but promising young artists, and giving them an opportunity to exhibit where they previously had none.
As a cross-section of coming American art one may regard the show with a great deal of optimism. There is variety and much brilliance to these young American creations. Work from the Philadelphia area was acquired through Settlement Music School, Boyer Galleries, Friend’s Central School and Tyler School, among others.
The wealth of current exhibitions in Philadelphia is augmented by a showing of fresh and courageously handled water colors by Gertrude Schell at the Quaker Lady; water colors by Lillian Fleisher at the Germantown Theatre Guild; and water colors and prints at the Gallery of Cultural Olympics.
DR. BYE GIVES CREDIT TO ART NEWS FOR RESTORATION OF UNIVERSITY PAINTINGS
Dear Sir:
Referring to Mr. Du Barry’s letter to you concerning the portraits belonging to the University:—you may congratulate yourself that—while Mr. Du Barry does not mention it—your article of November 22 must have had some weight, for since then the University has placed those paintings most in need of attention in my hands for restoration. Many thanks indeed!
ARTHUR EDWIN BYE.
The article referred to by Dr. Bye was “Paintings, Paintings. Who Has The Paintings?”, by Jane Richter. It described the little known and long neglected oil paintings owned by the University of Pennsylvania.
The Philadelphia Art News reaches the most important figures in art in the Philadelphia area. Its subscribers comprise art directors, commercial artists, school superintendents, art teachers, galleries, connoisseurs, sculptors, painters architects, photographers, draughtsmen, designers, and students, besides amateurs and art lovers. Many of the leaders in these fields are contributors of articles or ideas to the Philadelphia Art News, and are positively interested in this paper.
These individuals are responsible for a large proportion of the art supply business in this area. They are responsible for the purchase of many thousands of dollars’ worth of paper, paint, pencils, art materials and draughting supplies, technical or text books, picture frames, photographic supplies, photo-engravings, lithographs, in short, all those products and services which relate to all forms of art activity.
OUR SUBSCRIBERS READ THIS PAPER as evidenced by the above letter, for which we thank Dr. Bye.
The Philadelphia Art News is the finest advertising medium in its field, in Philadelphia. YOUR ADVERTISEMENT IN THESE COLUMNS IS READ by those who COUNT.
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EXHIBITIONS
- 1525 LOCUST STREET
- Oils and Black and Whites by S. Gertrude Schell.
- BOYER GALLERIES
- Broad Street Station Building.
- Paintings by Fritz Noyes.
- CARLEN GALLERIES
- 323 South 16th Street
- Prints by Kaethe Kollwitz.
- CHESTNUT HILL ACADEMY
- Game Bird and Wild Fowl Etchings and Paintings by Richard Bishop. To January 22.
- HARCUM JR. COLLEGE
- Bryn Mawr
- Prints by Hobson Pittman. January.
- HAVERFORD COLLEGE
- Undergraduate and Alumni Art. To January 22.
- McCLEES GALLERIES
- 1615 Walnut Street
- 18th Century Portraiture.
- Contemporary American Painting.
- N. W. AYER ADVERTISING AGENCY
- Washington Square
- Advertising Illustrations. Through January.
- PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
- Broad and Cherry Streets
- 133rd Annual Exhibition of Oils and Sculpture. From January 30 to March 6.
- PENNSYLVANIA MUSEUM
- The Parkway
- Johnson Collection. “Federal Art Project.” January 22 to February 27.
- PHILADELPHIA A. C. A. GALLERY
- 323 South 16th Street
- Gouaches by Louis Ribak.
- PHILADELPHIA ART ALLIANCE
- 251 South 18th Street
- Exhibition of varied arts by “Young America.”
- PHILADELPHIA PRINT CLUB
- 1614 Latimer Street
- 9th annual exhibition of prints by Philadelphia artists.
- PHILADELPHIA SKETCH CLUB
- 235 S. Camac Street
- Invitation exhibition of paintings.
- PLASTIC CLUB
- 247 S. Camac Street
- Annual Exhibition of Water Colors.
- SCHOOL OF INDUSTRIAL ART
- Broad and Pine Streets
- Work by Faculty. January 19 to 31.
- TEMPLE UNIVERSITY
- Sullivan Memorial Library
- Paintings by Allan Freelon, beginning January 17th.
- WARWICK GALLERIES
- 2022 Walnut Street
- Lithographs by John W. Gregory and Dorothy Lake Gregory.
- WOMENS’ CITY CLUB
- 1622 Locust Street
- Paintings by Mrs. Fern I. Coppedge. Through January.
- WOMEN’S UNIVERSITY CLUB
- Warwick Hotel, 17th & Locust Sts.
- Oil paintings by Grace Gemberling.
- Y. M. & Y. W. H. A.
- Pottery by Frances Serber. January 26 for three weeks.
PHILADELPHIANS REPRESENTED IN MURPHY MEMORIAL OPENING
Three Philadelphia artists, Margaret M. Lukens, T. Mitchell Hastings, and Leopold Seyffert, are represented in the current exhibition of American painting at the Ellen Lambert Murphy Memorial, Winchester, New Hampshire. The Memorial, gift of Gov. Murphy of New Hampshire to the town of Winchester, his birthplace, was dedicated January 17 in the presence of the governors of Massachusetts, Vermont, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire. It consists of two buildings and adjoining grounds, designed as a center for the recreational and artistic activities of the community.
This opening exhibition of seventy-one paintings by forty-three American artists was selected by the Studio Guild of New York, an organization which has recently shown the work of both Margaret M. Lukens and T. Mitchell Hastings. Miss Lukens exhibited her painting in the Guild’s New York galleries during December, while Hastings, whose work was on view at the Warwick Galleries here, is exhibiting thirty of his water colors at the Studio Guild, January 17 to 29.
Mr. Hastings, formerly an architect, well-known in this city, exhibited with the Studio Guild’s revolving Exhibition last summer. At that time his paintings were highly praised by New York critics. This is the first time, however, that any considerable number of his works have been shown in New York.
PLASTIC CLUB
The Plastic Club opened its annual water color exhibition January 10th after a private viewing on the fourth. The show is being held under the auspices of the Exhibition Committee, headed by Mrs. R. E. Peoples. Other members of the committee are Mrs. Ellice McDonald, Miss Marian Turner, Miss Ella Hoedt, Mrs. Walter Greenwood, Miss Elizabeth Washington, and Miss Helen Lloyd.
GRAPHIC ARTS FORUM
The first meeting of the winter series of the Philadelphia Graphic Arts Forum will be held the evening of January 19 in the Hotel Rittenhouse when J. B. Mackenzie will discuss “Etchings and Their Place in Graphic Arts Design”.
The Philadelphia Graphic Arts Forum was organized to provide a common meeting-ground for every person in the Philadelphia area who is interested in improving the appearance of the printed page. Its very informal membership is open alike to typographic designers, art directors, production men, photographers, artists, lithographers, photo-engravers, editors, publishers, etc. Everyone who can gain from and give something to association with the group is invited to attend the meetings of the Forum.
EUROPA
The Europa Theatre, long the sponsor of small exhibitions, recently showed a group of Mexican water colors by Gladys Crisman Lanks. Following this, the Europa is now holding a general exhibition of works by Josef Presser.
HOUSING FOR LOW INCOME GROUPS
By ERWIN G. ADELBERGER
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Room Designed for the Greenbelt Project. Furniture by Edwin G. Adelberger. Resettlement Administration Photograph by Rothstein.
Housing and planning is not merely building, but providing a better way of living for a third of he nation’s population. If we are really attempting to build for people with large families and an annual income of from nothing to eighteen hundred dollars, we must combine all forces, technical, economic, social and cultural. We have, through legislative bodies, set out to do something which will not only change the life of a very large group of our population but will be an emphatic factor in the economic set up, and require the understanding and help of every citizen. It is always unpleasant to do something which effects social forces, because there are people who do not like it, or whose toes we step on. If we are really going to make any contribution in the shaping of social forces, and do something for these people that is really good, and not only the kind of good which they, or somebody else thinks is good for them, then we have to do genuine work. We cannot stand back and let somebody else out there do it.
All questions of policy in connection with housing, whether affecting population, economics, financing or practical construction must culminate in the actual building of the houses, which have to meet conditions that exist. It is here that these forces take visible, lasting shape. Floor plans of dwellings have undergone a change and, thanks to the influence of modern technical progress, the equipment and furnishings of small dwellings have vastly improved. The dwellings must, first of all, serve the welfare and habits of the tenants They must satisfy the daily needs of each person in the household. Serviceableness and economic planning must be carried out in such a way that desirable conveniences are not neglected and living is rendered practical and pleasant. The usefulness of a small dwelling depends more on the arrangement and interrelationship of the various rooms than on their size.
Countries with much experience in housing (I am thinking of the Scandinavian countries) have started to help people make their homes again the center of family life. They are carefully considering the habits of the people, the planning of the rooms, and the budgeting of the furnishings. Few of the families who will be fortunate enough to live in the new houses will have adequate furniture when they move from their present quarters. They will have to be assisted in arranging their new surroundings. They must get out with a very limited budget, but that is no handicap. It may prove of advantage, when understanding and a well trained staff s available for advice.
The furniture and textile industries are, next to building, key industries in Pennsylvania. But how are they prepared to solve the demand for simple, efficient, straightforward furnishings? We have hardly any suitable products on the market. Will our industry, our designers take the cue and produce furniture and furnishings for this new market? Every housing agency should have an advisory staff on house furniture and equipment planning.
Still a very large group of people will remain for the next few years in houses which we would call below standard. These homes could be improved considerably with the help and understanding of the tenant and adviser. The people could be taught how to improve their homes and bring beauty comfort and happiness to the most dreary tenement at little or no cost. With paint, color, arrangement, and a little assistance and care, every place could be made a home in which all could be happy and to which the children would not be ashamed to bring their friends.
If only everybody’s good will could be solicited, we could bring about a change in social readjustment of large groups, and at the same time raise the standard of demand and production.
Housing is not merely a problem for the building trade. It is a large social, economic and cultural factor in the nation.
Erwin G. Adelberger studied design and interior architecture in Elderfeld, Dusseldorf, Munich, Vienna and Barmen. He has designed furniture for housing projects, most notable among them the Resettlement Administration Project at Greenbelt, Maryland. In 1928 Mr. Adelberger won second prize in competition with architects and designers of Prussia and the Rhineland for the interiors, furniture, and furnishings of the Settlement Houses, Cologne. He has recently returned from a four of England, France and the Scandinavian countries, where he studied industrial design, furniture design and manufacture.
The Europa Theatre, long the sponsor of small exhibitions, recently showed a group of Mexican water colors by Gladys Crisman Lanks. Following this, the Europa is now holding a general exhibition of works by Josef Presser.
FELLOWSHIP NEWS
Socially, the Fellowship of the P. A. F. A. is being kept busy. Saturday morning, January 15, a group of adults and children thoroughly enjoyed Francesca Neguelowa’s Marionette Show, presented in the Academy lecture room.
Friday evening, January 21, will be an “Evening in China” for Fellowship members and guests. A dinner at 6:00 p.m. will be held in the Far East Restaurant in Chinatown. At 8:30, in the lecture room of the Academy, W. H. Noble, Jr. member of the University of Pennsylvania Museum Staff, will comment on “Pieces in the Chinese Collection of the Museum”, illustrating his talk with lantern slides. Later in the evening, Dr. John K. Shryock will discuss “Knowledge of Men—Use of Men”. Dr. Shryock for many years head of a Boys’ school in Anking, knows China intimately, and has written several books on the country and her people. To further the Chinese motif, Chinese articles will be offered for sale and among the guests will be Chinese in native costume. Mr. Noble’s and Dr. Shryock’s talks will be free to the public.
A group of thirty-nine oil paintings by thirty-eight members of he Fellowship has ben recently sent to Harrisburg for exhibition in the Museum there, under the auspices of the Harrisburg Art Association. They will be on view, January 13 to 23.
The Fellowship has also received a request from the Scranton Museum for 25 oil paintings by members to be put on sale. They plan to keep the paintings for about five months. For two or three years, this Museum has had similar loan exhibits from organizations in New York and Philadelphia.
A Fellowship election of interest is the choice of Grace T. Gemberling to fill the vacancy on the Jury created by the death of Hugh Breckenridge.
The Europa Theatre, long the sponsor of small exhibitions, recently showed a group of Mexican water colors by Gladys Crisman Lanks. Following this, the Europa is now holding a general exhibition of works by Josef Presser.
FEDERAL ART PROJECT EXHIBIT
Under the joint sponsorship of the United States Government and the Pennsylvania Museum of Art an exhibition of varied arts opens next Saturday at the Museum.
The exhibition, simply entitled “The Federal Art Project”, includes oils, water colors, drawings, posters, and sculpture.
Occupying three main galleries and extending into the main hall the exhibit is to be a manifestation of art in Pennsylvania under government supervision.
“Federal Art Project” will be on view until February 27.
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The Europa Theatre, long the sponsor of small exhibitions, recently showed a group of Mexican water colors by Gladys Crisman Lanks. Following this, the Europa is now holding a general exhibition of works by Josef Presser.
BROKEN COLOR
ADVENTURES IN THE ART MUSEUM
Ana is a young business woman who likes to drop in at the Art Museum of a Saturday morning. To prove that even within those austere walls there is room for humour and imagination, we relate a few of her experiences there.
It began with the Daumier Show. Ana, always impatient with self-conscious culture, was annoyed by a supercilious couple who walked around laboriously reading the captions in French and translating them literally without the faintest appreciation of their humour. Ana herself, familiar with French, let out loud guffaws before each drawing, which caused the couple to disapprove of her as heartily as she disapproved of them. Finally she planned a coup that staggered them. Standing very close as they scrutinized a cartoon, she said loudly to her companion, “Geeze,—these are just like The New Yorker, ain’t they?”
The erudite couple edged away as from a leper.
The first time Ana went to look at the Cezanne “Baigneuses”, she took a chair from a guard and sat before the painting for an hour. It wasn’t that the picture itself held her entranced for so long a time, but this seemed like a comfortable place to catch up on some contemplative thought. Comfortable—except for one disturbing factor—she was annoyed by the modern buffet which is placed below the painting.
The following Saturday she returned to the spot and again asked the guard for a chair. He looked at her a little suspiciously and she knew that he remembered her as the girl who had sat so long before the Cezanne. She sat awhile ever more annoyed with the buffet, upon which the Cezanne almost seems to rest, then she went off to visit other favorite corners of the museum.
Before leaving, she came back for one more look at “The Bathers.” The guard had removed her chair, but came up to her at once to ask if she wanted it again. Straightway she determined to add a bit of spice to his monotonous existence.
“Zank you. Oui.” She said, and sat down. She stared intently at the painting for several minutes, then arose and with clenched fists fairly screamed at the guard, “Zat buffet—eet eez eempossible!” She stamped out of the room in apparent fury.
WAR SCARE
Once Ana was standing alone in the rather dim corner of a room to which some beautiful old Chinese vases had recently been moved.
A Japanese man entered the room, and without hesitating to look around, walked directly up to the vases and lifted his hands above them.
Her heart stopped. Surely he was about to shatter these priceless objects in a barbarous burst of patriotism.
But the impression lasted only an instant. The gentleman caressed the vases lovingly and reverently, barely touching them with his hands, then left the room as abruptly as he had entered it.
Little did we realize our own strength when we opened our offices in the Central Medical Building. After barely three months of occupancy, we were not a little surprised (as well as shocked) to find the entrance of the building entirely renovated a l’art moderne. Whether this happy result was caused by our artistic occupancy we do not know, but at this writing we are slapping our own backs vigorously.
Our reporter asked Sam Spielman how things were going these days. “See that,” said Sam, pointing to an almost completed self-portrait.
“Not bad,” mused our reporter.
“Not bad!” exploded Sam.
“Listen, when an artist has time to paint himself, things are lousy!”
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SNOW WHITE AND ART
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By EMIDIO ANGELO
“The time will come when people will not be satisfied with going to an art gallery to see—for example, Millet’s painting of the Angelus. They’ll expect the man in the painting to pick up the wheelbarrow and walk away.”
More than thirty years ago Winsor McCay, originator of the animated cartoon made this statement, and perhaps the drawings of Walt Disney, creator of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”, may someday be treasured as a Rembrandt or Michelangelo.
When Snow White opens in Philadelphia late in January at the Theatre, you will be amazed by the illusion of the third dimension—delighted at the human and beautiful drawings. How were these results obtained?
Work on Snow White began early in 1935 when three hundred artists were given trials. Of the twenty five eastern artists only twelve made good. The trial, lasting three months, was as follows.
In the morning we attended life class, with emphasis not on beauty but on the quality of line, the weight of the model’s hips, the pull and strength of her shoulder as she rested on her arm.
In the afternoon, for one month—the drawing of characters in all Disney films. The second month was spent in the animation of simple problems, such as a bouncing ball, a flag waving in the breeze, etc. Here we encountered difficulties. Everyone knows that a ball flattens out a bit when it is bounced, and we had taken that into consideration in our drawings. But on the screen tests the ball seemed to stick to the ground momentarily instead of immediately bouncing up again. When we drew the ball flat as a pancake for one frame, then back to normal again, the desired effect was attained.
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The third and last month was spent in animating a small scene with Mickey Mouse, requiring five hundred drawings, yet lasting only ten seconds on the screen. To a moviegoer Mickey cut a pole with an axe. To the animator the job was this:
First, the line of action must be determined. In other words, in what precise way was Mickey to swing the axe.
Next was the anticipation—the detail letting the audience know Mickey is going to cut the pole.
Then comes the action—Mickey swings the axe over his shoulder, comes down with a swift stroke—then whirls around from the impact of the blow, giving the reaction.
Well known to Philadelphians is Emidio “Mike” Angelo, who worked for Walt Disney in his New York studio. Mr. Angelo has had cartoons and caricatures in the Philadelphia Ledger, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Saturday Evening Post, Collier’s, College Humor and other publications. He is a former student of the Pennsylvania Academy, having won two European scholarships. Painting is his hobby, and he has exhibited at the Art Club, the Sketch Club, the Art Alliance and the Pennsylvania Academy.
There are three departments in the Disney Studio—the story department, where ideas are drawn instead of written—second are the master animators who make the beautiful key drawings, and these drawings are connected by the assistant animators. So far all the work has been done in pencil. The pencil drawings are finally turned over to a third staff of girls who do the inking in and coloring.
Ironically enough, the final results are not due to the drawings, but to mechanics and physics. Due to this fact the artists attend school three evenings a week (Disney’s there too) in order to devise methods of overcoming mechanical difficulties.
Walt Disney strives always for perfection. For instance, in Snow White all of the dwarfs have wrinkles on their foreheads but one—and that one is Happy.
When Disney and his men saw the first rushes of Snow White they realized that the action was too jerky and that the film lacked precision. When the figures in the drawings were expanded from the original two and a quarter inches to eighteen inches, it was discovered that the animators had greater latitude in developing expressions. In the small drawings a line that varied one hundredth of an inch from the preceding picture created a jerky movement which was noticeable in the early sequences of Snow White but is absent in the final shots.
In the making of Snow White, seven midgets were employed by the studio. These midgets posed for the study and observation of the artists.
Disney will continue to present to the world other full length films, among them “The Adventures of Pinocchio” and “Bambi”. He will also present a seven minute film, “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”, the musical score written by Leopold Stokowski. Although we all admire the films as they are presented, I feel sure that an exhibition of the original drawings as executed by the artists would be of as much interest and attract as many of the public as the Van Gogh exhibition.
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THE OLD CYNIC
The young, little-known portrait painter, Felix Tate, who worked in an individual style, called one day to pay his respects to Crowell Render, an old, successful, and strictly conservative portraitist. The old gentleman enjoyed a reputation of honor and distinction. He was president of the weightiest art organization in the town, served on important juries, and was patronized by the Great of that region.
The old man was cordial and friendly towards the young painter, making agreeable comments on an example of his work of which he had seen a reproduction. The young man, in turn, found nice things to say about the elder’s academicisms.
Having shown Felix several canvasses in his studio, Crowell Render suggested that they go to see a portrait of a brother of Madame Dickerflit by Augustus John. Madame Dickerflit was certain that the author of the portrait was of assured reputation. Furthermore a large sum of money had been paid for it. Also, it had been painted abroad. There was no doubt in her mind but that Crowell Render would applaud her taste, altho secretly she found the picture hard to understand.
Crowell Render arrived with Felix Tate and generously introduced the young man as “a distinguished young portrait painter”. Madame Dickerflit ushered them in to her living room where John’s work hung opposite the doorway. Felix was immediately impressed by its vivid interpretive quality He was lost in contemplation of its expressiveness when he became aware of the remarks of Crowell Render.
“I can’t understand,” he was saying, “what has happened to John. You know, he used to paint rather well! But he’s grown frightfully careless. Look at that ear, Mr. Tate! It’s at least a half inch too low in the skull. Do you see it?”
Felix did see it, and privately considered it unimportant inasmuch as the portrait was very successful in expressing the spirit and character of the sitter. He also saw anxious disappointment conveyed by the mien and posture of Madame Dickerflit.
“And why didn’t he finish it?” Render continued. “I wouldn’t dream of releasing a portrait in that rough-sketch state! Badly drawn and painted! Very careless! Very! Really, Madame Dickerflit, I can’t commend it. Do you agree, Mr. Tate?”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Render. I don’t agree. I consider the portrait to be a magnificent example of interpretive painting, and that you,” he bowed to the lady, “are to be congratulated on possessing a great work of art!”
Madame Dickerflit was now completely upset by the disagreement of the two painters. Rather foolishly, she led them to another portrait.
“Oh yes,” said Mr. Render “another of those things by Parrott. Good likeness. Not badly done as a matter of fact. Of course you know, Madame Dickerflit, that Parrott has no standing at all among artists. Nice chap, works hard—but he uses photographs—thoroughly inartistic.”
The old man spied a photograph standing on a table. It was a reproduction of a painting of a rich townsman, done by a very famous artist. Mr. Render grunted. “I’ve seen the original of this. Rather good. I’ve painted him too, and I think I caught something in my portrait that was missed in this one . . . Well . . . this has been very pleasant . . . Thank you.”
“Apparently,” mused Felix Tate, after he had parted from Crowell Render, “my psychology is all wrong if I am to succeed as a portrait painter.” He chuckled. “In the future no painter will be any good except me!”
PRISMS. AN ARCHITECTURAL COLUMN
HARRY STERNFELD
By CLYDE SHULER
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Post Office, Milton, Pa.
The United States Post Office at Milton, Pa. is an honest presentation of an ever recurring problem The problem is to design a building that seems to live as a vital force in the community in which it is placed; a building that lives with dignity and simplicity as it serves the people that surround it. This is not as simple as it sounds. Many examples of little “Greek” abound in communities in which they have not the slightest relation.
An inscription in the Lobby shows the historical background of the community of Milton. In part it reads, “The first Post Office was established here in the year 1799.” Although Mr. Sternfeld followed no traditional lines in designing the building, he has suggested in a simple way, early American, by means of the fluted pilastered panels flanking the entrance.
Mr. Sternfeld said, “Economy was a paramount consideration. The amount of ornament and carving had to be minimized. It was therefore concentrated around the entrance. At the time of the erection of the building there was a regulation forbidding the name of the town to be placed on the Post Office Building. To give the building identity, the panel above the entrance door was designed as a relief map in bronze showing the town of Milton and its immediate vicinity. Superimposed upon the map is a bronze plaque showing the great seal of the United States, around which are arranged medallions indicating the various regions of the earth to which mail is sent.
The title of the building is carved over the main entrance. Flanking this are two heroic sculptures showing Indians sending messages by day and night. Since the Post Office is located directly upon the Susquehanna Trail, it was felt that such sculpture representing means of communication before white settlers arrived was particularly appropriate.”
All of this shows Mr. Sternfeld’s sincerity in wanting to make this Post Office a part of the community, not only in function but in form and detail. In the accomplishment of this purpose he was aided most sympathetically by Louis Milione who executed all the sculptural relief from designs made by Mr. Sternfeld.
Upon questioning Mr. Sternfeld concerning his reason for placing the Entrance to one end, I discovered that ideal function called for it and that even in this particular he would not follow the traditional center door if it did not apply.
He told me, “The entrance was placed at one end of the lobby in order to simplify the circulation of the public and to eliminate as far as possible drafts of cold air during the winter months. This arrangement also permits the addition of a similar entrance at the opposite end of the lobby should the future warrant expansion, enabling the public approaching from either direction to easily enter the building.”
There is a sincerity of approach and a sympathetic understanding of the problem in the design of this little Post Office, as there is in all of Mr. Sternfeld’s work. We most highly commend it.
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ON THE SPOT
THE SAGA OF A CAMERATEER
By CHARLES OGLE
III
After getting my one picture of Queen Marie off to America, I turned my attention to the coming Olympic Games. To my way of thinking, the important thing to do was to get some exclusive beat in advance, if possible. Everybody would be sending in pictures of the actual games and they would be published in America at least a week after the events had taken place, and results cabled and published seven days before certainly would take the edge off those pictures. I figured that the great American long distance team was tops in interest, so I laid my plans accordingly. I made arrangements with a member of the French Olympic Committee to keep me constantly posted on the arrival of all teams and where they were to be quartered. Of course everybody was on hand to welcome the S. S. America when it steamed into Cherbourg with the vanguard of America’s athletic contingent. Jack Kelly, our famous rowing champion, shouted a cheery invitation from the deck rail and I was soon stowing away a good old fashioned American breakfast aboard ship with Jack and the rest of his brawny oarsmen. Everybody made lots of pictures, but the long distance team was not aboard and that was the outfit I was waiting for.
At last one morning I got word that they had arrived and were staying at a hotel on the Champs Elysees near the Etoile. I lost no time in getting there and seeking out their manager. He told me they were going for a workout in the Bois at high noon. I asked him to have them leave the hotel in their running clothes and run the short distance from there to the Bois. I told him I wanted to get a picture of the boys rounding the Arc de Triomphe so I could send a picture home showing them in a real Paris setting. He thought that would be a good idea, so at noon they sprinted along the Champs Elysees and flashed around the Etoile right through the traffic while I shot away at them from the opened top of a darting taxi. A boat train was leaving early the next morning and I knew if the other syndicates didn’t show up with their cameras soon I had the jump on them. They didn’t, and late that afternoon I strolled into the Trib office to develop my plates. They were swell, showing the whole team loping through the traffic, French taxis, blue-cloaked police, Paris busses, and the Arc de Triomphe towering in the background. As I came out of the darkroom, Jack Chapman asked me if I had heard anything of the long distance team.
“I heard they arrived,” he said, “and I want to find out where they’re staying. I’m afraid the Times Wide World might get ahead of me.”
“Sure, I know where they’re staying,” I said, and told him. He looked at me suspiciously.
“What are you developing?”
“I’ll show you,” I grinned, and held up a dripping plate.
Jack turned a bit green. “Is that picture exclusive?”
“You bet. Nobody else got anything.”
“There’s no use asking you for an extra plate of it if it’s exclusive,” said Jack tentatively.
“You can shoot ’em tomorrow,” I allowed.
“Yeah . . . there’s a boat train early tomorrow morning too.”
“Mine’ll be on that,” I smiled.
“Well anyway, the Times Wide World won’t trim me—” and Jack dashed off for the Champs Elysees. But too late . . . I had my beat.
This picture was timely as it appeared in the rotogravures just before the Olympic Games started. During the games the American photographers pooled their pictures, all taking their turns covering the events as only a limited number of passes were issued—at a price. This price was taken up and paid jointly by all the American newspapers and syndicates represented there. Covering the games therefore became more or less a matter of routine with competition eliminated.
—To be continued—
“VICTORIAN RUIN”
“Victorian Ruin”, the painting by Grace T. Gemberling, reproduced in this issue, is one of the canvasses included in Miss Gemberling’s current exhibition at the Women’s University Club.
Miss Gemberling, who studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, has held two Cresson fellowships, has been awarded the Mary Smith prize in one of the Academy Annuals, has received the Fellowship Gold Medal Award, and the Figure Composition prize offered by the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors.
In addition to her local shows, she has exhibited at the Corcoran Galleries, Washington, the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, and in Cleveland, St. Louis, and Worcester. One of her pictures is in the permanent collection of the Academy. “Victorian Ruin” is owned by Mrs. Isaac LaBoiteaux, of Bryn Mawr.
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T SQUARE CORNER
Everyone had a swell time at the Harry Broeses’ party on Saturday, January 8th. Impromptu games were the order of the evening.
The draftsmen who are waiting for the Housing Program to break have established a rendezvous at the 16th and Chestnut Automat. Exchanging notes saves a lot of footwork.
Friends of Harry Ross will be especially sorry to learn that he is still quite ill. Cards can be sent to 2520 W. Marston St.
Frank Randolph has located with John McShane.
John MacGuire is back once more with Clyde S. Adams.
The Beaux Arts Institute juries gave S. Matraszek a mention, B. Roney and I. Solomon one-half mentions. The problem, “A Golf Club,” was done at the T. Square Club.
LECTURES
Thursday 5:00 o’clock lectures at the Art Alliance during January continue to be of interest to artists. Following John Frederick Lewis’ discussion of “How to Sell Pictures”, January 6, Mary Curran spoke on “The Federal Art Project”, January 13. One of the highlights of the next two weeks will be Sir Raymond Unwin’s talk on “Housing”, January 28, at the Barclay, under the joint sponsorship of the Art Alliance, the Fine Arts Department of the University, the Philadelphia chapter of the American Institute of Architects, the Pennsylvania Association of Architects, and the T Square Club.
Fred Weber delivered the last lecture in his series “Chemistry of Color”, January 12, in the lecture room, Academy of Fine Arts.
“Zapotec Rule in Mexico” was the subject of Dr. Herbert J. Spinden’s talk at the University Museum, January 15. Dr. Spinden, who is curator of the Brooklyn Museum, spoke in Philadelphia earlier in the season when he gave one of the five lectures in the series “Vital Issues in Art”.
SKETCH CLUB ELECTION
At the recent election of the Philadelphia Sketch Club, Nicola D’Ascenzo was re-installed as president of the organization. Other offices were filled as follows: vice-president, J. F. Copeland; treasurer, E. Milliette; Secretary, G. Beatty; directors, F. Weber, F. Ewing, Pete Boyle, L. Henderson, D. Dengler, and H. Stevenson.
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THUMB TACKS
COMMERCIAL ART NOTES
By PETE BOYLE
EBB TIDE
The recent snowfall had a devastating effect on Edgar S. Melville, the pocket size commercial artist. The lovely white mantle covering Washington Square caused him to thumb some travel folders from the various steamship lines. And by this time he’s on the high seas headed for Bermuda.
Roland V. Shutts, whose hobby is astronomy, turned an honest penny by drawing some of his astral friends. He laid out and did the finished art work for a horoscope book for Roberts and Manders, stove manufacturers.
Raymond Ballinger turned out an interesting job for Provident Mutual Insurance Company. It was a drawing of the company’s imposing office, done in the modern manner and intended for a cover to be used on “Policy”, a customer contact publication.
Charles D. (Chuck) Davidson of the art staff of Franklin Printing Company, got a book for Christmas and promptly built a bookcase for it. Chuck is the only man we know who ever built a library table on the cellar steps.
George Morphesis, recent Industrial Art grad, has landed several illustration assignments from the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Alvin John Thomas designed and executed a booklet for the Bakelite Laminated Corporation. Thomas also turned out a highly enjoyable job when he designed a few personal books for Jessica Dragonette, the radio songstress, a personal friend of long standing.
SIX DOLLARS A COPY
We glanced surreptitiously through the 16th Annual of Advertising Art, a copy of which lay on the counter at Meil’s. It’s still the main source of inspiration to many a commercial illustrator. It’s a beautiful job and its glossy pages are filled with splendid examples of the work the big boys are doing on the major accounts. The work of several Philadelphians is shown, including Stuart Graves’ opus which won an award.
Makers of heavy goods such as nuts, bolts, and other doodads always take their advertising in a dignified manner. No note of unseemly levity is ever permitted in advertising such highly utilitarian objects. Once in a great while there are lighter moments, such as the swell job Harry Ayers did or a trade paper for the Darling Valve and Gasket Company. The company commemorated its fiftieth anniversary with one of Harry’s efforts, a deftly executed bride and groom, a white field with a minimum of copy set on a solid gold background, thus wedding art and industry with a graceful dash of humour.
QUICK JEPSON, THE NEEDLE!
Bill Jepson has gone in for phonograph records in a big way. The brightly shining disks have fascinated him to the extent that he now boasts a splendid collection that reflects a very catholic taste.
HEARTS AND FLOWERS
At lunch last Wednesday, the conversations at the Sketch Club turned to some of the colorful figures who have labored in the local commercial art field in the past. One individual, who lingered in our midst about twelve years ago, according to Frank Ewing, had all the attributes of something akin to genius. A long, rangy fellow he looked as though he might have stepped out of a novel on Kentucky in the days of the long rifle. He was, in common parlance, a card. Turning to advertising as a means of self support, he evolved a most unique way of showing his samples. He had acquired an old family album. Red velvet covered and boasting a metal clasp that had to be opened with a tiny key. On interviewing an art director, he would ceremoniously unlock and open to the pages where the family photographs had been replaced by his art work, all of which was drawn by hand. When the seance had ended and the A. D. had mumbled something about keeping him in mind, he would thank him courteously and proceed to lock the album and its precious contents. While he was doing this he would pull the knob of a little drawer in the bottom of his unusual portfolio and a sweetly pitched music box would commence playing. He would walk through the door, album under arm, his whole being the center of merry, tinkling music, even though his heart was breaking. There wasn’t a dry eye in the place.
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HOWE ON SCULPTURE JURY
George Howe, Philadelphia, architect, will serve on the jury for the sculpture competition sponsored by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. The object of this competition is to find a group of statuary suitable for installation with the Insurance Company’s exhibit in the business administration building at the New York World’s fair in 1939.
WADE LANE
By PETE BOYLE
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It’s a nerve wracking task to shadow a man for months and find out he’s too busy to be interviewed but that’s the way it’s been with our quarry, Wade Lane. We had been watching the offices of the Aitkin-Kynett Agency for some time, and finally, together with a number of operatives of the F. B. I., we closed in and struck. Taken completely by surprise, Lane surrendered before he could reach for a sub-machine gun he keeps in a lower drawer. With a courtly gesture he reached his hands forward and we put the cuffs on in a trice.
“I’m glad it’s over,” he said, biting the wrong end off an El Producto, “I guess it’s the chair for me.”
“Yes, it is,” we concurred heartily. “Won’t you sit down?”
Lane has a roomy office in the suite occupying almost the entire thirteenth floor of the Girard Trust Building, and from his window can glance up at William Penn’s statue in a neighborly manner.
Art Director in his present affiliation for the last eight years, he has had a most comprehensive experience in commercial art. He spent a great deal of time in New York where he operated his own art service before returning to Philadelphia. His art training consisted of two years at the School of Industrial Art. Almost immediately, he embarked on a career of commercial art that was interrupted only by a militant interlude during the world war in which he served as a Lieutenant.
We asked Lane our favorite burning question; did he think the photograph was gradually putting the artist out of the picture? Such is not the case, in his opinion there is room enough for both. The photograph’s strength lies in its ability to portray accurately any subject. Take for instance a piece of machinery. Mechanically minded folk might shy at a drawing for fear of intentional distortion. A photograph of the same subject reflects an accuracy of representation and an engineer would, in a sense, get the impression that he would be looking at a faithful reproduction even if it had in some degree been retouched. That in essence is the main virtue of camera work.
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Advertising illustration has gone ahead tremendously, Lane thinks, and a comparison of work done ten or twelve years ago with that done today reflects an improvement almost incredible. Draughtsmanship has been brought to an enviable state of development.
Lane commented upon the various cycles of taste or preferment that have manifested themselves in the past few years. Cartoons were all the rage awhile back and then subsided, only to come back stronger than ever with the strip cartoon advertisement and the increasing number of clients who want that properly balanced dash of humor in their ads.
The old type faces have always claimed his interest, for Lane thinks that the plethora of dazzling and unusual type faces that now sparkle on the typographer’s sample book should be used only for the emphasis an unusual type face can give to a word. His personal preference lies with those perennial favorites, Caslon and Goudy. He likes them because nearly all our books and periodicals have been printed in such type faces as these. Together with Bookman and Bodoni, they have one outstanding feature that Lane believes is paramount,—readability.
Lane is one of the few art directors who is able to keep his hand in by knocking off a batch of comprehensives every now and then. A prodigious worker, he has the enviable ability of remaining calm and unruffled, even under a pressure of work that often turns has office into a well appointed madhouse.
With an unusual variety of accounts to work on he keeps a refreshing amount of sparkle in them by use of different art media. For a hand lotion account, he had some charming mannequins modelled in clay, dressed in the latest vogue and photographed in full color, thus achieving a smartness that would be difficult to get with living models. On an oil account he bought a series of etchings to illustrate some ancient Chinese proverbs. He still gets a lot of fun out of his work.
Whenever he has time he likes to build ship models. He purchases any art book that comes out, soaking it up like a blotter, in the hope that it might contain the germ of an idea he could use in a layout. Any new device he comes across is promptly purchased and he grins sheepishly when he admits that he has enough art materials at home, brushes, inks, pencils and pastels, to stock a garrison. He’s been buying them for years, making him a salesman’s dream. Our personal opinion is that he’s getting ready for a revolution.
The apple of Lane’s eye, however, is his brand new beach house at Harvey Cedars, New Jersey. Done in the modern manner, it faces Barnegat Bay and is an ideal spot for a person with a hankering for the sea. He races down there every week-end and goes native with a bang. Living among the sand dunes and salt air, he relaxes utterly and is very proud of the fact that a native once mistook him for a clam-digger.
CRAFT SHOW
A craft show, contributed to by leading artisans from Philadelphia and vicinity, was featured at the Exhibition Salon of Strawbridge & Clothier’s Old York Road Store, the week of January 10.
Included in the exhibition were examples of stained glass by the D’Ascenzo Studios, the Sotter Studios, Valentine d’Ogries, Edward J. Bryne, Henry W. Willett, Lawrence Saint, and Paula H. Balano; ecclesiastical and domestic weaving by the Talbot Studios and Mrs. George H. Beals; puppets by Frank and Elizabeth Haines; work from the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works, Doylestown; jewelry by Althea Hunsburger; metal work by the Keyser Brothers, William Brady, William Goodell, and Dr Thomas J. Clemens; and flower compositions by Mabel Scott Craven.
TRICKS OF THE TRADE
Do you need a new Cutawl Machine in your Display Studio? It is guaranteed to help the cutout master avoid whittling—for $125.00.
Real economy for water-colorists oil painters and photographers raw wood picture frames in stock sizes from 12x16 to 20x24 inches, well joined and low priced. There are dozens of easy ways of giving these frames interesting and acceptable finishes.
Foinet Colors are hand-made with poppy oil—which makes them slower drying than linseed oil colors.
How large do you work? If you don’t go above 12x12 feet you can save a lot of time in projecting your small preliminary working drawing from 4x4 inches to 12x12 feet—or any ratio in between—with the Brischograph. Time saver for poster painters and muralists priced at $25.00. There’s a smaller model for $10.00.
Do your work right and make it stick! How’s your supply of Rubber Cement? . . . Speaking of making things stick, have you done any paper collages with the wide variety of thin poster papers now available in bright and pastel shades? Their use gives rough visuals smartness and a finished look.
Tough, slightly grayed, transparent layout paper—in pads or on rolls—is easy on the eyes. Takes pencil, pen, or light wash.
A neat gadget is Drafto—Portable Drawing Machine. Scaled rulers set at right angles are fixed to a movable arm, and can be adjusted smoothly and quickly to any position on the board so you don’t need T. square and triangle—or even thumb tacks. It’s easily carried about so that the architect or engineer can make fast accurate drawings on location and why wouldn’t it be swell for making small finished advertising drawings or lettering for reproduction? Comes in sizes to take sheets 9x12 inches up to 15x20 inches—from $5.50 to $14.75. Accessories are available to increase its usefulness—or for replacements.
MODERN PUBLICITY 1937–38 with 16 full color plates and 300 illustrations, edited by F. A. Mercer and W. Gaunt, is very informative to the commercial artist who must keep abreast of the wave of competitive originality in advertising design. Cloth bound, $4.50, paper wrappers, $3.50.
Students and teachers of lettering will be interested in the comprehensive treatise LETTERING OF TODAY, edited by C. G. Holme. Cloth bound, $4.50, paper wrappers, $3.50.
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PROGRESSIVE EDUCATION
WHY NOT A PENNSYLVANIA-DUTCH REVIVAL?
By WAYNE MARTIN
During the Christmas holidays I had occasion to be in one of our large department stores and in the course of my peregrinations I had momentarily a most agreeable surprise. On closer inspection that surprise turned into one of righteous anger. What I thought from a distance to be Pennsylvania-Dutch pottery, turned out to be on closer inspection, Mexican ware and none too good a quality at that.
That evening in discussion, I advanced a theory of a revival of the crafts of this section that are as typical as scrapple or the Mummer’s Parade. At once I was asked how this could be started, and promptly answered, “Through the Schools”.
Such a thing could be brought about by careful planning on the part of the combined efforts of the Art, Industrial Arts, Music, History and English teachers of a system that has had such a culture in the past. Just as blood is thicker than water—so is that intangible thing we call racial inheritance, a definite part of us. Ancestors who carefully fashioned a slipware pie dish, or an iron dipper, have passed on something to the fingers and minds and souls of their descendants. They may be buried far down under a veneer of “Five and Ten Cent” China or over-stuffed furniture, but they’re there. We see evidences of them cropping up from time to time, and reverently hail such a “phenomenon” as a “primitive” or a “natural”. We fete this fellow and make much of this wonderful thing that is simply as natural to him as breathing.
Now I don’t want to flood the market with the work of legions of these primitives that we have unleashed, but I do think that we owe the Spirit of a natural heritage a chance to evince itself in a natural way. There are many aspects to such a movement. The easiest would be to teach the old crafts again and find a market for the product. This is a matter for the teacher combined with the business man. This country is awakening slowly through the efforts of the Federal Government to the fact that there are communities that can do this thing, if given a chance and some support to get them under way.
Once again schools are indicated and why not the public schools? Are we so hide-bound that we refuse to build a congenial curriculum for a specific locality, or must we conform to a universal pattern? Going along this way we touch the lives of certain individuals who will find pleasing and useful work for life, but you say and rightly; “They can’t all be potters or iron workers or what have you.” No they cannot, but all can participate in a movement to improve a society that at the present time is built up from high pressure sales talks and “keeping up with the Joneses.”
True values, careful selection useful beauty, all can be taught in the schools. We say that we do these things, and I have no doubt that in many of our minds we are supremely smug in our belief that we have nothing to be afraid of, on this score. I wonder—and so would you if you would stop to look objectively at the work done under your direction.
This is being written primarily for those teachers in communities hat have as a back-bone, the Pennsylvania-Dutch people. But I see no reason why it could not be applied to all communities. If there is a common denominator for taste it must of a certainty find its beginning in the racial characteristics of the person. How then, dare we offer a set course to a group and expect them all to react in the same way? Surely this problem—vital to the individual must be met I lust be met as individuals—not as groups, not by one teacher, but by all working to a common end.
Each community has its particular heritage and here in the East where the foundation for many of our American traditions was laid, seems the place to cradle such a movement. Why not a native pottery and furniture and ironwork, instead of the imported products of an alien culture? Why not taste in homes and furnishings in keeping with the real feelings within us? Surely the teachers in such communities dare not but give such things serious thought.
LECTURES AT TRENTON
The School of Industrial Art, Trenton, New Jersey, announces two series of lectures by Amy Watson Wells, a member of the faculty.
“Practical Interior Decorating” will be a sequence of seven lectures consisting of an analysis of the principles of design; the psychology of color in the home; period and modern furniture, its selection and arrangement; textiles, rugs, and wallpaper; treatment of windows and room ensembling. The lectures will be illustrated with lantern slides and original material, and will be given Friday afternoons at two-thirty, and again in the evenings at eight o’clock. The first lecture was given January 14.
In Miss Wells’ other course “Appreciation of Modern Painting”, paintings of the past and present will be analysed with particular reference to the great traditions in Italian, German, Flemish, Dutch, and French art and their influence on Modern American Painting. The plastic elements from which a picture is built—line, pattern, form, space, texture, color, and subject—will be discussed. This series, which is to be aided by lantern slides, prints, and original paintings, will take place on Monday evenings at eight o’clock, beginning, January 17.
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ABOUT ARTISTS
Catherine Morris Wright, Philadelphia artist who held such a successful exhibition here earlier in the season, concluded a one-man show at the Grand Central Art Galleries New York City, January 15. Included in her New York exhibition were twenty oil paintings and a group of water colors in folio.
George Biddle has been elected president of the new Mural Artists’ Guild, a painter’s organization affiliated with the A. F. of L.
Daniel Garber, dean of the New Hope group, opened a one-man show, January 17, at the Tricker Galleries, New York City.
Franklin Watkins, one of Philadelphia’s best known painters, is currently holding a one-man show at Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts.
Mr. Charles W. Bentz, that energetic and popular member of the Business Men’s Art Club proceeds apace both with his avocation and his profession. He paints prodigiously in his studio in the Middle City Building; that he does not neglect business is indicated by his recent election as President of the South Philadelphia Real Estate Board.
HARGENS DESIGNS CALENDAR
Charles Hargens, well known Philadelphia painter, has recently illustrated the 1938 Calendar for the Chestnut Street Engraving Company. The illustrations depict various types of American transportation, including the prairie schooner, the horse and buggy, the canal boat, the earliest and the most modern trains and automobiles, and the airplane. In commissioning Mr. Hargens for this piece of work, the company is following its annual policy to engage a local artist to create designs based on the local or national scene.
CHEW OPENS STUDIO
Mr. Oswald chew, member of the Business Men’s Art Club, has remodeled an old stone barn on his estate in Radnor into a splendid studio. He celebrated its completion with a studio-warming on January 5. The affair was attended by a large number of his friends. Refreshments were served and the group was entertained by the colorful Russian singer Wavavitch.
For the opening occasion Mr. Chew displayed a considerable number of oils, water colors, and drawings executed on sketching trips both here and abroad.
HARCUM COLLEGE TEA
Harcum Junior College, Bryn Mawr, entertained at tea the afternoon of January 16, in honor of Hobson Pittman, a group of whose wood cuts are on view at the school. The exhibition is open to the public until January 31.
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PAINT-CRAFT
By HENRY WHITE TAYLOR
Manual dexterity is the least important requirement for a work of art. The Great Virtuosi of Art seldom adventure beyond the vanity of cleverness. Theirs is the macabre dance of an elegant brush in miraculous lines and unctuous masses over glittering surfaces.
Once having discovered his socially effective metier, the clever painter is content to repeat his graceful performance endlessly, as though he had a star act in a continuous vaudeville show. So long as fresh audiences are supplied from the populous world, this dexterous actor gratifies his hungry ego and he prospers. He succeeds, often, throughout a long and conspicuous life.
Hence it is obvious that from the point of view of personal creature comfort, it would be most sensible for the artist to acquire a Trick, a Tailor, and an Accent. If his Trick is startling his Tailor imaginative, and his Accent romantic, he will be irresistible. But he probably will not produce works of art.
Manual dexterity, craftsmanship, technical proficiency, and work-of-art are terms too frequently confused, although they are not synonymous.
Craftsmanship is essentially mechanical. Good craftsmanship in painting embodies good mechanics in construction and chemistry. It means efficient use of materials. It helps to provide brighter and more colorful or more exact results which are lasting.
Technical proficiency in painting is a much broader term. It requires understanding of the whole language of aesthetics, including craftsmanship, abstract composition, abstract color, and draughtsmanship—with all their nuances of textural differences, apposition of area-shapes and forms, relationship of color intensities, rhythm of line, gesture, and accents with optical darts—and with the ability to use this language for plastic or graphic expression.
That translation of intangible thought, form or emotion into tangible artistry is the most difficult feat in art. Any knowledge which makes the flow of Mind to Canvas smoother is worth acquiring. Ideas are not mechanical, but our eyes and heads and paint and brushes are. It is a form of intellectual provincialism to assume that artistic creation will solve its own mechanical problems by a divine miracle.
Craftsmanship can be unaesthetic, but every aesthetic master-piece must employ craftsmanship of some sort.
Most of us have been ushered into our artistic careers with a pitifully inadequate experience with the mechanical possibilities of plastic and graphic expression. With regrettable loyalty to our teachers or with plain laziness in our thinking we continue within a narrow scope to produce works which may not even approach our latent capabilities. Some of us spend our lives working out technical problems in color or in abstract composition; some strive to “make it like”; most of us merely dawdle; combined, we produce the trivialisms which are called Art.
Very often it is a short step from habitual practice to a new expedient which would actually bring Mind to Canvas and make the difference between a passably good piece of work and one which really comes off. That little step is physically easy if supported by mental alertness, courage, and humble concentration on artistic expression.
P.M.S.I.A. NEWS
Students from the School of Industrial Art walked away with all four prizes in the recent poster contest sponsored by the Tasty Baking Company. Douglass K. Franklin won the first prize of $100; Benjamin Greber, second, $75; Jay Garbutt, Jr., third, $50; and Marie Berner, honorable mention, $15.
Beginning January 19, there is an exhibition of work by members of the faculty. The show is being held in the school gallery, and is open to the public every afternoon from 2 to 5.
January 12, Edward Warwick, Principal of the school, spoke to the Women’s Club of Germantown on “Furniture—The Chippendale Style in America”.
Edward A. Walton, Instructor in Furniture Design and Perspective, is giving a series of lectures on “The History of Furniture” at the Academy of Medicine, Lovering Ave. and Union St., Wilmington, under the auspices of the Junior League. The first lecture was delivered January 11.
HAVERFORD COLLEGE
Haverford College is now holding its first show of undergraduate and alumni art. Following a private view on January 14, the exhibition was opened to the public the following day, to be on view until January 22.
Oils, water colors, lithographs, sculpture, and photographs constitute the show. The material was selected and hung by a committee headed by J. Stogdell Stokes. Other members of the committee were: Dr. Richard Bernheimer, professor of art at Haverford; Dr. A. Jardine Williams, professor of French; Dr. Christian Brinton; Margaretta Hinchman; Mrs. M. Alexander Laverty; Lawrence Taylor; Thomas Wistar, Jr.; C. Wharton Stork; and Arthur Percival Smith.
Student interest in the exhibition has been stimulated by an undergraduate committee of which Anthony C. Poole is chairman.
CULTURAL OLYMPICS
Thornton Oakley and Raymond Ballinger as jury for the Poster and Illustration Exhibit of the Cultural Olympics, have just announced their selections from that show.
- The Archers”
- Charles Brown
- Illustrations for a Horse Story”
- Eleanor Grubb
- Afternoon of a Faun”
- Peggy Jolley
- Indian”
- Catherine Leon
- Marche Slav”
- Amelia Libby
- Danse Macabre”
- William McCandless
- Travel Poster—Scotland”
- Doris Shronk
- Spanish Rhapsody”
- J. Stephens
These pictures are now eligible for exhibition in the final show of the Olympics at the end of the school year.
ART IN PRINT
By BEN WOLF
VERVE, published in Paris and distributed in an English version in this country by the publishers of ESQUIRE and CORONET, will bring joy unbounded to the hearts of the disciples of Matisse, Man Ray, Vollard, Gide, and their confreres. The cover, an arresting creation in itself, in red, white, blue and black is by Henri Matisse.
There is much of value to be found in this interesting publication. Several lithographs in color by Fernand Leger and Joan Miro could have been omitted profitably. One objects, not to their surrealistic nature, but to their amateurish presentation.
Man Ray proves his versatility with an exquisite photographic study of a nude as realistic as a Bougereau, shocking in contrast with his surrealist essays so frequently seen. Photographically, we were extremely impressed with a nude by Florence Henri, while the alpine shot by Gos is a most striking study of great jagged rock formations. Blumenfield has created some extremely sensitive plates, using a soft focus, as is his custom, and producing plates that become far more than mere photographs.
Picasso’s “Guernica” gives a gripping picture of the emotional struggle which is the essence of any national conflict. It is a beautifully designed interpretation of the horrors of war, of dramatically weird content.
Among the many articles the most informative is by Andre Gide, titled “The Disappearance of the Subject in Sculpture and Painting” M. Gide knows HIS “subject” as well as the problems which confront the modern painter today.
We quote: “What subject can there be for modern painting? No doubt an artist such as Maurice Denis can still paint Madonnas and Annunciations, and decorate the chapel of Vesinet with scenes of piety; but this Christian inspiration which in him is sincere, would be a hypocritical affectation assumed to order in many others. Shall they then have recourse to Greek legend? No doubt the pagan myths offer an unlimited field; but the greater number of contemporary artists are turned away from fiction by the exigencies of realism.”
Next issue we will review ADOLPH BORI by George Biddle.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
“Here, exiled from my fellow Philadelphia artists your Art News is eagerly looked for and the insert adds zest and interest. Please continue it, the few wrinkles can easily be pressed out, and to actually see the design of a canvas conveys much more than words. I talked with Benners about her decoration and it is good to hear she has successfully completed it. I also chatted with Emlen Etting of the art school, he was about to start and see that is accomplished—better still, there is a reproduction of his work enclosed. Enjoyed also Taylor’s paint craft and in a more personal way was interested in the adjectives describing my show at the Plastic Club. When shall I ever live down being a pure painter?”
GEORGINE SHILLARD.
“My congratulations for your splendid Philadelphia Art News are long overdue, but I trust that even at this late date they are acceptable. You are doing a much-needed job in excellent style.”
ALLAN FREELON.
“By all means continue the loose leaf art picture; It is most interesting and educational.”
MATHILDE POTTER.
“Do continue the insert! Rumpled or unrumpled it adds an extra punch to ‘All the art news of Philadelphia’ and the announced policy of your very interesting paper.”
JULIET WHITE GROSS.
“I am writing in regard to the insert and the question, ‘Shall we continue its use?’ Personally I’d like to have it continued. The one by Mr. Breckenridge was to me most valuable and also that of Mr. Martino. The latter and the one in the December issue are all I’ve received as I had not known about the PHILADELPHIA ART NEWS until I went to call on my friend, Mrs. Coppedge. She gave me the one containing Mr. Breckenridge’s, as she knew of our having been friends at the P. A. F. A., and also that I’d studied with him six summers in Rocky Neck. I certainly congratulate you on what you are accomplishing in the great paper you are publishing and wish you great success.”
LAURA D. L. LADD.
Dear Mr. Wolf:
I had to write to tell you what a good art paper you have. It covers the Philadelphia vicinity thoroughly. Three cheers to Fresh Paint; he certainly hits the spot. Also to Miss Richter. Here’s luck and a large circulation.
Yours truly,
WILLIAM LOUGHERY.
P. S.—The reproductions could be made in folio form yearly.
“Is it not possible that the Art Museum is being subjected to some too many belated blasts. . . . Isn’t the Museum generally conceded to belong to an almost different era of architectural consciousness? After all, it is nearly twenty years old and viewpoints have undergone a tremendous change! Today it would surely be built along other lines. But, since we have the museum as it stands, the more important question seems ‘what can be done with it?’ (There is no use in ‘blowing up’ the Arqive Wooden Horse because he faced Troy lacking a streamline radiator and pneumatic brakes.) Surely a little attention would remedy the glaring windows from within the Museum. And if people insist upon knowing what Greek inscriptions mean informed guides or better still a translation in luminous paint could balance our debt to tradition. And it is also important (if we are to insist upon absolute functionalism) to streamline our consciousness to the extent of being able to discover what is lacking or amiss with the ‘functioning’ of our economic structure. There is more to our environment than unsatisfactory buildings! And even the staunchest—the most fanatical purist will admit, I believe, that despite the defects in appearance it is still more fun to enter the Museum than to go into the Post Office. We must of course anticipate the appearance of new museums but we should also enjoy the possibilities of the present structure.”
HARI KIDD.
“I read Mr. Martin’s article of December 20th on Progressive Education with considerable interest. I was happy about the educators when they were all nice and integrated. But—what happened to the little girl mentioned in the fifth paragraph?”
M. STILES, JR.
“The insert is one of the most interesting features of your paper. Even tho it comes in poor condition it at least gives a good opportunity to study the distinctive style of each artist.”
GEORGE H. BORST.
“The Insert is a waste! Somehow an extra reproduction instead can be incorporated on the pages of the Art News.”
ALEXANDER PORTNOFF.
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DA VINCI ALLIANCE
The DaVinci Alliance held a party night January 7, at the Venetian Club, 8030 Germantown Avenue. Most of the members were on hand with wives or sweethearts to enjoy the music and dancing.
