Evening Star Newspaper, January 18, 1931, Page 93

o Calendar of Exhibitions CORCORAN GALLERY OF ART, Seventeenth sireet and New York avenue. Permanent Collec- tions. Paintings, sculpture, W. A. Clark Collection, etc. PHILLIPS MEMORIAL GALLERY, 1600 Twenty-first street norih- west. Modern Art and Its Sources. NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, Tenth and B streets northwest. Permanent Collection. SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, Tenth and B streets southwest. Etchings by Abbo Ostrowsky. January 5 to February 1. FREER GALLERY OF ART, Twelfth and B streets southwest. Perma- nent Collection. Recent Acqui- sitions. ARTS CLUB OF WASHINGTON, 2017 I street. Paintings by W. Lester Stevens of Princeton, N. J., and Love Porter of New York. January 11 to 25. TEXTILE MUSEUM, 2330 S streeil northwest. Rugs, Tapestries and other textiles of the Near and Far East. Admission by card obtainable at the office of G. H. Muyers, 1508 H street northwest. PUBLIC LIBRARY, Eighth and K streets northwest. Art Depart- ment. Group of paintings lent by the Phillips Memorial Gallery. Lithographs by J. H. Himmel- heber of “Our Washington.” LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, First and East Capitol streets south- east. Exhibition of Historical Prints from the Mabel Brady Garvan Institute of American Arts, Yale University. UNITED STATES NATIONAL MU- SEUM, Arts and Industries Building, Ninth and B streets southwest. Pictorial Photographs, by Ansel Easton Adams of San Francisco. January 1 to 31. HOWARD UNIVERSITY, Sixth street and Howard place. Water Colors and Lithographs, by George Laurence Nelson. January 2 to 26, inclusive. OTH exhibitions at the Arts Club at the present time are more than com- monly interesting. Mr. Stevens’ paint- ings fill the auditorium, Miss Porter’s dignify and beautify the first floor reception and dining rooms. Either should prove a sufficient inducement to visitors, and adequate reward to those who for the purpose of viewing are obliged to step out of their way. Mr. Stevens shows both oil paintings and water colors. The majority of his subjects are of foreign places; some of the most inter- esting are Italian and Swiss scenes. None who have visited Piesole could fail to recognize and find pleasure in his pictorial representations of streets, buildings and characteristic views of this famous hill town near Florence. Another extremely interesting subject is an Alpine scene in which the long, slender spire of a little church vies in interest with a snow-covered peak »ot far distant. Mr. Stevens’ work in both mediums is strong, eolorful ‘and vivid: Curiously enough, his out- door pictures, however, are not atmospheric, do not take into account those curtains of air which serve as veils to distance and ofttimes Jend subtle mystery to the commonplace. There is nothing subtle or myterious about the paint- ings which Mr. Stevens is showing here at this time. They are frank and obvious and tell the whole story from beginning to end, so that all who run may read. The wheel of time again seems to have revolved, bringing back to us a kind of realistic painting which for some years seemed to have disappeared. The auditorium of the Arts Club serves ad- mirably as a little gallery, but where works are as strong, colorful and vivid as are Mr. Stevens’, they appear to better advantage when shown with abundant space. In the present exhibition the paintings are a little overcrowded to be seen to the best effect. Miss Porter, whose works are to be seen in the adjacent rooms at the Arts Club, is a New Yorker, and has not exhibited here before. She is evidently one of those, however, who has a keen appreciation of beauty in nature and the power to interpret it. Almost without excep- tion the paintings she shows here at this time are not only admirably rendered, but inherently charming—pictures with which one would be glad to live. To paint rugged scenes, to interpret strong subjects acceptably, requires very much less ability than to paint that which is beautiful, subtle, appealing, in such wise that no taint ~of mere prettiness lingers to offend. This Miss Porter achieves. Her compositions are well ar- ranged, her choice of subjects excellent, her manner of transcription skillful and sensitive. Seldom, indeed, does one find paintings of this character, so admirable and at the same time so pleasurable. No doubt Miss Porter has a dis- cerning eye and a touch skillful and sympa- thetic. It is seen in her smallest sketch as well as in her most finished canvases. As Miss Porter is among those who have late- ly “arrived,” the prices of her works are still remarkably low. Where painters of greater reputation are charging $1,000 and more for their works, Miss Porter’s prices are from $25 to $200. The wise collector is he who recog- nizes ability when he sees it and buys while reputations are still in the making and before prices have been advanced through fame. THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, JANUARY 18, 1931, A AK A A\H AND 7 LELA MECHLIN Two Interesting Exhibitions at the Arts Club. Himmelheber’s Drawings on View at the Public Library. “Wind-blown Willows,” by Love Porter, on exhibition at the Arts Club.- N the little Gallery of Art at Howard Univer- sity, located in the basement of the chapel at Sixth street and Howard place, is to be seen this month, through January 26, a collection of water colors and lithographs by George Laurence Nelson of New York. The water col- ors consist of life-size figure paintings, flowers, an historic Deerfield doorway and three interiors of rooms in the American wing of the Metropoli- tan Museum, New York. The lithographs, of which there are 14, are almost all interiors, for the most part Colonial in type. Mr. Nelson was born in New Rochelle, N. Y., in 1887, and studied at the National Academy of Design and later in Paris. His parents were both artists, his father having been a founder of the Salmagundi Club and the Art Students’ League. At 21 he himself became an instructor at the National Academy of Design, and he still teaches there. He is well known for his por- traits and figure paintings in oils, but he does not restrict himself to any one type of subject. His interiors in water color are said to have been inspired by his own Summer home at Kent, Conn., nestling among the beautiful Litchfield Hills. He is represented by four paintings in the National Academy of Design's permanent collection, and his works are owned by numerous private collectors. For the Plattsburg Normal School and public school No. 55, New York, he has painted murals, The strongest impression that one carrles away from the present exhibition of Mr. Nel- son’s water colors and lithographs at Howard University is of the excellence of his drafts- manship and the importance of drawing as a fundamental of art. Not only as a draftsman, but as a painter, Mr. Nelson evidences excellent training and command of medium, without which none can hope to succeed. This s un interesting, instructive and delightful little ex- hibition. In a small class room adjacent to the gallery at Howard University a very good collection of Japanese prints by famous print makers is on view, and on the walls of the wide corridor leading to the gallery is displayed a series of pastels—portraits, still life and flowers—by students of the department of fine arts at How- ard University, which would reflect honor upon any institution. There-is nothing amateurish or groping about these works, especially the portraits. They are strong, straightforward, simple and very well done—highly commend- able. The series of lectures on art planned by the department of art at Howard University and announced previously in these columns is prov- ing very successful, with attendance so large that seating has become a problem, and those in charge have under consideration the use of a larger hall THBRE is a movement on foot to name a road or driveway in Rock Creek Park after Max Weyl, for many years one of the leading Wash- ington artists. This movement originated in & resolution from the Oldest Inhabitants’ Associa- tion, which, being brought before the local citizens’ association, met with unanimous ap- proval. Max Weyl was a native of Wurttemberg, and came to this country with his parents when a lad. His family settled in Pennsylvania, and he began his business career as an itinerant clock mender and seller of watches. It was in this capacity that he came to Washington in the early '60s to attend the second inauguration of Lincoln, eager to see the great man. Once here he established himself as a jeweler, open- ing a small shop on Seventh street. Through “Ponte a la Badia,” by W. Lester Stevens, on view at the Arts Club. some inward urge he began painting pictures— landscapes from nature—and one of his first efforts, displayed in his shop window, caughg the attention of the late S. H. Kauffmann, president of the Corcoran Gallery of Art and of The Evening Star. Mr. Kauffmann bure chased the painting, encouraged Mr. Weyl to continue and to the end of his days proved a friend and patron. With the exception of one short trip abroad Max Weyl did most of his painting here in Washington, and wherever he went h€ always returned with the declaration that no place was more paintable, and tha$ nowhere were finer subjects to be found. Grade ually his work became known and esteemed, not only in Washington, but in other cities, and because of his sincerity and the fine quality b his painting Max Weyl won the regard of the leading painters in New York, Philadelphia and elsewhere. His pictures of the lowlands of the Potomac and of wood scenes along Rock Creek Valley, In what is now Rock Creek Park, had genuine lyrical beauty. While a prolific proe ducer, he was always the sincere artist, eagep to interpret that which to himself was beautiful, The Corcoran Gallery of Art accorded Max Weyl the honor of a one-man exhibition at the time of his seventieth birthday. Roosevelt, then President of the United States, was so impressed by the charm and sincerity of his works that he invited him to the White House to receive congratulations. As a lover of nature and an interpreter of the beauty of nature in the Rock Creek region, what could be more appropriate than that Max Weyl should be memorialized in the way proe posed—a woodland drive bearing his name? THE Society of Washington Artists will hold its fortieth annual exhibition in the Nae tional Gallery of Art, United States National Museum, from February 1 to March 1. This exhibition is open to all living American painte ers. No works are especially invited, and all will be submitted to a jury of selection. The dates for receiving works by Washington artists will be January 22 and 23. A bronze medal will be awarded for the best work exhibited in each of the following classess Portrait, including figure compositions; lande :cape, including marines; still life, and scufpe ure. The jury of award will consist of Roberg Spencer, New Hope, Pa.; Joseph T. Pearson, Philadelphia; Roy Brown, New York, and J. Maxwell Miller, Baltimore. Entry blanks and further information can be obtained from J. C. Claghorn, secretary of the society, Cabin John, Md. The officers of the Soclety of Washington Artists are: Minor 8. Jameson, president; Alice L. L. Ferguson, vice president; Clara R. Saune ders, treasurer, and Mr. Claghorn, secretary, On the Executive Committee in charge of the thibni}lon are Catherine C. Critcher, Garnet W, ex, Mary G. Riley, A. H. O. g s g Y. Rolle and Eleanog In the early days this organization, w! undoubtedly done much for the dev:‘::mhe:t of art and its appreciation in Washington, held annual exhibitions in the assembly hall of the Cosmos Club. Later for a season or two itg exhibits were held at Woodward & Lothrop’s, Then for a few seasons the society had a gallery of its own on Connecticut avenue. Shortly Gallery moved into its prese hall intended for lecture pume Poses was converted into an exhibition the Hemicycle, and the society expanded so thag its annual exhibitions included the works of the leading American painters. It was the meri§ of these exhibitions that encouraged the Core coran Gallery to hold transient exhibitions and brought into existence the splendid Cor: biennials. Since the TH!.' 17 large backgrounds for habitat groupq deslgnedmdpdntedbyur‘l'nnk.).“ Kenzie of this city for the new African Hall of the Los Angeles Museum have lately beeny opened to the public. Not only has Mr. Mee Kenzie produced the backgrounds for thesd mupsmthehuddgnedthemupsthc-. This method of combining art with the actus has been developed entirely within the least few years, and has revolutionized natural historg) Continued on Twenty-second Page ART SCHOOLS. "HILL SCHOOL of ART™ CLARA HILL, Sculpture—Paintins—Biebur Desien __8 Dupont Circle. No. 1271. 1333 F St. N.W. ME. 2883. Abbott Art School Day and Evening Classe Chfidnn'l Saturday CIn: 1624 H St. N.W. Corner 17th MWQW Felix Mahony’s National Art School Interior Decoration, Costume Desigm, Commercial Art, Color. 1747R. L Ave. North 1114 —————————————————