Evening Star Newspaper, December 13, 1931, Page 98

pra——— Calendar of Exhibitions CORCORAN GALLERY OF ART, Seven- teenth street amnd New York avenue. Permancnt colliection. First annual ex- hibition, Min'ciure Pa nters, Sculptors and Gravers’ Soc cty, December 1 to 31. Thirty-s'xth annua! exh’bition, Wash- ington Water Color Club, December 3 to 27 PHILLIPS MEMORIAL GALLERY, 1600 Tweniy-firsi stree:. Permanent collec- tion w.ih recent acyuisitions and group of paint.ngs by Wash ngton artists. Special exhib ilon cf rccent paintings by Carl Knaths, D2c2mber 1 to 31. s NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, Tenth and B (Con on avenue) streets northuest. Pcromancnt collection SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, Tenth and B stroois soutliwest. Block Prints by Ern-st V7. Wa'>on, November 30 fo December 31 FREER GALLERY OF ART, Twelfth and B sircets sovflvoest, Permanent collecticn, LIBRARY OF CONGRZSS, Print Divi- sion, First street bzlween East Capitol and B streets southrast, Contemporary American Pr'nls assembled by the American F:d-rzt‘on of Arts for ex- hibit'on im Ii-" ARTS CLUB OF WASHINGTON, 2017 1 stréet norihwest. O’l Paintings by Ben- son B. Mcore and by the “Gotham Group,” Decemier 6 io 29. TEXTILE MUSEUM, 2330 S -street northwest. Rujys, tapestries and other textile: of the Nzer and Far East. Open Mondays, Wedn>iday aend Fridays, 2 to 5 o'c’ock. Acdmission by card, ob- tainable at t'e officz of G. H. Myers, 730 Fiftcenth sire-t northwest. GORDCN DUNTIIORNE GALLERY, Connect’cut evenus and De Sales street. Water C2’ors by El'ot O'Haera. Prints by cont>mzorory English, French and Amcricon arils's, Dccember 1 to 26. SEARS, ROCLZUCK & CO. 1106 Con- mecticut avcnuz. Pa ntings by Charles C. Curran, Mcry Cu'ler and Walt Deh- ner; Pc n75 cnd Lithographs by Wil- liam Schiceilz; E’ch’ngs by Thomas Handjoril'; Weocblock Prints, in color, by W. S. Dice, Deecerter 4 to 31. HOWARD UNIVERSITY ART GAL- LERY. Ex!ibition of woric by members of the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Insti‘ut> of Architects. Cir- culated by the Ame2r'can Federation of Arts, December 7 to 21. HE December exhibitions at the gal- leries of Sears, Roebuck & Co., while less nciable than their predecessors, set forth in October and Novernber, have perhaps evoked more discussion, and discussion of art by those who are sincerely interecied is undoubtedly helpful and much to be decired In the current showing the works of ultra- ponservative and ullra-modern artists are brought into conjunction and sharply con- trasted one with the other. Certainly nothing could be more opposite than the paintings by Charles C. Curran and those by Willlam F. Schwartz. Mr. Curran is a traditionalist, a man of the old school whoee quest continuously has been heauty and whose object, frankly, is its transcription; whereas Mr. Schwartz ap- parently desires to break down tradition, de- lights in ugliness, and intends to shock and to offend. And his works do offend, not merely -because of their ugiiness, but because this seems be their inherent purpose. Ugliness can be ranscribed that it becomes beautiful. It is not what Mr. Schw. aints but the way he paints it that is objectionable; and to suppose this way modern would be as false as to mis- name any virtue The Schwartz lithcgrophs are far more ac- ceptable than the Schwartz paintings, though even in these a note bravado and coarse- ness is evident. The human figure is inter= preted without regard for beauly or divine attributes, as a steel spiing or a piece of high- powered machinery, but dynamic. His mod- ernistic renditicn in black and white of a flowering plant has a certain interest in the matter of design. Mr. Schwartz is neither ignorant nor un- trained, and his peintings are as they are from dcliberate cheice. They witness to his personal predilections. Works of this sort do not enhance thz value of oiher exhibits; they destroy the taste; therefore, in such company it is difficult to sez 2nd to judge aright works by others of a comp’etely different type. UT who, taking the tlme for study, could fail to find interest and pleasure in some of the paintings which Mr. Curran is showing of lofty hilltops and broad panoramic views of country rendered with reticence and a certain gentle reverence? One of the best of these canvases was painted ot Cregsmoor and shows two young girls on a rocky promontory over- looking a great sireich of country which rolls away, far below, to a low horizon, like a billowy sea under a Summer sky. How much loveliness Isqcrowded into this comparatively small can- vas, how fresh and airy and full of sunshine 6 is. It is in themss of this sort that Mr. Curran is at his bast. Another attractive can- vas in the Curran group is one entitled “Gal- loping Clouds,” a pizture of the sky, across which gay Summer clouds are racing in inter- esting formation. Mr. Curran peaints portraits as well as sub- ject pictures, but is represented by only a single example of portraiiure in this exhibition, a like- ness of a yocung glirl. He has lately painted a ait of Mark Twain which, by the great orist’s family, is declared an excellent like- ness and has be°n presented to the Mark Twain Memorial at Hartford, Conn. THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, fiECFMBF.R 13, 1931. Many Exhibitions in Washington Galleries. Ultra-Modern Pictures—Prints, Minia- tures and Lithographs on V'iezw Other Art Notes. “Rocky Heights,” by Charles C. Curran. A painting on view at the Sears, Roebuck Gallery. Mr. Curran is perhaps at his best in his little pictures—cketches made here and there in dif- ferent parts of the world as themes for larger canvases. Quite a number of these little pic- tures are included in the current exhibition and are well suited for the home—souvenirs of places visited—Capri, the Villa d’Este, Ravello, Sorrento, the Alhambra. Such pictures were never intended for exhibition and are too intimate, too personal, for public schowing, but they have a charm all their own. N the same gallery in which Mr. Curran’s and Mr. Schwartz's paintings are set forth are shown paintings by Marie Hull—still life and LARGE group of 39 prints by Thomas Handforth, lent by the Print Corner of Hingham Center, Mass, is of outstanding in- terest to print collectors, Handforth being one of the younger American etchers and possessed of an extracrdinarily original viewpoint. Here one finds an interesting blending of the at- tributes of “modern art” with respect for established principles, principles handed down from thke great macter And what captivating results Handforth achicves, what a lively imagi- nation he has, how original his vision! But never dess he seem to let imagination run away with his etching nsedle. Invariably he commands his medium. Those who like novelty “Winter Sunset,” by Benson B. Moore. A painting included in exhibition at the Arts Club. outdoor compositions of an interesting char- acter, good in color, strong in handling. In an adjacent gallery are a number of Miss Hull's water colors, evidencing the same pleasing characteristics. OP exceptional interest, and manifesting on the instant their merit to the initiated, is a group of water colers by Mary Butler of Philadelptia, 21 in all, chiefly of mountain subjects. Good in color, well constructed, broadly rendered, these works stand out as the achievement of one who has both gift and knowledge. Several are of architectural sub- jects, village scenes beautifully drawn and strongly interpreted, paintings of a sort which improve upon acquaintance, art of a very real and substantial order, not merely transcrip- ticns, but interpretations; clever, but more than clever—at times profoundly significant. Such a grcup of water colors as these would lend distinction to any exiibition. and appreciate real works of art will find pleasure in this showing. Handforth’s prints have for the collector in the past proved far better investments, through their rapid rise in value, than any industrial stocks. N unannounced but extremely interesting feature of this varied and comprehensive exbibition is a group of lithographs of char- acters about Taos, New Mexico, by W. Herbert Dunton, a mamber of the Taos school. One is of a bucking broncho, others are portrait studies. All are fine. UCH may be said in praise, also, of a group of water colors by Walt Dehner, director of art in the s ™ of Porte Rico, who is admirably represented in the Washing- ton Water Color Club’'s current exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery. Mr. Dehner’s name is comparatively new &s an exhibitor in this city === ARIL/ T/ and elsewhere, but he will doubtless, as time passes, become batter and most favorably known. His work chows a keen c2nse of ariis- tic values and an ability for skiliful rendering. /A ND yet ancther unrelated feature is a group \ of eight miniatures by Mary Elizab-th King of this city, wife of Maj. Archibald King, three of whose works in the same medinm are included in the Miniature Painters, Sz tors and Grevers' Society’ augural ex tion at the Corcoran Gallery. This group of eight evidences Mrs. King's akility to render wita equal skill those of malure age and children, and witnesses to versetility as well ‘as pro=- ficlency on her part. Tvwo of the miniaiures shown have bcen previously exhibited in the leading exhibitions in Philade'nhia ani Balii- more. LIOT O'HARA'S exhibition ¢f water cclors and Sgraffifo prints, which was opened at Gordon Dunthorne’s last Monday afternron with a tea, is r>freshing and delightful. Here are paintings broadly rendered in a monner peculiarly suite1 to their melium, each of which posse:zes elementa! beauty, a be: ity not merely in the thirg portrayed but dis- covered and mroifested by the artist. TFor example, one of the paintings is of a very comronplace white, poriable garage, but so framed by trees and fo'laze, so b2-debhed by sunshine that it is lovelv to behold, and, sl'n- ping out of the commonplacz to which it vould seem to belong, becomes a thing of beauty. Mr. O’'Hara has not one but many styles, adapting his method and manner invariably to the subject which he ras in hand. In some instances he paints evidently with a full, flow- ing brush, in others he completely obliterates brush marks. The latter is the cass in his picture of Wall Street, “Frozen Assets” an imposing picture of the man-made canyon, with the tower of Trinity Church silhouetted against the evening sky. To Mr. O'Hara's picture of gulls on the rocks at Monhegan a place of honor was given in the Washington Water Color Club’s exhibition at the Corcoran Gellery. A second varia- tion of tris theme is to be found in his exhibi« tion at Gordon Dunthorns's, one which many will perhaps like even bstter, the gulls being transcribed in smaller sc2!s and as incidental to the seascape. Decorative and extremely effective is his painting, “The Kyls at Pack’s Harbor,” a Labrador scene, and belonging to the same group are two or three unususl and effective iceberg pictures. Much nearer home, but also out of the ordinary, is his painting of ths Lee Mansion, a picture made from the doorway looking through the columns of the portico towser Washington, from she low to sunlight. Glonc- ing, dazzling sunlight is portrayed by Mr, O’Hara in two of his Ogunquit Beach sub’ects, one primarily a study in light, the other a contrast of figures and broad, open spseces, Another Ogunquit subjezt is a stud: of pines in sunlight, and possibly a third is entitled “Under the Pier.” Like John Whorf, who<e paintings at the prescnt time have quite right- ly a greet vogu~, Eliot O'Hara choos2s his themes well and demecnstrat2s good reason far his choice—in short, whatever he paints he makes charming, rot throuzh f2lse values nor exaggeration, but through his own sensitive vision and keen enthusi~am. Mr. O'Hara is an experimenter. He hsas been painting for on'v six years, entering the fleld of art incidentally as an amateur for pleasure and finding it so ab-orbing that ne has made it his prefession. Now he is pro- ducing prints of a unique and interesting sort, prints which have the appcarance of wo-d- cuts, but by him have been nama>d “Sgraffito.” His first series, 14 in number, shares honors in the current exhibition with his woter colors and is chieflv, but not all. of local sub'»2ts. The Connecticut Avenve Bridge, the Wosh- ington Cathedral, the Washing'on Monum-ent. the Capitol, Mouvnt Vernon, all anpear in “his series in new guis2, from ovizinal viewn~ints, The Washington Mrcnument, for ex-mn!>. s seen in the Reflecting Peol, a sha“ow, tu' a very real shadow. Sgroffito is an old Italian art wai h -on- sisted of putting a thin coat of one color over a thick coat of another, then scratchin~ away the top coat. It is a cimpl-* mzthod th~n wo-1 cuttinre, but the fin~1 rasul® is mu~h th- rome, With thé wondcut the prints are mad- f1-m the original b'a #; with sgroffilio reprofuc’ion is through the medium of a zine plcte, and hence more mechanical. Mr. O’Hara, how- ever, limits his o¥i‘ions to 170 prnts, each of which is number:d end signed. This exhibi- tion continues through Chriztmas. OIL painting; by Ben<on Mocre occupy, to Dzcember 12, the pallery at the Arts Club, evidencing to th= indrstry as well as the gift Continued on Eighteenth Page ABBOTT SCHOOL FINE AND COMMERCIAL 1624 HSt. N.W, AR I ¥ Ak kK Felix Mahony’s National Art Scheol 1747R.I. Ave. North1114