Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, December 12, 1915, Page 30

Mrs. Whitney's Latest Photograph, Which Denotes Her Artistic Tastes Expressed in Dress. PHoTO vNDRAWOOD B UNDERWaOD A Y. ‘The Curicus Painting by Mr. Evan T. Walters That Won a Prize from Mrs. Whitney as an Inspired Representation of “Immigration’s Soul.” Copyright, 1915, by the Star Cou Tiar, OMAHA SUNDAY BEE MAGAZINE PAGE Mrs Harry Cayne Whitney end | TheJou of the mm( 8rant The Group by Benjamin Bufano, of New York, That Won First Prize at Mrs Whitney's First Exhibition as the Best Representation of “The Soul of the Immigrant.” Netw YorKk Fashionable Society’s Oton Sculptress Explains Her Effort to Materialize Immigration’s Spirit in Art and Why Such Odd Ideas of It Win Her Prizes ing the soul of the immigrant. Mrs. Whitney is Cornelius Vander- bilt's favorite child, her claim to her father's special regard lying in her talent, her earnest- ness and her large social consclousness. Not content with the life of soclety to which she was born, she tossed-away the golden spoon and opened a studio at No. 8 West t 5 .. street, where, close to Washing- ton Square, that has the homes of Knicker- bockers on the north and east, and is bounded by New York's Latin quarter on west and south, she pursued the art of sculpture. She has become deeply interested in the problem of the immigrant. How, after he has come to this country, he shall be assimilated into the national life to its betterment and his own, she regards as one of the most vital questions to-day before the American people. Seeking a solution of it, she asked artists to compete for $1,100 in prizes she oftered for the best sculpture, painting and posters on the subject of the immigrant's relation to America; or, as she puts it, the soul of im- migration. She opened her studio for the purpose and there more then one hundred works on “The MRB. HARRY PAYNE WHITNEY is seek- » Immigrant in America” are being displayed. Two of the interesting conceptions which have been awarded prizes by Mrs. ‘Whitney as most nearly approaching her ideal are shown is page. on"_trl;u l:-a:lon for the exhibition and com- petition 1s this” sald Mrs. ‘Whitney ba}oro ber recent departure for Californis: “Wq wanted to do what all our wise books on i migration and all our commission investig: tions and lengthy discussions in Congress have never done—show the average American that he has too long lost sight of the jmmi- grant as & vast hyman asset, He is a tre- mendous factor in the spiritual destiny of this country. “We wanted forelgn-born and native-born artists alike to bring their creative insight to the theme. I asked the artists to teach us by pictures the relation of the immigrant to America, and America to the immigrant, I belleved that they would help us to reach s better understanding of the meaning of the immigrant to America and of America to the immigrant. “Look at the exhibit. Bee how the artists of America, native or foreign-born, answer the questions. Do you think they, in thelr answers, show a deeper comprehension than that of the average thoughtiess American om these points? Do they photograph for us the soul of the immigrant in America? Have they discovered or rediscovered it for vs? “Some of them have and some have not. Of the art in the work I need not speak. It is the ldz rather than fts expression that interests me. “In other words I wanted to evoke in art . & powerful, concrete, convincing materializa- tion of the soul of the immigrant. By doing 80 we could recall America's attention to the fact that immigrants have souls and that there is & soul of immigration. This lesson once forcefully brought to America's attention, the lot of the immigrant would, conceivably, be much happler. “There are many pictures that bear a strik- ing family resemblance, due to the presence of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and the New York city skyline. The pictures show the promised land, the dumb gratitude and inarticulate hope of the immigrant. That, to some artists, as to many thoughtless citizens, is all. According to them, the drama of it, the fulfillmest, are in the arrival. The view 1s as naive as that of the immigrant himself. Only let down the gangplank. Peace, liberty, opportunity, prosperity will begin with the first footfall on shore and will continue with- out interruption, they think, “Others of the artists have shown deeper vision. They all have aspiration. The hope of fulfillment is always there, but the vision is chastened by struggle. “The first prize was won by & young Italian. He has shown the soul of the immigrent in & sculptured group. He shows & number of jms figrants at the threshold of our country. A child is struggling to ralse a cross. Persons admiring the work have said: ‘That cross is the emblem of religious liberty.’ I think not, It is rather the old-world burden of care and poverty borne along in the new! In front of the figure of hope, on the base slab, is the attitude of many immigrants toward America. ‘We came unto our own and our own received us not.' “The heaviness, the animal heaviness of thelr faces, has been commented upo “If this typifies the immigrant's soul,’ sald one of my friends. We'd be better without that soul.” 1 pointed to the spark shining in the clod. It is that spark that it is our duty to fan into God-ike beauty. It can be dene. It 18 our mission. “I pelieve that this exhibit will make a why for greater exhibits to come. I should like to wee the artists teach the lesson of the immigrant's true relation to the United:States in every large city in this country by means of such exhibits. They will, I hope, teach ua more about the immigrant in Am They will cause us to better val the spiritual forces represented by the dark e, nd clear cut, pointed chins of the faces we see on the Bast Side. “The artists by these pictures will hint to us how to invite, and to use more fully, the spiritual forces and capacities we now ignore fo the immigrant on our shores. And the more they think upon the theme the more often will the soul of the immigrant be pres- ent in thelr works." “Mrs, Whitney was well pleased with the exhibit as & begioning,"” said one of those in whose care she left its conduct. “But she' hopes that artists, and citizens, too, will grasp the big part the immigrant plays in American industry. We know the brawn and muscle of individuals well enough, but we don't know the collective strength of the possible citl- the wverage American does not know thal raflroad that carries him on his journey clothes he wears, the cigars he smokes furniture he puts into his house, are made for the miost part by ilmmigrants. “Take iron and steel, that have been called Great Britain Rights Reserved the strategic industries of this country, for in- stance. The Federal Immigration Commission found that 67.7 of the workmen were foreign born, and that, it you add the workmen of foreign born pareutage, it will reach 71.7. The large controlling percentage runs through & long list of fundamental industries In bi- tuminous coal mining, 619 per cent are for- elgn born. In sugar refineries, 86 per cent were born on other than American soil. “Mrs. Whitney was impressed by the lack of knowledge on this point. And she was 4mpressed by the waste of undiscovered talent among foreigners. For example, she and all of us often speculated upon what becomes of their artistic powers. They come to us with vision trained for centuries in beauty of line and color with the deft hands of races skilled by the shaping of arch and temple or cathed- wal for thousands of years. They feel the beauty and nobility of outline as only those feel them who have lived with them for gen- erations. What becomes of those dormant capecities? Does America give immigrants & chance to use them? American doesn't seem to realize that they exist, “Mrs. Whitney and all others interested in the exhibit want to see the soul of the immi- grant recognized. America has seemed to ig- more his soul and give consideration only to his brawn and muscle. There is more than hope of prosperity in his soul. There is as- piration for the beauty of life. We were im- by the recent impassioned dec! oung strike leader rn the East sll‘::u - ‘We want something beside the chance to work our lives out to keep from dying. We want some of the beauty of life. That is in the soul of every immigrant, no matter how brutish his aspect, how stolld his countenance.'” “The brutishness, the idiocy on the“faces of the winning sculpture group have been much commented upon. It has been severely criti- olzed as being not at all representative of the migrant. It has been sald that the immi- t we want {s the clear-eyed, alert, fntelli- nt type. So we do. But what a greater mission {8 ours to take these human clods, trodden flat by centuriés of ignorance and op- pression, and make of them men and women! That s the message { nthis group, and it was this that Mrs. Whitney felt ®0 powertully. “The painting by Evan T. Walters has also aroused much comment naturally. But it has @ quality of inspiration that was felt to call for reward. Here we see the immigrant's soul rising out of the souls of his ancestors, It has thelr ancestral faults and it has their virtues. What are we going to do with this soul? “That is the great lesson Mrs. Whitney wauts to teach—that the t bhas a soul; that there is a soul of immj tion just as there is a national soul to Am to Eng- land, to France—to all races terialize this soul in art, in can ma- is truth,’ on & different plane. We will bave created the right interest to make us do our best to get the best out of him for our own dear country,”