Camera Work: A Photographic Quarterly (1916 (Heft 48))

even affection for the promoter, Mr. Stieglitz. It is all very interesting reading, and it is a
pity the issue could not have a more general circulation.
Elizabeth Luther Carey in the “N. Y. Times”:
At the Photo-Secession Galleries are pictures by Marion H. Beckett and Katharine N.
Rhoades. The faithful gallery visitor will recall several studies of children exhibited a few
years ago by Miss Beckett in which the influence of Whistler was apparent, but which, never-
theless, had a personal point of view and a charming freshness. Miss Beckett and Miss Rhoades
are now fighting under the post-impressionist banner. They have not been studying with any
one, but they have been in Paris, and that has been enough. There are portraits by Miss
Beckett, one of Eduard Steichen, full of character and somewhat murky in color; a large, im-
posing version of Mrs. Cord Meyer in purple, Mrs. Steichen and Mrs. Alfred Stieglitz—all
affairs of substance and strong color. Miss Rhoades also shows portraits, by far the most
engaging a fresh blonde study of a child, expressing the naivete of childhood without strain-
ing at significance, a refreshing and happy little picture. A nude by the same artist in the
inner room has a strong sculptural quality. The pose is chosen to bring it out, the mass com-
pact, the interstices few, the depth emphasized.
Forbes Watson in the “N. Y. Evening Post”:
The two artists, Marion Beckett and Katharine Rhoades, who are now showing their
work at the Photo-Secession Gallery, 291 Fifth Avenue, attracted attention last spring in the
exhibition of “Modern Art” held at the National Arts Club, and on the present occasion a
fuller opportunity is given to see what they stand for.
The estimate of Miss Rhoades’s work is modified by further acquaintance more than
that of Miss Beckett. A less formidable personality than her friend, with less sense of the
bulk and volume of things, Miss Rhoades possesses a good sense of color, and a freshness in her
manner of expressing it which is far from ordinary. One of her landscapes, a rolling stretch
of hilly country, has that much to be desired effect of ethereal freedom from the paintiness of
paint, which is, of course, only another way of saying that in this case, at any rate, the artist
was in complete control of her medium, and making it express her own clear vision.
Another landscape, hanging opposite, while entirely unrealistic in the conventional sense,
conveys what is far better than any literal exactness of fact, a real sense of living air and light.
Miss Rhoades’s portraits are very unequal, and by no means in every case is a sense of life
achieved. But there is a symmetrical portrait of a little blonde girl which has charm and
suggests, in the upright pose and fresh color, a quality akin to the delicate vitality of a growing
flower.
Miss Beckett’s hand is heavier; but her gifts fit her better for portraiture. She sees form in a
solider way, and she presents her subjects with considerable grasp of their essential character.
Her color is not always agreeable, but it is not trivial. The work of both artists is serious.
Charles H. Caffin in the “N. Y. American”:
An exhibition of paintings by Marion H. Beckett and Katharine N. Rhoades is being
held in the Photo-Secession Gallery, No. 291 Fifth Avenue.
While the comradeship of these ladies, extending over many years, represents a feminine
counterpart of Damon and Pythias, it has tended to strengthen the differences of their tem-
perament, as if each found in the other something complementary to herself. And this exhibi-
tion confirms the impression that I recorded on this page when their work was seen some time
ago at the National Arts Club. Miss Beckett’s reliance is on reasoning; her friend’s on intuition.
Miss Rhoades seems to have a capacity of psychically sensing her subject. How pure
and lucid and clairvoyant her vision is may be gathered from the landscape “Williamstown”—
swelling hills beneath an ample, whitened sky. The natural aspects of the scene are general-
ized in a sweeping synthesis, but the vigorous truth of this soon becomes secondary to one’s
appreciation of the mood that has inspired it; one, as I interpret it, of conflict, in which spiritual
confidence is victor.
Compare with this picture the one called “Voulangis.” It is less significant because all hint
of conflict is absent. Everything has conspired to promote a mood of undisturbed harmony.
How exquisite a sense of the peace of happiness is conveyed in the open spacing of this pic-
ture and the playfulness of happiness that frolics in the decorative caprices of the composition.

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