International studio (31.1907)

Society of Western Artists


THE CLOUD

BY T. C. STEELE


NOVEMBER MORNING

BY FRANK V. DUDLEY


'THE POOL BY J. OTTIS ADAMS

Eleventh annual
EXHIBITION OF THE
SOCIETY OF WEST-
ERN ARTISTS
BY MAUDE I. G. OLIVER

Whether or not the group of
earnest workers, who have banded
themselves together in the cause of
art among the fraternity of the Mid-
dle West, is destined to accomplish
all that it hopes is a question that,
perhaps, would better remain for
future developments to determine.
The undertaking which they have
set themselves to achieve, if fol-
lowed to its ultimate intention,
would involve the uprooting of the
established traditions and the in-
stallation of firmer foundations
grounded in the climatic and social
conditions of our people. Based on
the tendency and influence of Ameri-
can civilisation, the solution of this
problem of a national stamp to
American art ought to be, it would
seem, best solved in the great cen-
tral section of the country. Here,
if anywhere, the interchange of local
opinions would be most free from
external sway.
From year to year one notices, if
perhaps a perceptible fluctuation of
standards, a definite, steady im-
provement in the character of works
presented by the Society of Western
Artists. This year, while still retain-
ing the accustomed list of note-
worthy contributors, there have
been introduced several new names
to the ranks. Being an itinerant
exhibition, its display affords ad-
mirable opportunity for the exhibits
to be studied by a large circle of in-
terested persons. The absence, which
has been felt formerly in the different
centers, of examples in the round
promises next year to be eliminated
through the installation of sculptures
as the particular feature of the col-
lection. As it is, the possibility of
forming some idea of the plastic ex-
hibits is provided for in the showing
of photographic reproductions in

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