International studio (59.1916)

The Womans Room at the World's Fair

The earlier picture by Miss Cassatt, which hung
here, is lusciously painted. In the days when
she admired Renoir, she did not seem so afraid
of achieving beauty.
A little girl by Lilia Cabot Perry has serious
eyes. The attitude of listening is admirably
caught.
The gem of the room, I am happy to show—
Ellen Emmet’s (Mrs. Rand) Zw the Studio. The
long, wavy, blonde hair, catching the sunlight here
and there, is exquis¬
itely painted, and the
girl herself is so thor¬
oughly worth while,
a typical American
girl, self-possessed,
unaffected, her grey¬
blue eyes meet yours
candidly. The pussy
on her lap is a won¬
derful black. Alto¬
gether the picture is
a superb example of
the handling of blacks
and whites, the two
unmanageable colours
which easiest reveal
or betray the artist.
While the canvas
fairly bristles with
difficulties overcome,
there is an entire ab¬
sence of mere clever¬
ness or showing off.
Quite different from
the black pussy is
the delightful tortoise
shell one painted by
Cecilia Beaux in her
distinguished Portrait
of Dr. Drinker, presi¬
dent of Lehigh University.
land Woman, which hangs near it, it is painted
in an extremely high key—the difficult problem
of whites against whites being skilfully solved.
I have spoken of the delightful babies and girls
in this room, perhaps women artists are expected
to paint them delightfully, but Ellen Emmet’s
Grenville does not need the bat in his hands to
prove him out-and-out boy. Rumpled hair, red
sweater high about his throat, eyes that look out
fearlessly from the canvas, and yet withal a great

sweetness and tenderness in mouth and chin. The
background is of quiet, rich browns and it was one
of the great portraits of the exhibition.
Tony, by Johanna K. Woodwell Hailman, of
Pittsburgh, is a sunny Italian gardener, playing
the hose on rich violet and crimson petunias.
His sleeves are rolled up over his wiry arms, and
the fun in his questioning eyes, as well as the
saucy little kewpies that decorate the garden
s a sense of humour.
Another market pic-
ture by the same artist
shows lovely colour.
One of Charlotte
Coman’s most char-
acteristic canvases,
Pocono Hills in Winter,
is a lovely, tender land-
scape. The violet dis-
tances are exquisitely
felt and expressed.
A quiet restful por-
trait of Miss Matilda
Brownell, the artist, is
painted by Mary Foot.
Miss Brownell has two
nice canvases in an-
other room.
Many of the little
pieces of sculpture de-
serve mention, espe-
cially Anna Hyatt’s
Colts in a Storm, her
Eight Horse Group;
Harriet Frismuth’s
Fozmg Girl with Fish,
and Janet Scudder’s
Little Lady from the
Sea, but by far the
most significant sculp-
ture is the exhibit of
Miss Eberle’s expressive figures of contemporary
life. She is rarely successful in attaining the
sculpturesque for all her uncompromising realism.
There is neither bareness, thinness, nor blocked-
out stumpiness. The figurettes of Mrs. Vonnoh
in another case have charm, but are detailed to
the point of losing mass—which is never a ques-
tion of mere size. They attain a pleasing silhou-
ette but with small appeal to the imagination.
Moreover, Miss Eberle gives the action of the
body; Mrs. Vonnoh the action of the skirts.


sticks, show the artist

BY ABASTENIA
ST. LEGER EBERLE


XXXII