art news & notes

National Art Education Association

Art News &NotesAuthor(s): Burt WassermanSource: Art Education, Vol. 17, No. 2 (Feb., 1964), pp. 24-26Published by: National Art Education AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3190396 .

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thoughts of his master in the field of American art education. We find in his studies of youth these words, "The muse of art and even of music will have some voice in the great synthesis which is to

gather up the scattered, hence ineffective, elements of secondary motor training, in forms which will

represent all the needs of adolescents in the order and proportion that nature and growth stages indi- cate, drawing, with this end supreme, upon all the resources that history and reform offer to our selection."

In discussing students on the high school level, Hall noted, "At the dawn of this stage of appreci- ation, the aesthetic tastes should be stimulated by exposure to, and instructed in feeling for, the sub-

ject matter of masterpieces; and instruction in

technique, detail, criticism, and learned discrimi- nation of schools of painting should be given inter-

mittently. Art should not now be for art's sake, but for the sake of feeling and character, life, and conduct; it should be adjunct to morals, history, and literature; and in all, edification should be the

goal; and personal interest, and not that of the teacher, should be the guide. Insistence on produc- tion should be eased and the receptive imagination now so hungry should be fed and re-enforced by story and all other accessories. By such a curricu- lum, potential creativeness, if it exists, will surely be evoked in its own good time."2

The National Gallery summer course in art ap- preciation began with the assumption that every work of art is the product of man's thought and

feeling concerning his spiritual nature and his finest goals in life. In all the forms of art: paint-

thoughts of his master in the field of American art education. We find in his studies of youth these words, "The muse of art and even of music will have some voice in the great synthesis which is to

gather up the scattered, hence ineffective, elements of secondary motor training, in forms which will

represent all the needs of adolescents in the order and proportion that nature and growth stages indi- cate, drawing, with this end supreme, upon all the resources that history and reform offer to our selection."

In discussing students on the high school level, Hall noted, "At the dawn of this stage of appreci- ation, the aesthetic tastes should be stimulated by exposure to, and instructed in feeling for, the sub-

ject matter of masterpieces; and instruction in

technique, detail, criticism, and learned discrimi- nation of schools of painting should be given inter-

mittently. Art should not now be for art's sake, but for the sake of feeling and character, life, and conduct; it should be adjunct to morals, history, and literature; and in all, edification should be the

goal; and personal interest, and not that of the teacher, should be the guide. Insistence on produc- tion should be eased and the receptive imagination now so hungry should be fed and re-enforced by story and all other accessories. By such a curricu- lum, potential creativeness, if it exists, will surely be evoked in its own good time."2

The National Gallery summer course in art ap- preciation began with the assumption that every work of art is the product of man's thought and

feeling concerning his spiritual nature and his finest goals in life. In all the forms of art: paint-

ing, sculpture, architecture, the dance, drama, literature, and the motion picture, a given work of art includes the element of composition. In painting, the term "composition" implies the arrange- ment of lines, areas, textures, and colors within the format of a frame. Other terms sometimes used instead of composition are "structure" and "de-

sign." Each of these terms has a slightly different shade of meaning depending on its context. The basic composition of a painting usually consists of

shapes, colors, tonal values, lines, and planes indi-

cating depth or perspective. The principles of ar- rangement include balance, interweave, repetition, rhythm, and development. Each of these terms

may be explained or demonstrated by studying various works of art, but a mere knowledge of the terms and their visual effects means little unless

they may be associated with the changing aspects of man's culture as he climbs the long spiral stair-

way of history from his cave home to the sky- scraper-before he takes off on his journey to the stars. In other words, the work of art results from an effort of the imagination. In it is the solution of some spiritual problem. The works of art to be studied and enjoyed on the walls of our museums are not only the products, but the rewards of man's labor and thought-his expressions em- bodied in his own communications of ideas and emotions with feeling.

NOTES

1. Mann, Horace. Inaugural Address, Antioch College, 1853. Annual Report for 1845. p. 96.

2. Hall, G. Stanley. Youth. New York: Appleton, 1905. pp. 42-45, 48-52.

ing, sculpture, architecture, the dance, drama, literature, and the motion picture, a given work of art includes the element of composition. In painting, the term "composition" implies the arrange- ment of lines, areas, textures, and colors within the format of a frame. Other terms sometimes used instead of composition are "structure" and "de-

sign." Each of these terms has a slightly different shade of meaning depending on its context. The basic composition of a painting usually consists of

shapes, colors, tonal values, lines, and planes indi-

cating depth or perspective. The principles of ar- rangement include balance, interweave, repetition, rhythm, and development. Each of these terms

may be explained or demonstrated by studying various works of art, but a mere knowledge of the terms and their visual effects means little unless

they may be associated with the changing aspects of man's culture as he climbs the long spiral stair-

way of history from his cave home to the sky- scraper-before he takes off on his journey to the stars. In other words, the work of art results from an effort of the imagination. In it is the solution of some spiritual problem. The works of art to be studied and enjoyed on the walls of our museums are not only the products, but the rewards of man's labor and thought-his expressions em- bodied in his own communications of ideas and emotions with feeling.

NOTES

1. Mann, Horace. Inaugural Address, Antioch College, 1853. Annual Report for 1845. p. 96.

2. Hall, G. Stanley. Youth. New York: Appleton, 1905. pp. 42-45, 48-52.

BURT WASSERMAN BURT WASSERMAN

Nothing Like Drawing

There is no substitute for draw-

ing. What other means exists which is as pregnant with possi- bilities for expanding the artist's self-education or for preparing ideas to be executed in other me- dia? But even beyond these two good reasons for drawing, a sig-

Nothing Like Drawing

There is no substitute for draw-

ing. What other means exists which is as pregnant with possi- bilities for expanding the artist's self-education or for preparing ideas to be executed in other me- dia? But even beyond these two good reasons for drawing, a sig-

nificant third reason is evident.

Increasingly, the trails left by a

pencil, chalk, ink, or what have

you are being utilized for realiz-

ing an aesthetically and expres- sively important statement com-

plete in itself-in its own right. That is, a drawing may be as

complete an aesthetic object as a

nificant third reason is evident.

Increasingly, the trails left by a

pencil, chalk, ink, or what have

you are being utilized for realiz-

ing an aesthetically and expres- sively important statement com-

plete in itself-in its own right. That is, a drawing may be as

complete an aesthetic object as a

painting. So much so, that in some cases only pedantry would seek to impose classifiable differ- ences.

One of the best exhibitions of

drawings by artists who have achieved prominence since the turn of the century will be on view at the Art Gallery of the

painting. So much so, that in some cases only pedantry would seek to impose classifiable differ- ences.

One of the best exhibitions of

drawings by artists who have achieved prominence since the turn of the century will be on view at the Art Gallery of the

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University of Minnesota from February 3 through March 5.

New England art educators would do well to mark the days between April 6 and May 24 on their calendars. Between those dates the show, "Twentieth Cen- tury Master Drawings" will be at the Fogg Museum in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Beginning with work by Munch, Picasso, and Matisse, the show touches on Fau- vism, Cubism, Expressionism, Sur- realism, and Abstraction. Our own relatively recent time is rep- resented by such contemporaries as Pollock, de Kooning, Mother- well, and Tobey.

Pause for Thoughts

Talking of drawing, as we were a moment ago, reminds me of something Gauguin once said. Shrewdly, he observed that, "To know how to draw is not to draw well." Perhaps many an academician or would-be academician might mull that one over a bit- perhaps with much profit for students. The point, of course, is that qualitative drawing pierces the veil of the obvious, revealing a truth, if not the truth. How many drawings do little more than labor the superficial, the transitory, and/or the banal? Maybe Ingres, that autocrat of the nineteenth century Academy of Fine Arts in France, put his finger on the heart of the matter when, in spite of himself and what he usually had to say about Corot, he admitted, "This devil of a fellow (Corot) manages to put something into his figures which all the specialists have never been able to put into theirs." There's a lesson there.

Indian Art

Between February 15 and March 15, the University of Michigan Museum of Art at Ann Arbor is presenting "Indian Mini- atures," a traveling exhibition being circulated by the Smithsonian Institution. The show was dis- cussed in this column several months ago. Interestingly enough,

back East another show, titled "The Art of Mughal India," is on view until March 25 at The Asia Society on East 64th Street in New York City. The show has been in preparation for three years by Stuart Welch of the Fogg Museum at Harvard. The exhibition includes loans from many in- dividuals and museums abroad and at home. Glass, potteries, tex- tiles, furniture, arms, armour, and paintings are included. They are worth your time and studied ex- amination.

To Show Your Creative Work Piedmont Purchase Award Ex-

hibition (Painting and sculpture) May 28-June 21. Entries due between May 4 and 9. Write for prospectus and entry forms to: Robert W. Schlageter, Director, The Mint Museum of Art, Char- lotte, North Carolina. (Open only to residents of Virginia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Alabama.)

Sixth Annual Rochester Festi- val of Religious Arts (Photogra- phy, Painting, Sculpture, Graphic Arts, and Enameling) April 16- 26. Entries due March 21. Write to: Festival of Religious Arts, 50 Plymouth Avenue, North, Roch- ester, New York 14614. (Open to residents of all states.)

National Society of Painters in Casein Tenth Anniversary Exhi- bition (Casein Paintings) March 8-22. Receiving date, March 2. Write to: Howard Mandel, Sec- retary, 28 West 85th Street, New York 24, New York. (Open to residents of all states.)

Modern Museum Closed As you may know, the Museum

of Modem Art in New York City closed its doors temporarily in December of last year. In process is a remodeling and building ex- pansion program. The museum is expected to be reopened to the public in May of this year. At that time the new galleries should almost double the mluseum's form- er exhibition space. In addition,

the lobby facilities will be en- larged and improved. In the meantime, some 153 of the museum's most notable pictures are on view (through March 1) at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

Around the Corner

While the Modern Museum is closed, the Whitney Museum on West 54th Street, around the corner from the Modern, is very much open. The main feature currently (from February 11 to March 22) is a show called "Maine and Its Artists." A juxta- position of Maine-inspired art works, the exhibition reflects the influence of a common locale on widely differing artists who have worked in painting, sculpture, and crafts between 1710 and the present. The exhibition takes in early portraits by such painters as Smibert, Copley, and Stuart; In- digenous Art up to 1865; and relatively sophisticated art from 1820 to 1963. The roster of artists whose works are presented includes George Bellows, Childe Hassam, Winslow Homer, Mars- den Hartley, Walt Kuhn, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Andrew Wyeth, John Heliker, Louise Nevelson, and Reuben Tam.

The Whitney is also offering a retrospective show of sculpture by Gaston Lachaise from February 19 to April 5.

Graphics Show

While the City of Philadelphia tends to be rather cautiously con- servative in the paintings exhib- ited there (by and large, that is), the old City of Brotherly Love has long enjoyed a first-rate repu- tation for fostering contemporary graphic art. This is probably due to The Print Club (Gallery) lo- cated there and directed by Bertha von Moschzisker, and to the exceptional Department of Graphic Art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The curator and associate curator of prints at the museum are Carl Zigrosser and

February 1964 25



Kneeland McNulty. Through the end of February, the museum is

presenting the graphic work of

Asger Jorn. Jorn, not sufficiently well known in our country, is

probably the leading painter and

printmaker of Denmark. Jorn's work is a curious triumph of visual paradox: while it is enormously powerful, it is also intimately sen- sitive. Jorn was born in 1914,











studied with Leger, and has been a member of the COBRA group, which also numbers such contem-

porary European lights as Appel, Alechinsky, and Corneille. If you get to Philadelphia before Feb-

ruary 16, you will also be able to see the Garbisch Collection of American Primitive painting at the Museum of Art. While I find twentieth century primitives ex-







tremely hard to take (yes, even Grandma Moses), I find the

primitive art from the nineteenth

century and before most satisfy- ing, meaningful, and mysteriously appealing. Maybe you will, too.

Burt Wasserman is an associate

professor of art at Glassboro State

College, Glassboro, New Jersey.













Delacroix; A Pictorial Biography. Deslandres, Yvonne. New York: Viking Press, 1963. 144

pp. $6.50. I often wonder why some art books are ever

published. They probably get into print because the publisher believes there is a market for them. I still often wonder. Take this book for example. Miss Deslandres presents a frothy biography with the scantiest of aesthetic insight into the work of Delacroix. Here and there, in the manner of a

keyhole peeper, she indulges a tendency to scatter

sly references to such matters as the paternity of Delacroix and his assorted affairs with assorted women of assorted ages. The saucy innuendos are not only tasteless and needless; they are also dull.

The author fails to penetrate the grandeur of several of the artist's principal works. Is it enough for her to say that the paintings sweep onlookers off their feet? Shouldn't she show us why the sweep takes place by illuminating the dynamics and in- teraction of those forms which make the expres- sional content of the paintings come alive?

As though the narrative were not weak enough, the reproductions, by and large, are not much to write home about either. Furthermore, the infor- mative notes on the illustrations are tucked away in the back of the book where they are awkward to find, instead of being with the pictures where

they would be immediately helpful should one wish to make reference to them.

Burt Wasserman, Glassboro State






















Discovery of Painting, Berger, Rene. New York: The Viking Press, 1963. 391 pp. $25.00.

The Discovery of Painting is a handsome volume with an excellent selection of illustrations, both black and white and tipped-in color reproductions. Rene Berger develops the concept of art in a logi- cal and methodical manner, showing in the early part of the book that art cannot be a mirror of

reality, but only attains value through the inter-

pretation of reality. Berger makes his points with well-chosen examples, using both photographs and paintings, sometimes as direct comparisons. He points out that we have always been ready to

accept stylized representation in pottery and

jewelry design, but tend to resist this distortion of

reality in regard to painting.

Occasionally Berger will patronize the reader and belabor the obvious in his carefully structured

pyramid of logic. This may be the result of his

European background and academic training, but if it is a fault, it does not seriously detract from the value of the book. He deals well with the sub-

jects of space, line, color, and light. In the area of composition, he has a tendency to be overly analytical. He diagrams and analyzes a number of well-known paintings in such great detail that the artist himself would probably be somewhat taken aback.

The book is certainly of value to the teacher and the serious student. It is not, however, the sort of

thing to pick up for an evening of light reading.



























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