Sunday, May 10, 1925

The Boston Herald.

In the World of Art.

Coburn, F.W.

Foremost American artists are well represented in the ninth annual exhibition of the Concord Art Association which was opened last Monday at the Concord Art Centre, Lexington Road. The gallery is open daily through the spring, summer and autumn. The present exhibition will continue through June and thereafter be replaced by the general collection, including the now considerable permanent collection of the association.

So notable a selection of paintings and sculptures many of the larger American cities do not see once in a decade, while at the ancient shire town of Middlesex it has become a seasonal fixture. Local appreciation of the art association’s efforts to bring to Concord some of the best pieces from the winter exhibitions was shown on the opening night by an unprecedented attendance. Visitors from the immediate neighborhood are numerously signing the registry book. Those from a distance who take in the historic shrines of Lexington and Concord include the art centre in their itinerary as a matter of course.

Concord Prize Winners The medals of honor of the Concord Art Association have been awarded this year to Edward McCartan for his sculpture “Diana”; Charles W. Hawthorne, for his painting, “The Offering,” and Lillian Westcott Hale, for her group of drawings in charcoal. Honorable mention was assigned to Malvina Hoffman for her mask of Anna Pavlowa, and to W. Elmer Schofield for his painting, “The Cottages.”

The priority given to the sculptures in the preceding list is perhaps intentional. In a society headed by Daniel Chester French, sculptor, it is appropriate the sculpture should not be a mere adjunct to a more important group of paintings. At Concord one feels that the two arts are essentially co-equal. The architectural setting is such as to make both pictures and statuary disclose whatever they have of charm and decorative quality.

The sculpture that goes in for expressive line and a certain classical hardness of finish has it over the loose and limp kind in the Concord show. One of the most imposing pieces in the gallery, withal, is reproduced from an example of free and spontaneous modeling of the clay: “Charles Grafly’s study for the figure of “War” in the Meads memorial.

This savage, old throwback, with one of his ears partly chewed off, is due to affect every visitor emotionally; the pacifist as an exemplar of the horridity of war; the militarist, as an admirable specimen of the fine old fighting bulls of our breed. The breadth of the handling helps greatly in creating the illusion of a personality. One has somewhere seen a smooth, slick Beliona. That isn’t the technique in which to depict the Hindenburg type.

The other sculptors represented at Concord are: Robert Aitken, “The Dancing Faun”, Frederick W. Allen, “Duck Boy”; Louise Allen, “Paul Child”; Chester Beach, “Glint of the Sea” and “Swimming”; Harriet W. Frishmuth, “Extase”; Anna Coleman Ladd, “The Golden Fleece”; Albert Laessle, “Turtle Fountain,” King Fisher” and “Old Bullfrog”; Paul Manship, “Atalanta”; Ivan Mestrovic, “Pieta”; Brenda P utman, “Portrait of Pablo Cassals”; Richard Recchia “The Dreamer”; Victor Salvatore, “Head of Lincoln” and “Mask”; Grace Helen Talbot, “The Crescent Moon.”

Painters at Concord Marion Boyd Allen, Frank W. Benson, Frederick A. Bosley, Ernest L. Blumenschein, John E. Costigan, Charles H. Davis, Nicolat Fechin, Gertrude Fiske, Frederick G. Hall, Charles W. Hawthorne, Marion Hawthorne, Aldro T. Hibbard, Charles Hopkinson, Eric Hudson, John C. Johanssen, Honas Lie, Herman Dudley Murphy, Charles Hovey Pepper, Edward W. Redfield, Chauncey F. Ryder, W. Elmer Schofield, John Sharman, Alice Huggles Schier, Gardner Symon, Edmund C. Tarbell, Helen M. Turner, Walter Ufer, John Whorf and Stanley W. Woodward are the painters who upon invitation sent picture to the Concord exhibition. Most of them are represented by capital pieces. As an aggregate the collection is one to make an informed tourist from Toledo or Tucson take notice and wonder how it comes that a small place like Concord can annually secure so much of the best in contemporary American art.

A whole room is given to Mrs. Hale’s charcoal drawings, deservedly. In a framing of white colonial woodwork they are at their best.

To the late Alicia M. Keyes a tribute is paid in the exhibition catalogue. Miss Keyes was a charter member of the association and up to the time of her death one of its directors. “As the Centre became a factor in the life of the town the association profited in every stage by the aid and inspiration of Miss Keyes, whose wide knowledge of all branches of art rendered so invaluable her advice as a critic and whose high standard and broad policies have been in so many and varying directions a guide in its progress.”

Monday, May 18, 1925

The Christian Science Monitor, Boston,

Art News and Comment

Annual Concord Art Exhibition.

Concord, Mass. Special Correspondence
The ninth annual exhibition of the Concord Art Association, now open at the Concord Art Center, will continue through June, after which the large permanent collection of the association will be placed on view for the summer months.

The Concord show is always one of the chief art events of the year in Massachusetts, because it is uncommonly representative of contemporary American painting, and because the exhibits are uniformly invited. The result is a display of uncommonly high quality.

The association’s medals of honor this year have been awarded to Edward McCartan for his sculpture, “Diana”; to Charles W. Hawthorne for his painting, “The Offering” and to Lilian Westcott Hale for her group of exquisite drawings in charcoal, which have a room to themselves.

Thus does the association continue its custom of recognizing fine accomplishment in American art. It would be difficult to find anyone who could on any large grounds of objection quarrel with this association’s awards. And so it has been from the first. Honorable mentions this year go to Malvina Hoffman for her mask of Anna Pavlowa, and to W. Elmer Schofield for his painting, “The Cottages.”

This year’s show is strong in sculpture, and the figures are disposed about the exhibition rooms with a good eye for composition, just as the juxtaposition of paintings has been considered in the light of contrasts and harmonies. Charles Grafly shows his study for the head of the figure of war in his Meade Memorial group. Anna Coleman Ladd is represented by one of her imaginative compositions. “The Golden Fleece.” Mestrovic’s “Pieta” is one of the high lights of the show, with its flow of design. Paul Manship has one of his semi-classic figures, “Atlanta,” graceful in line and filled with the thrust of eager movement. Brenda Putnam shows a well-characterized bust of Pablo Cassals. Other sculptors represented include: Robert Aitken, Frederick W. Allen, Chester Beach, Harriot W. Frishmuth, Albert Laessle, Richard Recchia, Victor Salvatore and Grace Helen Talbot.

The Hawthorne painting has the Cape Cod madonna theme that has absorbed this artist in recent years. Mr. Schofield’s canvas has a group of old English cottages for subject, and the weathered grey houses seem to grow out of the grey cliff on which they stand. Blue and grey tonalities with high lights of yellow give color distinction to this canvas. Charles H. Davis’s “Rugged Hillside” shows a wilder aspect of the New England countryside than this artist usually paints. There is something elemental in this picture, which surely will add to the reputation of Davis as one of the lasting leaders of landscape painting in America.

Ernest L. Blumenshein’s “Legend” is characteristic of this painter in its strong coloring, its emphasis on form, and its skillful massing of many figures in a powerful concentric composition. Nicholas Fechin’s “Portrait” is a masterly rendering of flesh tones, adroitly set off by a background that is sympathetic in color and loosely brushed in so as to force attention back to the central point of interest, the face.

“Silver Poplars,” by Gertrude Fiske, is a bit of unspoiled nature, the ragged trees rustling in the breeze and the whole scene glowing with yellow sunshine. “Toilers of the Sea” is another of Jonas Lie’s powerful marines with boats, the dramatic qualities enhanced by the purples, dark greens, and pale yellows of the gloaming. Another marine, full of action and touched with originality in design is Eric Hudson’s “Wind Westerly.” A strong note, in a gallery filled with vigorous pictures, is provided by Walter Ufer’s “Jim,” a single Indian figure, with red cloak and green trousers.

Other painters represensted include

May 5th, 1925

Lowell Courier Citizen

Louise Allen, of whose sculptures I hope we may some time soon have a special exhibition at the Whistler house is represented at the ninth annual exhibition of the Concord Art Association which was opened at the Art Centre, Concord, on Saturday last and which continues through May and June. Her portrait head of Paul Child is one of the notable pieces in the sculpture section of the exhibition which this year is unusually fine. I found myself especially allured by the study of the head of “war,” made by Charles Grafly, Philadelphia sculptor for the Meade memorial--a regular Hindenburg skull, which some might better describe as a thug. It at all events is elemental and brutal enough to please both pacifists and militarists, the former of whom will say that it expresses something horrible, the latter that it typifies the fine old fighting human male. I likewise enjoyed seeing Malvina Hoffman’s mask of the dancer Anna Pavlowa, Grace Helen Talbot’s “The Crescent Moon” and several other pieces. Of modern sculpture we do not observe a great deal in this pocketed corner of the world, and most of us even those who have some interest in art, are back in 1875 so far as our appreciation of it goes. Concord gives us annually our one chance hereabouts to see at least a few smaller example of the expressiveness which this branch of art cultivates today. A certain emphasis on sculpture befits a society which has as the president Daniel Chester Franch, distinguished sculptor of an old Concord family.

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I would likewise urge all who are interested in present day painting to see the Concord exhibition while it is on. It is brought to New England largely through the personal efforts and I suspect at the personal considerable expense of the secretary, Miss Elizabeth Wentworth Roberts. The least we folk can do is to show appreciation by visiting the Art Centre and enjoying the very stimulating exhibition which has been hung in the galleries. It is, I think, the best collection yet brought together at Concord. It give us a selection of the finest things from the major art exhibitions of New York, Philadelphia and other cities. Let me give you the names of the painters represented:

These are artists who have sent of their best to Concord. The Art Centre, just opposite the Unitarian church, is so easily reached by motor or otherwise from Lowell that I should suppose we ought to contribute a couple of hundred names to the visitors’ book between now and July 1.

Monday, May 4, 1925

The Boston Globe

Exhibit of Concord Art Association Medals Go to Hawthorne and McCartan

Concord, Mass, May 4: The ninth annual exhibition of the Concord Art Association was opened to the public yesterday afternoon, in the Art Center, on Lexington Road, Concord Center, with a large attendance of lovers of art from points near and far. The exhibition which consists of original works in oil, also small sculptures in bronze, and a special collection of charcoal drawings, will continue daily through June 30, the Art Center being open on weekdays from 10 am to 6 pm and on Sundays from 2 to 6 pm. This exhibition will be followed by others through the Summer and Fall months.

The medal of honor in painting was awarded to Charles W. Hawthorne of New York and Provincetown, for his painting, “The Offering.” In sculptures the medal of honor went to Edward McCartan of New York for his “Diana.” A special medal of honor was given to Lillian Westcott Hale of Dedham and Boston for her group of 14 charcoal drawings. Two honorable mentions were also given. One in painting went to W. Elmer Schofield of New York, for his painting “The Cottages,” and the one in sculpture went to Malzina Hoffman of New York for his “Masque of Anna Pavlowa,” the dancer. The Concord Association has no jury, a small committee of members making the awards.

The exhibition was preceded by a private view Saturday evening when many members and the exhibitors viewed the paintings and sculptures. The patronesses were Mrs. Murray Balou, Mrs. Herbert W. Blanchard, Mrs. Moses B. L. Bradford, Mrs. Frederic H. Chase, Miss Julia Coburn, Mrs. John M. Eaton, Mrs. Allen French, Mrs. Frederick L. Gay, Mrs. Gordon Hutchins, Mrs. Woodward Hudson, Mrs. George S. Keyes, Mrs. B. Stewart Murphy, Mrs. Charles Hovey Pepper, Mrs. Russell Robb, Mrs. Walter K. Shaw, Mrs. B. Farnham Smith, Mrs. Louis A. Sohier and Mrs. Henry S. Thompson.

Monday, May 4, 1925.

H. P. Boston Evening Transcript

The Concord Opening.
List of Medals and Honorable Mentions - Unusually fine Group of Sculptures Among the Exhibits in the Annual Spring Show

The Concord Art Association opened its spring exhibition with a reception on Saturday evening attended by the town’s people who for nine years now have come to look forward to similar events as an opportunity to form direct contact with the currents of artistic achievements throughout the country.

Interest naturally centered about the awards.

The association medal of honor in painting was this year given to Charles Hawthorne and an honorable mention went to W. Elmer Schofied. In sculpture Edward McCartan received the honor medal and Malvina Hoffman honorable mention. Lillian Westcott Hale received a medal for her group of fourteen drawings recently shown in Boston.

While the exhibition is not a large one, it fills pleasantly the various rooms and the gallery of the old Colonial house in which the association has its headquarters. There are several works which have appeared in major exhibitions elsewhere and a very fair average is maintained throughout the show. Absolute conservatism is the note dominating throughout the orchestration of art, especially the paintings. Perhaps this will all the more delight the citizenry who look at any departure from the conventional as a step toward anarchy, at any rate, the expressions of approval at the opening were unanimous--or nearly so. Nevertheless, unanimous yeas and nays do not make a very lively board meeting, nor are exhibitions wholly academic, or wholly radical for that matter, particularly exciting or conducive of more than complacent thought.

However the Concord affairs are unique, in this way, that in a community aloof from the centers of creative enterprise there has been maintained an unbroken sequence of art exhibitions since those first years when the only place available was the Town Hall, where accommodation was far from favorable.

In the meantime other nearby towns have undertaken the presentation of exhibitions, but their efforts have usually dwindled after the first enthusiasm or been sporadic and occasional. Concord’s present place on the map of art is due largely to the devotion of one individual, Miss Elizabeth W. Roberts. This season, owing to ill health, she has been unable personally to supervise the selection of exhibits and has been assisted by Stanley and Sydney Woodward.

The outstanding feature of the show is contrary in usual custom in general exhibitions, the collection of sculptures of a really unusual quality. To gather a group of nineteen small bronzes, non of the clock ornament variety, is quite an achievement and the association is to be congratulated. It is true some of the exhibits approach the parlor decoration, in fact the McCartan medal of honor, “Diana of the Hound,” suggests it somewhat in sleekness of polish and air of renaissance elegance. The Malvina Hoffman mask of Pavlova, which received the mention is a little tawdry with its ornamentation of headdress and beads fixed in cold metal. The subject would have seemed an excellent one to have carved in wood and colored like some of the Gothic wood sculptures where decoration was in keeping. After all bronze has its limitations, the movement of the Harriet Frismuth “Extase” is uneasy, while the agonized line of the “Pieta” by Mestrovic becomes on the other hand a matter of pattern and really fine and related.

Again the Manship running figure of “Atlanta” is so nicely poised and so distinguished that the movement is highly agreeable. An interesting work is Laessle’s quite curious contribution, a bronze kingfisher perched on a carved wood tree-trunk which springs from a base of mosaics. Victor Salvatore has quite a handsome mask. Brenda Putnam a bust of Cassals, Richard Recchia his “Dreamer.” Louise Allen a bronze portrait of Paul Child and Anna Coleman Ladd a work called “Golden Fleece.”

Hawthorne, among the painters, may be assumed to have received the Concord Medal more by way of blanket endorsement than for his particular exhibit. “The Offering,” in reality a pretty stogy piece of painting. In murky tones neither real nor reasonable is portrayed the usual Hawthorne Madonna-and-child while small boys offer tribute of fish and toy boat. The Schofield canvas of old English cottages by the sea is at least cleanly and neatly executed and consistent in lighting. The Fechin portrait of a lady in black has a certain stylishness and was painted while the artist still retained a zest for the performance, but nevertheless clever brushwork does not conceal lack of profundity.

The Charles H. Davis landscape, an autumn scene, spacious of proportion, is deservedly given a prominent place in the exhibition. Here is fine intention and mellowness of color, even though the work has not the dignity of strong line which might closely bind the apparition of woodland and pastureland. But how few contemporary paintings have! Certainly Redfield does not attain it in his quite representative landscape, nor does Ryder nor does Bensen who has a painting of a lily pool, nor does Tarbell who shows an interior. Blumenschein comes nearer to strong and telling definition in his interpretation of Indian ritual, doubtless a very authentic representation of a ceremony, really more of a document than an emotional expression.

The Ufer painting of a New Mexican Indian in red blanket is likewise stated with virility and again the Jonas Lie depiction of sail boats against a brilliant sky has a certain pictorial force. The Sharman canvas is well painted but raises once more the question of whether the statue of the lady went to the mountain, or did the mountain come to it, or again if not how came the studio paraphenalia to be left so carelessly on the greensward?

Charles Hovey Pepper has an interesting painting of a young girl and Hopkinson one of a mother and child. There are 29 paintings in all, among them being an Eric Hudson marine, Costigan’s “Girl Knitting” and works by Marion Boyd Allen, Gertrude Fiske, Aldro Hibbard, Stanley Woodward, H. D. Murphy, and Alice Ruggles Sohier.

The exhibition catalogue contains a tribute to the late Alicia M. Keyes, one of the charter members of the Association and up to her death one of its directors. The memorial closes with these words: “The aim of the Art Center is to make available to all persons an education through the study of eminent creations in art, toward an ever more perfect understanding of the nobility of beauty in form and color. Of beauty which is holiness. Toward the furtherance of this aim in the world Miss Keyes devoted her life and from no one of the many activities to which she gave her services is due to her memory a more grateful and lasting appreciation than from the Concord Art Association.”

The exhibition continues until July 1. H. P.