EXHIBITION OF CORNISH ARTISTS

The first representative exhibition of original sculpture, painting, and illustration by artists associated with the colony at Cornish, New Hampshire, was held at Dartmouth College in January. It proved to be a source of astonishment and pleasure to townspeople, faculty, and students and it attracted visitors not only from the neighboring villages, but from Boston and New York.

This was only natural, for the exhibition was of more than local importance. It presented not merely work of passing interest, but superb examples of the art which endures. There is no city in America which would not be proud to have an exhibition of works by such sculptors as Saint-Gaudens and French, Herbert Adams and Paul Manship; by such painters as Charles A. Piatt and Willard L. Metcalf, John W. Alexander and Jonas Lie; and by such an illustrator as Maxfield Parrish.

Since Cornish is less than a score of miles from Hanover it seemed appropriate for the Department of Fine Arts to invite some of the distinguished artists who are our neighbors to hold an exhibition in Hanover. It was originally planned to use simply the Little Theatre for the display of sculpture and painting, but the artists responded so generously that the exhibition spread to five other rooms on the second floor of Robinson Hall.

One of these rooms was devoted to the exhibition of bronzes by Saint-Gaudens, the founder of the colony. There were shown not merely eight of his exquisitely delicate reliefs, but also the life-size bust of "Sherman" and bronze reductions of such historic monuments as the ''Puritan" and the "Lincoln." The adjoining room was filled with works by Saint-Gaudens' pupils and friends. Eight paintings by Maxfield Parrish and four pieces of sculpture by Paul Manship were exhibited together and two other rooms were devoted to large photographs of country places by Charles A. Piatt and of gardens by Ellen Shipman.

The reputation of the exhibiting artists indicates the high merit of the works shown, but the astonishing thing was the general interest in the exhibition. Enthusiastic letters came from alumni, one of whom wrote that the invitation to the Cornish Show was one of the best things that the College had sent him since graduation. City papers commented editorially upon the importance of the exhibition and its beneficial influence. But the best thing was the way the students responded. Men who had never before been near an art exhibition were attracted. One undergraduate remarked that he knew nothing about art but that he could see that MacMonnies' "Nathan Hale" looked like a hero. Students hailed one another on the campus with the question whether they had been to the "Cornish Show." At two o'clock, the hour of opening, crowds were often waiting outside the door of the Parrish room, which room was soon filled with undergraduates and faculty members disputing oyer the relative merits of Parrish's fairy tales, or pointing out the meaning, of Manship's sculpture. That interest was not confined to this room, however, was proved by a popular vote. Visitors to the exhibition voted that Alexander's "Cornish Landscape" was for them the best painting, and that Saint-Gaudens' "Lincoln" was the best piece of sculpture in the exhibition.

In art exhibitions daily attendance is one measure of success. In the dozen exhibitions of etchings by Millet, Pennell, and other modern artists which have been held in Dartmouth Hall during the past two years, the average daily attendance has varied from ten to twenty persons, but during the last day of the Cornish Exhibition there were 501 admissions, and on the day previous 317. On certain days the record of attendance was swelled by visits of school children, seventy-five of whom came one afternoon in a body.

One explanation of the success of the exhibition was the fine display of oil paintings by Maxfield Parrish. Students thronged to enjoy the work of this popular illustrator who is, at the same time, a true artist, and they remained in admiration before the distinguished works of Saint-Gaudens, French, and Adams; of Alexander, Piatt, and Metcalf.

Another reason for the wide-spread interest and pleasure which was apparent was the variety of the work shown. There was sculpture in marble, colored plaster and bronze; there were not only such fanciful creations as Mrs. Hering's "Boy Teasing a Frog," and Mrs. Vonnoh's "Dancing," but historic monuments by Saint-Gaudens, MacMonnies, and French. The latter presented his bust of Emerson to the permanent collection of the Department of Fine Arts and thereby won the gratitude of the college. Then there were represented nearly all branches of the art of painting. Kenyon Cox and Barry Faulkner showed studies for mural decorations, Lucia Fairchild Fuller and Carlotta Saint-Gaudens showed exquisite miniatures; while the other artists were represented by landscapes, portraits, and figure paintings, and by illustrations and drawings.

This was not only an exhibition of Cornish artists but also a Dartmouth exhibition at which well-known alumni spoke. On the opening day Arthur Fairbanks of the class of '86, Director of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts delivered a delightful address, emphasizing the usefulness and importance of art exhibitions in colleges as supplementary to courses in the history of art. On the Saturday following the opening of the exhibition B. W.- Pond, Dartmouth 07, spoke on the profession of landscape architecture, pointing out the increasing practical use of the study of a. ,a: unfolding the enlarging possibilities of his profession. On the closing day Professor F. P. Emery '87 addressed a large audience which had gathered for a last view. After awarding the literary and photographic prizes which had been offered for the best essays on the show and the best photographs of the exhibits, he. publicly thanked the artists on behalf of the college for their generosity in lending their works.

There have already been some tangible results of the exhibition. It has shown that the study of art in Dartmouth College is worth while, aside from its cultural advantages, because such study leads to several recognized professions, not only to the profession of the teacher, but also to that of the architect and landscape architect, and to that of the museum worker, and of the art journalist. In this connection the exhibition was used as a laboratory for practical work along art lines. Undergraduate correspondents of city newspapers found in the Cornish Show material for journalistic stories. Members of classes in English composition and in Psychology did work based not on reading but on observation of the works of art.

Undergraduates unpacked and hung and repacked the pictures; made pedestals for the sculpture and designed posters and labels. Others acted as attendants to insure the safety of the works of art and to give information to visitors. Thus hundreds of students, were trained in some of the kinds of work done in art galleries.

But more important than even this practical usefulness was the cultural and inspirational influence of the exhibition. Moreover, it performed a service not merely to one department but to the whole college, the town and to the larger community outside of Hanover.

The thanks of the Department of Fine Arts and of the college are due to the generosity of Henry L. Moore, Dartmouth '77, whose establishment of the Guernsey Center Moore Fund in memory of his son has helped to make possible this and other art exhibitions which have been held in Dartmouth during the past two years and a half.

A list of exhibiting artists is given below. The figures indicate the number of works shown by each:

SCULPTORS Herbert Adams...................... 5 Daniel Chester French.............. 3 Miss Frances Grimes................ 2 Henry Hering....................... 3 Elsie Ward Hering.................. 1 (Mrs. Henry Hering) Frederick MacMonnies............... 3 Paul Manship....................... 4 Augustus Saint-Gaudens............. 15 Harry D. Thrasher.................. 2 Bessie Potter Vonnoh............... 3 (Mrs. Robert Vonnoh)

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS Charles A. Piatt................... 6 Ellen Shipman...................... 11 (Mrs. Louis Shipman)

PAINTERS John W. Alexander.................. 2 Kenyon Cox......................... 18 Louise Cox......................... 1 Barry Faulkner..................... 6 Henry B. Fuller.................... 2 Lucia Fairchild Fuller............. 3 (Mrs. Henry B. Fuller) William Howard Hart................ 2 Jonas Lie.......................... 2 Willard L. Metcalf................. 1 Charles A. Piatt................... 1 Carlotta Saint-Gaudens............. 4 (Mrs. Homer Saint-Gaudens)

ILLUSTRATORS AND ETCHERS Maxfield Parrish................... 10 Stephen Parrish.................... 7 Charles A. Piatt................... 8

THE CORNISH EXHIBITION M THE LITTLE THEATRE