SUNDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1953
T HE MICHIGAN DAILY
PAGE _THRE1t
I
RACKHAM SHOW:
McClure Sculptures Display Wide Range.
By STUART ROSS
One of the men of a four-man
show at the Rackham Galleries,
Tom McLure, displays a group of
sculptures ranging in size from'
ten inches to ten feet, in material
from steel to alabaster, and in
conception from lovingly intimate
to monumentally grandiose.
* * v
PERHAPS the best thing about
this sculptor's work is that there
is never any equivocation as to his
emotional stand in regard to the
theme of a piece. He is either be-
Ing humorous or satirical or senti-
mental or grotesque, and the hu-
mor or satire or sentiment or gro-
tesquerie are inherent in the very
forms themselves. Even the ma-
terial of the work begins to take
on the feeling; cold steel can be
very satirical, smooth grey marble
very sentimental.
"St. Francis' Arm" is a large
steel construction depicting a
knight-like character carrying
the severed extremity on high
in an elaborate receptacle. Des-
pitethe tradition of the theme,
or maybe because of it, there is
nothing religious about the
work. Somehow it's funny. The
treatment of the forms is almost
cartoon treatment. There is a
wonderful play of piddling de-
tail against big forms, of big
7 forms against open spaces. The
whole thing is a delicate balanc-
ing of sharply defined forms.
In a similarly humorous mood,
but of a more satirical nature, is a
piece in steel and brass called
"General", to me one of the best
in the show. The General is of
the fat, cigar-smoking, whipcord
riding britches type, replete with
a chestfull of medals and, the
crowning touch, a mouth that
opens and closes on a swivel, pup-
pet style. McLure displays in this
piece his knack 'for rendering re-
cognizable detail into the totality
of what is essentially an abstract
whole. We see clearly every me-
dal on the generals chest, the ci-
gar poised delicately between two,
fingers, and yet these objects, for
all their recognizability, are per-
fectly integrated formally with
even the most abstract parts of
the work.
ON A MORE intimate scale is
the small bronze "Running Boy", a
ten inch figure crammed with a
kind of quiet writhing energy that
... ... . .......::4;-.. -.:-. v ::: v'":?? ii:.:.
;.. ":v :: ... i.i .
{. r
....... ...... .....
.. .. ... . ..... . . . . .. . . ... :.. .. .. . ...: . . .: .: ::: :: :{ iL' i"i :- :: : ? :i?? ??. :i= ":i i r :> : :::: ~ :> :: r-L
..:?.:::.::i ..........:.:. .:.i:
}: j i.' ' ' *
.- .. 'FC
.. .. .. ... .. ... . . ... .. .. .. . ... .: .. .: .. . :- :: .. ..- .. .. i i ':". v ,'i::: :-? ;"::,: :ii:i ? . .. {4
::..............'
ARTIST'S VIEW-'Prof. Chet La More takes a whimsical look at the four man show at Rackham
j Galleries. Left to right are an oil by Jack Garbutt, another oil by La More, a piece of sculpture by
jProf. Thomas McClure and a vase by J. T. Abernathy. All men are members of the architecture and
j design school faculty.
Graphic Art
Of Picasso
Shown Here
"A Half Century of Picasso,"
an exhibition of Picasso's graphicl
art is currently on view at the
Museum of Art.
The 77 prints which were recent-
ly shown in the Museum of Mo-
dern Art, New York, range in date
from an etching, "The Frugal Re-
past," dated 1909 to "The Depar-
ture" of 1951.
Including a wide variety of
subjects, the prints range from
circus clowns and acrobats, still
lifes, bullfights and pastorals to
illustrations for books by Ovid
and Balsac.
One of his major works "Mino-
tauromachy" is considered as be-
ing the most important print of
the 20th century.
Picasso's brilliant etchings and
lithographs mirror closely the suc-
cessive phases of his paintings--
from the "Blue Period" and the
researchers of Cubism to the Guer-
nica mural and the recent Antibes
pastorals. The lithographs date
from 1945 when, at the age of 64,
he began to experiment in the
medium.
The exhibition is open from 9 to
5 weekdays and from 2 to 5 p.m.
on Sundays through Dec. 20,
"The Statesmanship of the
Civil War" by Allan Nevins, 82
pgs.; Macmillan Co.
by HARRY STRAUSS
In "The Statesmanship of the
Civil War," Allan Nevins offers a
new analysis of the War Between
the States, as well as of the lead-
ers on both sides: Davis and Lin-
coln.
The paramount need of leaders,
in peace and war, is the power
to discern the tenor of the people,
Nevins says. He must not only
be a leader, of ability and
character, but he must bear a
constructive relation to any emer-
gent force in his era. It is these'
qualities, or lack of them that
separated Davis and Lincoln, and
that made "the statesmanship of
the Revolutionary era ... so much
more impressive than the states-
manship of the Civil War era.. ."
Each side had a different
fundamental reason for waging
war: one to preserve a nation,
the other to make a nation.
The cardinal test of Southern
statesmanshiphwhich Nevins uses
to measure the achievement of
Davis and his colleagues lies in
the question: "How much, over
and beyond the prosecution of the
war, did their ideas, policies, and
acts do to create a nation?"
ability to combine war and ad-I
ministrative power. Nevins be-
lieves that Lincoln's great dexter-
ity in managing both his associates
and the mass opinion of the coun-
try far outshadowed any mis-
takes he made; he knew it was
a political war and carried it as
such: "Lincoln never once spoke'
unkindly of the Southern people."
Lincoln was more than a
statesman, declares Nevins. Hu-
manitarian, preserver of demo-
cracy, and worrier over all the
peoples in the States and terri-
tories, Lincoln was impassioned
with the belief that the preser-
vation of the Union was manda-
tory and primary; the slavery
questioned he believed, as does
Nevins, would have been resolv-
ed, or have resolved itself in due
time.
The pictures of the South's Dav-
is, his greatness and his weak-
nesses, as presented by Columbia's
Prof. Nevins, is rare among writ-
ers nowadays. The remarks are
brief and lucid and direct. This
is also true in the notations deal-
ing with Lipcoln, except in some
instances when Nevins' obvious
great admiration for him comes
through the otherwise concise and
impartial reasoning of a complex
situation.
Civil War Book Reviewed
.............. 0
iI r
THE ANN ARBOR CHILDREN'S THEATER
offers its first production
tt
"TA 194pucklin9
adapted from Hans Christian Anderson
BY RICHARD McKELVEY
THE ARTS THEATER
2091 E. Washington
Li
Sat., Dec. 5
3:00 P.M.
Sun., Dec. 6
2:00 P.M.
Sun., Dec. 6
4:00 P.M.
Admission 75c NO 8-7301
II
I 1
seems to burst from the confines
of its size.
In contrast to the works in
metal is the lyric quality of those
in wood and stone. "Cradle"
in alabaster, and "Deimos" in
grey marble are full of a deli-
cacy of expression and the sub-
tlety of half-hidden forms.
The few works in ceramic to'j subject and material, of material
me come off less well than the
rest, possibly because the material
has a quality somewhere between'
the soft finish of stone and the
studied textural roughness of me-
tal. Metal and stone dictate their
formal terms to McLure, who ini
turn achieves the fullest union of
and forms.
He does not work in large monu-
mental sweeps; rather his work
is a neat and precarious piling
up of careful shapes on careful
spaces, a consistent set of ab-
stract forms that hover .between
stability and flight.
Stanley Quartet To Feature Finney
Composition at Second Fall Concert
The second fall semester con-
cert by the Stanley Quartet will
be presented -at 8:30 p.m. Tues-
day in the Rackham Lecture Hall.
Guest soloist with the four musi-
cians will be Prof. Marian Owen
of the School of Music performing
at the piano.
BUY AT
State Street at North University
VIOLINISTS Prof. Gilbert Ross
and Prof. Emil Raab, cellist, Prof.
Oliver Edel and Prof. Robert
Courte, violist, make up the quar-
tet.
Featured number in the con-
cert will be the second local per-
formance of Prof. Ross Lee
Finney's composition "Quintet
(1953) ". The quintet was first
performed in a summer series
concert by the Quartet and Mrs.
Owen,
Describing the composition for
string quartet and piano,, Prof.
Finney says "A new work is al-
ways a new experience. The musi-
cal gestures-the meanings-are
always different and always de-
CHRISTMAS CARDS
NOTES
and
STATIONERY
Overbeck Bookstore
1216 South University
Ann Arbor, Michgian
velop from the musical sounds in
the composer's head that started
the composition in the first place."
* * *
EXPLAINING this .curious phen-
omenon of "head sounds", Prof.
Finney goes on: "The musical
sound in the head that started my
Piano Quintet was a piling up of
mass of sonority. It was not a
melody nor a rhythm nor even
a simple chord, but rather an in-
creasingly tense accumulation of
sound that added new disson-
ances as old ones faded out. This
sound in the head bothered me,
puzzled me, and literally torment-
ed me until I found what seemed
to me its musical meaning."
Prof. Finney has composed
other numbers for string en-
sembles, but this is his only
piano quintet to date. At the
present time he is completing
the "Third Violin Sonata", be-
ing written especially for Prof.
Emil Raab and Prof. Benning
Dexter of the music school.
Other numbers to be performed
at the concert include Beethoven's
Quartet in C minor and Mozart's
Quartet in B-flat major.
The program will be open to the
public without charge.
Lm
I
u
v '
GIFTS 59e to $5 G
Q Pen and Pencil Sets
Q Eisenberg "Either-or" 0
Perfume Flacon C
Li Scarfs--wool, silk
Q Nylon Panties D
It's Christmas Time
at Collins
AFTS $5 to $10
Nylon-Crepe Blouses
Skirts
Sweaters
Lined Gloves
Leather Purses
Pearl Necklaces, Earrings
Pajamas-crepe, nylon, cotton,
flannel
GIFTS OVER $10
L Hosiery.
1 Muk-Luks
L Cotton Blouses
Q Aprons
L Lollipops
L Anklets
L Handkerchiefs
L Wool Mittens or Gl
L Jewel Boxes
L Purses
Q Perfurme Sticks
oves
C
C
E
L Dresses
L Suits
Li Coats
L Rain Coats
Li Cashmere Sweaters
Li Formal Blouses
[L Formal Skirts
L Slax
Li Pleated Nylon Slips
L Nylon Gowns
L Robes
L Hostess Gowns
L TV Lounging Pajam
L Formals
L Formal Wr.aps
L Sport Jackets
-°1 Fic nkrr I5IiafdLrF
L Gowns-crepe, nylon, flannel
L Slips-crepe, nylon, satin, tricot
L Formal Purses
L HALF SLIPS-nylon, rayon
L Cotton Dresses
L Shortie Gowns--rayon or nylon
Fn -I I nn (W-nlnrc nr A Ea.tc
nas
11
I
fi
aM* U.Wt'.W U.. m3.2 f .