Show b 1 EXHIBITION S s J JOHN HN HELD PRAISED lb of Drawings by Salt Laker Atis At- At Atten Attention Admiring acts ac is tion n of Gotham Scribes By ELSIE GREENE YORK March 3 skate nd John Held Jr Life In Con Con- cut affords opportunity for al all There's Theres a a. hill Ideally sloping eloping l covered with snow soft snow soft enough I Tn in yet stiff enough to put speed few blocks Iding Just Just a the fields fields' winter home In Nor Nor- s a frozen froze river too where congregate And theres there's a big r with plenty of north light N t pom north light Orchard elow W colonial house on LT where John lohn Held Jr transfers per with pen brush and color the ther that all New York York Is r fr from the tho g at and T admiring m f the country's a humorous pub pub- and the walls of the tho Brownn Brown Brown- Brown Brown- oils n galleri s. s e tell you first of the enIn en- en im In of the New York press for melds meld's lot lat latt at t s show Never Nver has hs an 1 m so many paragraphs of alfrom from every ono of the biggest dallier as a result of one But theres there's a reason reason toe n e who has seen the show will Wholeheartedly wholeheartedly with the news news- re PRAISE E GIVEN ye the N w N-w W York Herald r p iders with long memo memo- will recall that many a time re- re tag Ing many a black and white show tb he Robertson Brown galleries I Raid that best of all among the theis is shown were those signed by Held Jr and now that an en- en shOw In these galleries is given n prints and water colors ac sc signed they may well believe that the I show will be heartily recommended It Is Is herewith Mr Mr Held's muse Is an entirely satisfactory satisfactory satis satis- factory sort of a person She does not go in particularly for sackcloth and ashes She loves to play and even when like Hermione she t takes kea up se serious serious serious se- se rious subjects subject no harm Is done dono See for Instance the Bootleggers Bride the latest emanation of ot Mr Held's Helda genius It points a great moral lesson In so many different directions that almost everybody gets It The bride herself will never do It again You may be quite sure of that She casts her bridal wreath to the earthen floor of the wretched hut but to which she has been s so falsely lured who lured who said these thelle bootleggers live In palaces whilst 7 whilst outside on broad Broadway her errant spouse plies his nefarious trade leaving leavIng leaving leav leav- ing but one bottle with her and that not full No wonder vonder she despairs This print like the Church That George Washington Slept In 0 O Grave So Dank and Deep and Cries or of N N. Y Watch Your Step are from woodblocks wood woodblocks woodblocks blocks and Mr Id H-Id as an artist Is lucky in that his taste for these things fits in so nicely with the general en enthusiasm enthusiasm en- en for tor the early American ItIs It ItIs Itis Is difficult to see how any genuinely I per cent home can get along without without without with with- I out one of of- these wood block prints I DRAWINGS SPIRITED i Included In these primitive prints are many spirited drawings In watercolor water watercolor watercolor color and In a modest foreword to the tho catalog Mr Held says he presents them without batting an eye I dont don't believe anything could make him bat batan batan batan an eye His eye eyo Is too good to bat The drawing of a young man fishing Is the tho product of a very good eye and there are other fish as clearly as the best eyed Japanese can doIn doIn doIn do In water color Mr Held's humor does not desert him and the goir and hunting scenes will appeal to many My own scenes fancy was Instantly captured by a study called The Weed Need In which a formidable vegetable grown Is bUrstIng bursting bursting burst bUrst- ing through the soil of ot an otherwise Immaculate suburban garden and leapIng leaping leaping leap leap- ing skyward be bere re your very eyes There Is consternation even from the upper windows of ot the cottage and th the the dutiful husband in response to cries may be seen coming in the distance with the ax ax The Herald even reproduced one of ot the prints so that about half the space devoted to the art ast galleries was given over to John Held Jr comments Among other nice things the World says John Meld Held Jr does not take sports sport and sporting seriously But the tho people in his pictures do therefore do-therefore therefore they area are aro area a 0 scream Consider the horn rimmed lean and old golfers goIters In Bunkered Bunkered Bun or the weird nocturne of at Coon Hunting or the frisky acrobatics of Sidle Coasting and Skating and you will recognize delightful drollery combined combined com com- with artistic WORK DISTINCTIVE The New York American considers John Held work a a. distinct and andi i valuable contribution to contemporary I American art Quoting from their columns columns columns col col- col- col I In spite of the fact tact that Americans AmericanA I have a deserved reputation for tor being I humorous that quality seldom appears deliberately in our local art galleries I as coming from native artists Therefore Therefore There There- I I fore foro the exhibition of oC the humorous water color drawings and wood block I i prints by John Held Hold Jr is almost unique The kind of at humor that he displays In what he calls calla his sporting subjects has been familiar to magazine magazine magazine maga maga- zine readers several years yean figures with with large large round comic heads perched on disproportionately small bodies engaged en engaged en- en In activities of our dally daily lives lives- lives Mr Held uses his white paper shrewdly to simulate snowy fields Ields In which children play with skis sleds and skates the grace of childish figures figures fig fig- ures being charmingly Indicated and revealing him as a master of ot draughtsmanship draughts draughts- manship In his skillful use of ot watercolor water watercolor watercolor color Mr Held ranks with the best American painters COLOR REVEALED And then the New York Evening Post Few of us need an Intro Introduction to these delightful whimsical pictures for Mr Held's work Is widely known But Dut one of ot the tho unexpected things of ol I the exhibition Is the revelation of ot his I color which in reproduction hll has haa usually become black and white But color Is here hero and so so alluring In Its perfect coordination with the design of tho the drawing that one forgets to find out what the tho picture is all about In delight at the tho harmony of tho the ble blo Ills His handling of the pure white background is a mastery of ot technique No one needs to be told that Mr Held Is la a draftsman or that his all pervasive humor never seems to malts make any difficulty with a 0 serious artistic handling of his medium whether It 1 Is a a. print or colored drawing ins Ills prInts print have delicious humor but they make an equally strong appeal In their tonal contrasts and powerful composition After this symphony of ot praise from the New York art ut critics I haven't haVen enough space left loft to tell about the skiing skiIng skiing ski ski- ing and skating activities of John Held Hel Jr who declared as he strapped on his his new now hockey skates that tat It was the first time hed he'd skated since Heaths Heath's rink days In Salt Bait Lake a 0 long g time I before ho left Idt to seek fame in New New- York orl As for tor myself myself what with every muscle groaning after being subjected to a n whole day doy of tho the unaccustomed motion of ot skiing oven typing becomes become arduous Every thump of ot the keys re reacts reacts re- re acts acta on aching muscles I never know knew I possessed I Con can di do naught else at ot this point then but write tin finis Is to the tal tale talethe of the skiing skating and skill of ot John Joh Held Jr |