MASS PRODUCTION

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 85, 12 April 1937, Page 16

MASS PRODUCTION

AMERICAN SCHEMES

Measures are now being taken to bring about a wider distribution of works of art in the United States which put such matters almost on a mass-production basis (says the "Manchester Guardian"). The Government itself, as part of its unemployment re-lief-projects, is giving work to more than five thousand artists. Two groups of the country's most distinguished painters are-. selling original etchings, lithographs, and wood-block prints at prices 'of one pound or less. A private'concern has ■ arranged to. supply at low; cost coloured reproductions of contemporary American paintings for either purchase or hire, and a gallery in New; York City has been offering actual paintings for-hire: In all instances of non-Governmental; enterprise the talents involved.; are. genuinely . representative of the.best;which the country has to; offer. '■■ ;y; ' - ;

On "the Government's projects the artists' show 'varied abilities. This; is to be expected, of course, since they ■are chosen ;on thfe. basis of economic need.* The fact that: the Government gives them any work, at all in their own , field "represents a distinct advance., ,- Originally the -.artists given "a weekly sum, or "dole,"- 'to keep them from starving while ,idle or else they' were given manual labour, and it was only Mr. Roosevelt's "New :DeaV' that established the practice of assigning'to creative tasks that would/make' use of their- special talents.'/ - ■,'■ FRESCOES AS RELIEF WORKS. '.The problem of giving work .to 5000 artists has been met in a number of ways. Perhaps the most spectacular project is the painting..of a,series of frescoes and murals for all manner of public buildings; from the United States Military Academy at West Point to new-post offices in small towns in the Middle West. Minor talents are sensibly assigned to minor.tasks, and large numbers of artists are given such work as: making■ topographical : . and contour maps for highway engineers, drawing posters for traffic-safety campaigns,' -and. constructing 'wild-life exhibits for museums: The. Government's' most /'effective. . method of bringing art:to the- people, is by directing artists all over. the. country .to organise classes , - for training both adults and children in the - rudiments of * expression' with brush and pen. Teachers arrange for. local and travelling exhibitions of works of art, and to isolated communities they bring the first inkling that art is not something remote but a matter of everyday interest. - \ ■■'":■'; . .":" : ■' ■; ■ ■ ;':'", '.;* :-■ CHEAP. PRINTS.'. ./, :-' ; The v idea -of pictures1 beingl rented rather-than sold is not new to. England or the' Continent, although it has never made1 much headway in the United States.^: A determined ■: effort ■is .now being made to p6piilarise this,- plan. Curiously' enough, the chief, medium is not the paintings themselves but coloured reproductions .of the ' paintings. These-prints are made in Vienna by ■'■ the' collotype -process, and . the degree' of verisimilitude, is often so great-that it-is thought necessary to add a notice pointing out that the work is a reproduction and not an original. A 1 wealthy art patron and book publisher: has' formed a company which distributes the prints, by post. Four sets of twelve pictures each are issued during the year., and subscribers make their- choices either, from illustrated catalogues or exhibits of the: prints "themselves .displayed, in local -.shops, art museums, or educational institutions.*' The prints sell for £1 eaclvand in return for "his agreement to purchase outright at least two. prints, a year, the subscriber is allowed to borrow without charge' as many as eight pictures-to be hiing temporarily'on the" walls- of his home. ■ In - New York'; an art dealer offers to ;-hir.e-. orginal paintings at so much V-month, plus interest charges on a surety bond;-to guarantee the picture's: safety -while, in. ■ -the, subscriber's hands. : . \ ,;: - ARTISTIC CHRISTMAS CARDS. - Theeffort to broaden appreciation of ■art'is exemplified, by two groups that are -distributing-, original ... etchings, prints, and lithographs, their membership includes artists, who,, by any standards, must be considered representative of the best American talent. •The American-Artists Group m particular includes artists whose wor* ordinarily commands ' prices considerably higher than the ten shillings or so which they are now charging. Last year they- began in a modest way Dy putting their etchings and prints on Christmas cards—a field in which there has been little enough real artistry i hitherto.- These cards sold at ordinary prices, roughly speaking, from fivepence to one shilling, and were such a success that they are being repeated this year. In addition, original prints —that is to say, prints made from the original.plates either by the.artist himself or under his immediate supervision -^are being sold this year for the first time. The artists decry the current practice of creating an artificial scarcity by'limiting the impressions made from any one plate, and say that they are returning to the practice of such old masters as Durer and Hogarth in continuing to make impressions as long as there .is anyone to buy them. Much the same practices" are to be found among the Associated Artists Group, except that .' they do not make Christmas; cards and their somewhat larger prints sell for one pound each.