Contemporary American painting and sculpture

13

JohnMarin,whosepictureshavebeenincludedinthreeofourexhibitions,

maybeappHcable.Marinsays,"Art—somethingthatexistscompletely

withinitself—givesofitselfonlytosensitivepeople—fortheyapproach

itrightly... Iwouldsuggest(asanexercise) thatsometimeyoutake

yourtwoeyesalongwithyou—andleaveyourintellectandyourfriends'

intellectsathome—youmightwithoutthesehandicapsseethingsthat

wouldsurpriseyou."

Lookingatpicturesisatwo-waycontract.Theartistattemptstotell

us,asclearlyasheseesit,somethingofhisexperience.Theobserver,on

theotherhand,agreestobringanopenmindandassensitiveanemotional

approachaspossible.Whatcomesoutofsuchanexchangeisunique,vary-

ingasthevariablesinvolved.Itishopedthattheexperiencewillbeboth

pleasurableandvaluable.Butitmaynot.Inanycase,itiswelltoempha-

size,asAllenS.Wellerhaspointedout,that"aworkofartisnotan

imitationofanythingwhichexistsoutsideitself."Itisitself"acomplete

andindependentexperience."Thistheviewerofcontemporarypictures

mustkeepconstantlyinmind.

Duringaperiodoffouryears,theUniversityofIllinoisContemporary

PaintingExhibitionhasachievedastandingamongnationalarteventsand

itscataloguehasbeenwidelysought,bothathomeandabroad.

AttheUniversity,itisconsideredvastlyimportantthatourfacultyand

studentbodyha\eanopportunity toexperiencethebestcontemporary

worksofthetheatre,literature,music,thedance,painting,architecture,

landscapearchitecture, andthegraphic artsingeneral. These annual

FestivalsofContemporaryArtsarethusapartoftheculturalexperience

ofeachandeverystudent.Moreover,hundredsofguestscomefromIllinois

andneighboringstatestoparticipateintheseevents.

Fromthis 1952 exhibition,asinpastyears,theUniversitywillmake

purchasesofcanvasestoaddtoitspermanentcollectionofcontemporary

Americanpainting.Theselectionsforthisyear'spurchasewillbeannounced

followingthecloseoftheexhibition.

REXFORDNEWCOMB,Dean

CollegeofFineandAppliedArts