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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 29, 1961)
SUNDAY, JANUARY 29, 1961 14 B THE SHAPE OF THINGS MkDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFOHD, ORE. Historian Invents For Pieces of Art Tags Work By RICHARD HIRSCH Director Allentown Art Museum The function of history, many believe, is to give order lo the events which man creates without apparent pat tern. . , With history, then, we may expect the living fibre of men's times to be reduced to categories and tags. This is the process of recording his tory. It is convenient. It has little to do with life. A medieval carver, patient ly chipping away at the blond stone under a rough-hewn shelter in a cathedral's rising shadow, - felt "modern," not Gothic. In the sunlight of At tica, the carver of a graceful Aphrodite felt his untranslat able reverence for this emerg ing beauty, felt it pulsing in his veins, felt expectancy for what his people and his priests might say of the pa tient work. Emphatically, he did not feel Archaic. History Tags Them But history has tagged them both; and not them only but their descendants. Thus, looking back at the ages of man, it becomes easy to handle cliches instead of the roaring chaos of man's ever onrush ing life. This is a pity. It is also a habit. The tag which states that Delacroix was a Romantic gives people the dangerous illusion that they know something about Dela croix. The accepted cliche of art history makes Gauguin and Van Gogh to be the outstand ing Nco - Impressionists, al though one painted in large smooth, flat areas of color, the other in heavy, narrow, swirling brushstrokes. In common they were re jected by the same public and they, in turn, rejected, in com mon, certain conventional ways of painting. This is real ly not very much of a bond for two men who came to blows after working together only a few weeks. But the his torian's tag unites them both and will stick, meaningful or not. Invent New Tags And the historian will con tinue, by habit, to invent new tags while. we, by habit, will continue to accept them. Worse yet, the critic, seek ing to dignify himself with the serious-looking trappings of the historians, will invent new tags, new "Isms." A case in point is an import ant and, generally, excellent exhibition of American paint ers presently on view at the Whitney Museum of American Art, in New York. It is called "The Precisionists." The show was organized by 4 t'r '' hv " IN SHOW "My Egypt" by Charles Demulh ' presently Included in "The Precisionists" exhibition which will be seen in major museums after Its present display at the Whitney Museum Iry New York. Demuth, like Charles Sheclcr, is a perceptive painter of views of American, cities and industrial sites. Chamber Officials To Participate in Regional Meeting Two Medford men will par ticipate in the program when officers and managers of Washington, Oregon and Ida ho chambers of commerce meet In Portland Feb. 5 for the annual. three-state confer ence. Don McNeil, Medford Cham ber of Commerce manager, and president of the Oregon Chamber Executives associa tion, will preside over the session Monday, Feb. 6. Jerry Latham, past president of the Medford chamber, also will participate in the program. William J, Bird, San Fran cisco, western vice president of the John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance company, will address the opening session and participate in a panel ses sion for officers Monday after noon, Bird is a former chamber of commerce executive and one-time manager of the Bos ton Chamber of Commerce. - Monday morning the cham ber leaders will discuss, "A Practical Approach to Indus trial Development." Speakers include Abe Hoss, Porllnnd General Electric; H. A. Law rence, Portland businessman: Stewart Nelll, Pugct Sound Power and Light, Seattle, Wash.: and Herbert West, In land Empire Waterways asso clnlion, Walla Walla, Wash. The managers' session Mon-i day afternoon and Tuesday morning will stress commu nity development and down town planning, tourist and convention promotion and de velopment of private indus trial parks. The Tuesday afternoon gen eral session will cover instruc tions on how to deal with rackets and fly-by-night oper ators. - Eagle Point High Gets $361 lor MOD Eagle Point - A total of $361 was contributed to the annual March of Dimes drive recently through Eagle Point High school activities and service projects, according to Richard Traylor, principal. No school time was used for the collections, he added. No outright donations wore solicited, and most of the money collected was from student held popcorn sales, grab bags, slave auctions, tal Irnt shows, basketball games and skits. "Much of the success was attributed to inter-school com petition between classes with each class selecting a prin cess," the principal said. All princesses were crowned at the junior dance Jan. 14. The freshman class w o n with a $119 donation and crowned its princess, Linda Wcllman, queen. Tl:u other princesses were Joan Konopa sek, sophomore: Mary Anno Elrod, junior, and Alice Wool folk, senior. Railroad Agent Is Transferred North H. A. Shelcon, commercial agent for- the Missouri Pacific railroad here for four years, will leave the valley for Eu gene where he will assume du ties as general agent. The transfer and promotion will become effective Feb. 1. Sheldon, who was transferred lo Medford from Sacramento, Calif., has been with the rail road company for 23 years. His wife, Janavlc, Is organ ist at First Presbyterian church. The couple have two children, Robert Charles,, a sophomore at Sacramento Slate college, and Tara, an eighth grader at Herlrlek Jun ior High school. Sheldon plans lo leave for Eugene soon and his family will join him al the end of the school term. Their home is al 91 Windsor ave. Norwood Licklider, current traffic representative with the Missouri Pacific in Seattle, Wash., will be transferred to Medford as commercial agcnl. Sheldon is a member of Hillah Temple of the Shrine and other Masonic bodies. r the Walker Art Center, in Minneapolis. It will be seen later, in Detroit, Los Angeles and San Francisco. It brings together 16 American artists, most of them living and ac tive. Their paintings date any where from 1915 to the prs ent. In common they have merely, a distaste for brush strokes that distract the eye. Some of them share a concern with the cityscape and Indus trial landscape of our time. Exhibited With Group Georgia O'Kcefe, exhibited with this group, enjoys, how ever, the desert of New Mex ico while Peter Blume uses the smoothness of his brush to fight Mussolini. Brought together, these canvases and watercolors have interest, some charm and a decided impact. But what of the tag, what of the "Precis- ionism" which, we are told, brings these varied works un der one roof? It is a good question. Martin Friedman, of the Walker Art Center, admits that there was never a Pre cisionist manifesto, publica tion or program, either in the nineteen twenties, when much of this work was being done by many of these artists pres ently assembled, or later. In other words, just as the Gothic carver was not "Goth ic" until tagged In the eigh teenth century, so our Pre cisionists were never mem bers of an "Ism" until some critics, striving to appear to be historians, created the tag. You can look forward to find ing college textbooks, solemn ly devoting a solemn chapter to the "Precisionist School" within the next five years. Never Was School Of course, it never was, in fact, a school. These artists, S h e e 1 e r, Demuth, Stella, O'Keefe and so on, simply painted rather well, many of them excellently. By acci dent none of them cared for fuzzincss or thick paint. Most of them cared not a whit for painting people, dressed or nude. A fair share of the 16 on display at the Whitney were and are reasonably ra tional. Beyond that how can they be pinned with any com mon labelr Better yet: Why should they be? This kind of thing confuses the poor viewer. When faced with a new "Ism" he recoils, feeling that his ignorance of its meaning proves that he will never "understand" the arts of his or other times. This is rather tragic. Shecler, painting Pennsyl vania barns or chemical plants, points out harmonies and patterns for your enjoy ment, patterns and harmonies which you might miss in the common things around you, seen from the road or the railroad car window. He does it successfully. Demuth sees many of our cityscapes and industrial scenes as they should be seen, as having notable grandeur, stimulation for the perceptive eye, interest beyond their ar chitectural excellence or func tional use. Others Displayed And, in other ways, so with many of the others displayed on the walls of the Whitney. The poor public, however, has not been told tjiat this immaculate show has been brought together because most of these paintings, some one fell, basically, together made a good exhibition. Mere ly and loosely and simply they appeal to the same kind of taste (an indefinable thing). Once again, the poor public is being bludgeoned into believ ing that it is abysmally ig norant. For the tag is now here to stay. It sounds like a fine sci entific term of art history, yet it is meaningless. It is a critic's triumph of one-upmanship. But is browbeating the public the function of the critic? (Copyright 1961. General Features Corp.) Senator Collier Urges Road Safety Taught in Schools By SID HOLLINGSWORTH Berkeley, Calif. - An ap peal for a more enlightened policy in the enforcement of programs for highway safety was urged upon officials at tending the California Street and Highway conference at the University of California last week. State Sen. Randolph Collier, Yrcka, representing the sec ond district, an authority in the legislature on highway matters and member of the commission on interstate co operation, addressed the open ing session. "What we need most more attention to education of the public by highway au thorities, rather than a tight ening of regulations by a get tough policy," he declared. "The question is one of giv ing proper instruction to mo torists so they will follow directions for their own safe ty. The goal is to help the motorist, and not harass him as we have done in the past." Condemns Radar Use Senator Collier condemned the use of radar for speed control, and urged that high way safety be taught in the schools. His specific recommenda tions included periodic truck inspection and more informa tion concerning mileage cov ered by the highway patrol before additional patrolmen are added. J. O. Matlson, president, Automotive Safety Founda tion, Washington, D. C, was guest speaker at the opening session, and emphasized "now that highway administration is big business" more atten tion should be directed to pub lic relations In the work of control and communications. "No state today moves alone highway matters. What each state docs is the concern of all the others," he stated. The sessions were being held under auspices of the Insti tute of Transportation and Traffic Engineering. Influenza Heads List of Diseases Influenza continued to head the list of communicable dis eases reported to the Jackson county health department last week. Medford reported 14 cases, compared to 6 the previous week. Phoenix dropped from 10 cases to one. Ashland re ported five cases compared to six the previous; week. Trail reported three cases and Shady Cove had five cases. Dr. A. Erin Merkel, public health officer, explained that the reported cases come from such official sources as physi cians and the schools. There may be more cases than those reported. Next on the list based on numbers is pink eye. Rogue River reported eight cases. Medford had two cases of chicken pox, one of German measles, one case of infectious hepatitis, one case of mumps, one case of measles. Talent and Eagle Point each reported one case of scarlet fever. Central Point also re ported one cases of infectious hepatitis. Medford, Rogue Riv er and Ashland each reported one case of mumps. Ashland had one case of measles. The Medical Roundup ( Vy Emer"u, Consultant In Medicine Mayo Clinic Emeritus Professor of Medicine Mayo Clinic (Regl&ter and Tribune Syndicate, 1961) Recent Studies On the Common Cold In l!j46, a laboratory was set up in Salisbury, England, for research into the causes and treatment of the com mon cold. It was shown, back in 1914, that the cause must be a vi rus. Now, Dr. Andrewes, Di rector of the group at Saiis Aivarci oury, reports in ihe Scientific American that they have succeeded in culturing a number of varie ties of the cold virus. Unlike all other known viruses, it is very hard to grow, and hence it does not now look as if a useful vaccine could soon be made to protect people. Curiously, in Salisbury they found, while using over 6,000 volunteers, that a person is not more likely to catch cold if he is made to stand around in wet clothes in a drafty place. Recently, Capt. E. E. Rogue River Schools To Close May 26 Rogue River - Rogue River district schools will close May 26, it was announced Friday. Report cards for the end of the fall semester were sent home Friday. A new semester began Monday, Jan. 23, and will close the week after grad uation. May 19. A demonstration of sound and electronics was presented before the high school assem bly Tuesday, Jan. 24. Varia tions of tonal quality, volume and pitch of stringed instru ments with electronic controls were demonstrated. RED - FIR , Slabs and Rough Blox Green - Select Quality Quick Delivery Buy Now THEY WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE AFTER MARCH MEDFORD FUEL CO. Telephone 2-2111 Court & McAndrewi AUTO PAINTING $299S BODY WORK BY EXPERTS! FAST SERVICE! All Work Guaranteed Call . ... Mike or Ritchie PHOENIX BODY SHOP Phoenix, Oregon KE 5-1652 Talk With Nikila Not Ruled Out Washington -rtlPD Secretary of State Dean Rusk said today that President Kennedy has not ruled out the possibility of a summit conference with Soviet Premier Nikita Khru shchev if the "national inter est requires." Rusk said Kennedy wants lo employ "flexible" diplo macy. Rusk said the new admin istration will seek to make greater use of ambassadors and normal diplomatic chan nels, but does not want to get into a "frozen" system which would preclude any other kinds of contacts. Hedblom, M.C., U.S. Navy, re ported that in the Antarctic, with temperatures of 40 or 60 below zero, no one ever gets a cold unless he comes into contact with men recently arrived from civilization, or he' opens a box of clothing just received from home. Ap parently, the virus is carried not only by healthy people, but also by what health offi cers call fomites-the clothes or bed-clothes of a sick man. The research workers at Salisbury found what all phy sicians should know-that peni cillin has no eltect on coins; it does not prevent the growth of the virus. Years ago, at the Student Health Center of the University of Minnesota, when every anti-cold remedy known to man was tried out on many thousands of volunteers by Dr. Harold Diehl and his group, about the only drug that had any effect was co dein. It helped 85 per cent of the students who were given it at the start of a cold. Co dein has to be prescribed by the person's physician. Achondroplasia Dwarfs Have Few Children Because a number of people have been writing to ask about the type of dwarf who has a normal-sized body and head but very short arms and legs, I was much interested when today in an article by the very able geneticist, Pro fessor Theodosius Dobzhan sky, I found his statement that E. T. Morch, of Denmark, has found that these dwarfs produce on the average, only some 20 surviving children for every 100 children produced by their normal brothers and sisters. Evidently, then, this dwarfism, which can be in herited as a dominant, will tend to die out in a family. Another inherited diseasa has a similar strong tendency to die out is Retinoblastoma, an eye cancer which comes in children and which will quickly kill the victim unless the affected eye is immedi ately removed. HELP US! We need clothing, shoes, dishes, furniture, and bedding. We Pick Up. HELP OTHERS! The Salvation Army 30 N. Holly SPring 3-7335 EXPANSION SPECIAL! On all SHRUBS Moved to Make room for our New GARDEN SUPPLY STORE We Carry a Full Line of Garden Supplies & Equipment FLOWERS bring us much happiness, almost from ihe moment we open our eyes on the world until we say "Good-bye." OUR FLORAL DEPARTMENT - f,1,0"" adss. oTi fS QUALIFIED FLORISTS Funerals Weddings Grand Open ings Pot plants. 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