Radcliffe Art Exhibit

There are cynics, no doubt, who have believed that the addition of several murky pastel shades to the architectural embellishments of Radcliffe's dorms--metamorphosing the Quad into something resembling a child's building block set--would forever remain the sole achievement of Mrs. Bunting's new house system. However much that first product of Radcliffe's revolution may have offended even the most meager aesthetic sensibilities, it has apparently not yet blighted the talent of Radcliffe's artists. The second product of the new system, an art exhibit at South House, provides a most pleasant change from the obnoxious new scrambled-egg color of the dormitories' doors.

Far and away the most exciting work in the exhibit is that of Martha Rochlin '62, whose painting of two figures (shown in Bertram) won first prize in the oils division. Working somewhat in the manner of Cezanne, with a bit of Freud mixed in, Miss Rochlin relies heavily on large splashes of somber coloring and bold brush strokes for her forceful effect.

With my apologies to the judges, I must say that I preferred Miss Rochlin's blue-toned nude (in Briggs) to the winning canvas. It is here that she achieves her greatest compositional balance and subtlety of color. The nude reclines, her head and right elbow tossed back, and strenuous shading carries the consequent tension most effectively throughout the body.

Few others in this show approach Miss Rochlin's spontaneity. Deborah Ellis' pen sketch of a paunchy man (first prize in the graphics division) is pleasant and even humorous but occasionally rather unsure of anatomical detail. Among other drawings worth noting is a nude, "I' Arlesienne," by Adrianne Aldrich '62. Miss Aldrich, who knows her Toulouse-Lautrec almost overly well, does a fine job of capturing the feline quality of her subject.

In the non-objective realm, Lois Swirnoff of the Institute for Advanced Study has entered a most enjoyable pile of red and purple strata entitled "Geological Landscape." Otherwise, with few exceptions, Radcliffe artists are apparently relegating their abstractions to gen-ed and philosophy papers.

Most of the photography is rather mediocre, with the outstanding exception of the pictures by Patricia L. Hollander '63, whose "Peace March" (first prize) appeared on the cover of the November 17 CRIMSON WEEKLY REVIEW. Constance Ross Dupee '64, and Madeline Rosten '63, both submitted fairly interesting though in no way extraordinary color photography.

All in all, South House's exhibition leaves a good impression. The few real atrocities have been sufficiently well hidden in dark halls and corners to render their presence inoffensive, and the few outstanding works alone make a visit worthwhile.