No Room For Trachtman

An exhibition of paintings removed from Boylston Hall two weeks ago because of its political content will probably not be shown at the Graduate School of Design, where it was invited after its initial rebuff.

The paintings by Arnold Trachtman, a Cambridge painter, attack the war in Southeast Asia and the political system and racism in America.

No Offense

They were removed from Ticknor lounge before being exhibited because in the words of one official, "It is the desire of the Library to offend no one."

Gilbert A. Fishman, a Design School student in charge of exhibitions, said that he had planned to show the paintings along with projects by Design School students (including strike posters) in the Great Space of Robinson Hall. Commencement has traditionally been a time to exhibit students' work, although work by outsiders is shown at other times of the year.

Fishman said he had planned to put up Trachtman's paintings on Friday, but had been asked not to do so by officials of the Design School. "The authorities of the School feel that we should not show political art at this time," he said yesterday. "I personally feel that the job of the exhibition committee is to show art that is socially relevant," he added. He said he felt the paintings, although not by a GSD student stressed the same theme as the strike posters.

Maurice D. Kilbridge, acting dean of the Faculty of Design, was not available for comment yesterday. He has not yet released any official statement on the exhibit. Fishman said that the School will probably not ?eto the exhibit, but "it'll be in bureaucratic limbo forever."