Art and Artists

Said one artist about another: “A. has the most marvelous eye in the world. The pity of it is that what A. sees is not worth while seeing.”

One cannot accuse Aaron Berkman, whose first one-man show is current at the A. C. A. Gallery, of a marvelous eye and an empty mind. Quite the contrary. His mind, if not profound, is alert, wide awake, open to the surge of life around him. He is genuinely talented, impetuous and full of curiosity. But his education has not yet gone far beyond the art schools. His artistic equipment is not adequate. In his hurry to record a certain mood, action or movement his painting often becomes sloppy, incomplete, his drawing perfunctory. He does not dot his I’s too often. But talent atones for many faults. And that Berkman possesscs in no small measure. Also youth. There is a sense of reality in hi work that is convincing and appealing.

Berkman’s future development depends on greater concentration and deeper delving into things.

In the adjoining gallery are displayed single examples by the members of the A. C. A. group. While no masterpieces abound, some of the work is meritorious and interesting. I especially liked the strongly modeled “Mississippi Porter” by Irwin Hoffman, the quaint “Interior” by Paula Rosen, the lively “Playground” by Renee Lahm, Irving Lehman’s “Bridge,” Spivak’s unpretentious “Landscape” and Hy. Cohen’s honest and able, if conventional, “Hill’s Angels.”