Ary Stillman at Martin Hotel
Oct 21-Nov 10, 1929
Sioux City, Iowa
The Sioux City Sunday Journal
October 20, 1929
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Ary At Work |
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Every landscape or scene must have a mood, a sentiment
to express, just as surely as a human face, if it is to inspire
an artist to paint it, H. Ary Stillman, former Sioux Cityan, who
has attained an international reputation as an artist, said in
discussing his exhibit of pictures, now hung at the Martin hotel.
"The artist is not inspired to paint a
scene because it is pretty, or a face, for that matter,"said
Mr. Stillman, "Faces show their mood or sentiment principally
in the eyes and landscape scenes have eyes just as
surely as faces, which strive to tell you the message of the spot.
It is the task of the artist to catch that mood and express it
on canvas through the medium of color and form."
Exhibit at Martin
Mr. Stillman now has an exhibit of 65 pictures at
the Martin hotel, on the mezzanine floor and the ballroom. The
exhibit is being given under the auspices of the Sioux City Society
of Fine Arts. It includes a series of oriental types, head pictures,
made in Palestine and Syria, a number of French landscapes and
a few human figures, of which one is a nude, a group of landscapes
and portraits from the vicinity of Santa Fe, N. M., and three
pictures painted by Mr. Stillman during the past two weeks in
Sioux City.
The exhibit will remain at the Martin for about
three weeks, Mr. Stillman said. He intends to depart from Sioux
City about November 30 and will return to France during January,
where he will exhibit the pictures he has painted while in America,
including the Sioux City scenes.
"Every worthwhile picture has some message
that it wishes to convey, a mood that it has taken from the subject,
whether it be animate or inanimate,"said Mr. Stillman.
"A pretty face, if it has no character, is a poor subject
to paint, while another face that may be entirely lacking in beauty,
may be a fine subject if it has character and shows mood. The
same is true of a landscape, which must have some message to express
before I feel inspired to paint it."
The Sioux City pictures are three landscapes, one
of the street corner at Eighth and Iowa streets, another which
looks south from a window on the second floor of the public library
and a third of a scene in Grandview park.
Mr. Stillman has traveled over a great part of the
world in his search for the artistic and the beautiful, since
he left Sioux City in January of 1919. He came to Sioux City from
Russia in 1907 and resided here for more than 11 years, during
which time he engaged in the jewelry business. He was associated
with his cousin, Max Brodkey, in Brodkey & Goodsite, and part
owner and manager of the Royal Jeweler company, which no longer
is in existence.
From childhood, the boy had been inclined toward
art and the art of the jeweler did not satisfy his longing. He
had had some training as a boy in Russia and he kept up his training
by studying in his spare time while here. In 1919, he went to
New York to study at the National Academy of Design, where he
remained for two and a half years. He then went to Europe and
continued his studies there for several years in the museums of
France, Germany, Holland, Belgium and Italy.
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Jewish Boy |
Landscape, Santa Fe |
Sought Types
In 1925, Mr. Stillman went to the orient in search
of types and while there painted the series of water colors, which
are one of the principal features of the exhibit here. One of
the group, which is pictured here, is the head of a little Jewish
boy, who was picked up on the streets of Jerusalem and persuaded
to pose.
In Paris Mr. Stillman has given many exhibits at
the Societe National des Beau Arts and at the Salon dAutomne.
The other picture, which is reproduced here, is
one of the group of landscapes that were made in the vicinity
of Santa Fe, NM. It shows a typical adobe house of the region,
on a hilltop in a setting of small trees.
Mr. Stillman still has a brother residing in Sioux
City, as well as more distant relatives. His brother is Abraham
Stillman of the Stillman Jewelry company, 814 Fourth Street.
By H.Ary Stillman
The Sioux City Tribune
Saturday, October 26, 1929
We hear a great deal of talk about art. The dailies,
weeklies and monthlies give considerable space to the new form
of activities in American Life. We hear of wealthy people giving
large sums of money to art institutes and museums. And we wonder
where these tendencies come from. Is it really an inward movement
sprouted from the general American life or is it merely the plaything
of the few?
During the last 25 years American life has been
entirely transformed. We are no longer using our individual taste
in our life. Our houses are built and decorated according to the
fashion provided. We dress according to styles handed to us by
designers from New York City. We are getting things which are
the product of mass production.
Need Individual Expression
The more this mass production is developing the
more we feel a craving for an individual expression. Even our
educational institutions are affected by the standardization of
modern life.
Art is the expression of the individual. True art
does not aim to supply the demand of the masses. It serves its
own purpose. It brings an original touch in our life. Fine arts
is taking out the monotony of life; it gives new sound to our
ears and form and colors to our eyes.
True art teaches us how to see nature and how to
enjoy life to its fullest. We often hear people say they do not
understand art. Art is not to be understood but to be felt. We
must train ourselves to appreciate the beautiful effect of a sunset
but we do not have to use our reasoning power for that. The beauties
of fine arts grow on us as we come in closer contact with it.
The more we see the work of great masters, the more we appreciate
their qualities.
Art Center Required
To develop this appreciation we must have a temple
where the finer things are being housed. An art center will gather
all that which the individuality creates when it is endowed with
the gift of self expression and the people may go and see and
learn how to enjoy the beauties of nature.
Here in Sioux City we know of the existence of a
Society of Fine Arts; of the existence of musical and dramatic
organizations with the aim of bringing before the people of this
community the noblest things which make life worth while. It is
about time that all these scattered forces be united and with
the support of the art loving people of this city, to create a
temple of fine arts which will be a pride to this community.