MONTH LY LETTER

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MAYORS OF ONTARIO PORTRAYED IM CHARCOAL
Club member Egbert C. Reed deserves at least a nod of recognition
for the fine display of his charcoal portraits exhibited in Simpson 1 s window
during and subsequent to the last week of the C,N.E« As many members know,
"Bert" has been commissioned by one of the oil companies to sketch Mayors of
Ontario municipalities as part of a "Know Ontario" campaign. In addition to
his outstanding gift for peerless portraiture in black-and-white he has a
diversity of other talents, being the author of numerous radio plays, poems
and short stories. By way of a colourful foil to Bert f s black-and-white por*<
traits, in the same display is Fred Challener f s striking portrait in oils of
a much younger Bert Reed in Bedouin costume, a picture which was shown in the
Tate Gallery, London, in Paris, at the World's Fair in New York, and elsewhere.
AN OVERWHEIMING CONCENTRATION OF ART
As might be expected, the famous collection of art treasures from
Vienna displayed for six weeks at the Toronto Art Gallery, attracted many
members of the Club and created plenty of comment and discussion at the lunch
tables during July and August # Most of the comment was laudatory, and even
the more captious modernist critics had to admit the wonderful command of
colour, composition, draughtsmanship, and technical skill of such immortals
as Teniers, Hals, Rembrandt, Rubens, Van Dyck, Vermeer, Durer et al. The
handiwork of the European craftsmen in metals, fabrics, precious and semiprecious
stones such as onyx, jade, chalcedony, lapis lazuli, and in horn,
ivory and rock crystal, provided a rare treat in beauty and exquisite design:
goblets, ewers, basons and chalices, platters and dishes, arms and armour
made with infinite skill and embellishments, great tapestries of intricate
workmanship,- all were there to give complete delight, full measure and running
over. Whatever the sins of the Habsburg dynasty may have been much will
be forgiven them for their seven centuries of patronage of art and artists.
Alan Collier gave an exhibition of 28 of his pictures in the Great
Hall of the Club during the latter half of May. There was a happy diversity
of subjects in the show which gave those at luncheon much pleasure. Since
that time a number of old Club favorites have been on the walls, including
Lawren Harris 1 charming study of old rough cast houses, painted in 1911} the
eympathetic portrait of Gus Bridle painted a long time ago by Wyly Grier J
Comforts Old House, (reminding one of the house in the Magnificent Ambersons)}
York Wilson's observant and witty Race Crowd; Lismer ! s Arctic GlacierJ
Brigdens atmospheric Don Valley; an Abstract by Stan Cooper.
The annual meeting of the Central Ontario Drama League was held in
the Arts and Letters Club early in June when the following officers were
elected: President, Roy A. Stewart} Vice-Presidents: J# E. Dean, Randolph
Macdonald, John L. Watson, H. H, Norris} Treasurer: Victor Barnett} Secretary,
Vida H« Peene} Gordon Alderson is on the Executive.