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Part IIH
fabulous
fair
flair
OFF THE RECORD—By Nathan Ziprin
We interrupt our four-pert serial
ization of our trip to the current
World’s Fair for a flash-back to
the "Century of Progress Exposi
tion” held in Chicago m 1933.
Not that we were there . It was
depression-time We traveled than
by thumb-route and the Chicago
World's Pair was for beyond our
distance ambitions.
The reason for the interruption
of our own visit to the current Fair
is the coincidence of a visit of a
personai friend and great artist Leo
Katz in Atlanta.
Mr. Katz had been guest lecturer
at the opening of an exhibit of a
former pupil at Philander Smith
College, Little Rock, Ark, and en
route back to New York stopped to
see friends in Atlanta where he had
lived for several years as artist
in residence at Spelman College and
later free-lanced.
We’ll not enter into details about
bis brilliant career in the art and
teaching world but concentrate in
stead on the mural be was selected
to create for the Johns-Manville
Building at the Chicago World’s
Pair, because of the timeliness and
human interest aspects.
As one of the world's outstanding
muraiists at the time, he won the
commission.
Leo had chosen “Give Us This
Bay Our Daily L&k” as theme for
the huge mural which was to dom
inate the firm’s exhibition hall, con
sisting of 114 Transite Asbestos
panels of different sizes These he
paused in hi« studio at. Englewood,
N. J., intending to do the finishing
touches when the panels had been
set in (dace
There was to be an unexpected
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hitch Paper Hangers Union officials
gut a look-see at the panels and
decreed the work fell into their
bailiwick and no one who did not
belong could work on them They
maintained the panels were wall
coverings; Fair officials claimed
they were art.
This was an affront to the inde
pendence and integrity of a person
of Mr Katz' professional reputation
and talent, an issue he could have
fought out in the courts if it took
years and undoubtedly won
But by then the Fair would be over
and he could not see the mural go
up without the necessary "finish
ing” touches necessary to snooth
out the connecting panels and the
like.
What was the settlement'' Well, it
seemed if Mr Katz would join the
paper hangers’ union, all the pre
requisites would be satisfied.
So he did, becoming probably the
only fine artist to belong to the
PHU.
The mural of course was magnifi
cent, with a heroic and suppliant
stature of man in the center. Panels
on his sides depicted in symbolic
design and color the arenas of
"Cold,’’ "Heat,” Sound and Motion,
with multi-sketches under each ca
tegory carrying the theme from pre
hirtoric and natural form to man
controlled aspects
In an interview about the mural
at the time, the artist said in
part . . .
.“ So. math knowledge, and techr
ntcal equipment seems to us to turn
into a ready trap that win destroy
us unless we become ready to re
ceive those light rays which could
guide us from chaos towards a true
mastery of the forces within our
selves and of the instruments we
have brought into existence.
“This is the message I put into
the mural which I finally crystal-
ized into the inscription, ‘Give us
this day our daily light.’ It is my
hope that this will become a part
of the standard prayer of the new
era, whose terrific labor pains we
are now experiencing.”
The mural, probably as huge as
the Cydorama in Atlanta, now lies
dismantled in some warehouse, later
perhaps bo be rediscovered if lik
able housing is over available.
The message—need we say it?—
is as applicable today as when the
artist first interpreted it. Perhaps
more so—an example of the prophe
tic universalian of art.
A (KM*-popular sung asked: Did
you ever see a dream walking? and
the refrain naturally enough natural
ly enou^i was “I did.” Ibis writer
has never seen a dream walking but
he saw one floating on a mundane
Monday last week on the Hudson, a
river that is famed in our colorful
history of navigation and has lent
its name to an Az ierican school of
painting.
Israel’s newest luxury liner Shal
om had just completed its maiden
voyage and I was among the privi
leged who were invited as guests
of the ship by the Zim Line even
though 1 am completely lacking in
the semantic tools that are required
in the writing of stipe. However, the
experience was a memorable one
not alone because I saw e dream
floating but because 1 witnessed a
testimonial to faith that mid-century
man will conquer the storms about
him even as the ships of the sea
conquer the waves.
Surely it was no idle thought nor
Kite hope that was behind the
naming of the dip.
On coming aboard the Shalom 1
learned that this was the first time
in the history of steamship travel
that a small, young nation had
placed a major luxury liner on the
most important and most fiercely
competitive ocean route—the North
Atlantic. The statistical fact was
interesting of course, but what in
trigued me most was the motiva
tion. Was it prestige that was a
factor in the decision to build the
Shalom? Was it meant to be an am
bassador of good will? Surely these
and others were the factors but over
and beyond those calculations was
faith in the future, a future that is
unimaginable without Shalom, with
out peace.
1 am no expert in modem ship
building, but what I saw as we
promenaded through the length of
the liner was quite impressive. Its
designers obviously were bent on
combining comfort with artistic in
novations—end in this they succeed
ed admirably The predominant col
or decoration is blue, varied with
green and violet, colors that lend
serenity against the background of
the greenifb-blue of the sea. Thought
ful setting was also given to the
synagogue and the inter-denomina
tional chapel of gradoue modem
decor suitable for either Protestant
or Catholic service. Contrasting with
the basic traditional concept behind
the religious retreats is the night
dub with its surrealist atmosphere
Properly enough, artists from
various countries were invited to
lend their talent to rendering the
Shalom pleasing to the eye. The
Zim Line in fact spent almost $300,-
000 on original art work. The artists
and their works were selected by a
special committee drawn from the
cultural and artistic elite in Israel.
Among the major artists represent
ed with works aboard the Shalom
are Rufino Tamayo, Mexican moral
ist, and Ben Shahn of the United
States
One of the ship’s most colorful dec
orations however is its 53-year-old
Captain Avner Freudenberg, a young
man with a sea-faring record of
thirty-one years Captain FTeuden
berg — whose maritime ventures
alone would take more space than
is allotted for this column—settled
in Palestine after the war and when
Israel was established he was among
the first seamen to receive Master
licenses issued by the government.
Any ocean liner today preetanebty
is operated on the principle that it
is a floating resort where people
come to unwind the tensions and
the pressures of life on land. Shalom
seemingly flUa that function in Ugh
style. Sturdy in appeamoe, the ves
sel gives the higrression that its
builders labored studiously and with
dedication over the blueprint.
To one who has never been in Is
rael, the day aboard the Shalom
was an unforgettable experience, for
it is of the Land and of Ms people
whether on the h&i seas or bound
to harbor in Haifa. Shalom's greet
est promise however is ahakxn —
peace.
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