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Title and Substance

Art audiences which haven't quite got around as yet to the point of taking "plastic form" and "spatial rhythm" in stride, are now being expected to absorb "morphology," "cosmogony" and, latest addition to the art lexicon, "anthropography," which is the title Hedda Sterne has given her latest pictures, on view at the Betty Parsons Gallery. Actually I don't think any one need worry too much about the new title, which, according to Webster's, has something to do with "that branch of anthropology treating with the distribution of the human race in its different divisions," and, according to Miss Sterne, deals with "man's manifestation of himself as indicated by the way he makes his machines." The pictures, even without labels, are extremely handsome. They are abstractions obviously inspired by the forms of machinery, painted in an environment of deep space, most effective in their restrained color harmonies, and revealing first-rate draftsmanship. They relate in spirit to the frightening, almost human quality of the unforgettable machinery in the old Charlie Chaplin film "Modern Times," and they constitute an authentic and impressive document of our society. 

H.T. Feb. 16th E.G.