Arts: Murphy vs. Salon

An American has turned the art circles of Paris into triangles and polygons. He is Gerald Murphy, and his canvas, a “composite conception of the steamers Paris and Olympic,” standing 18 feet high, is a picture of the smokestacks and bridge of an Atlantic liner. The Independent Salon at which this gigantic painting was to be shown gives over one gallery to each nation. But when Mr. Murphy’s work of art arrived, it was found there would be almost no wall space left for other American artists. The painting was, therefore, hung over the grand entrance staircase, the most conspicuous position in the building. M. Paul Signac, a futurist of the most independent kind and President of the Independent Salon, promptly took exception to this action and resigned, followed by his colleagues, the Vice President and the Commissaire General. Consternation reigned. Many were the friends of both factions who attempted a reconciliation. Gerald Murphy calmly refused to have his picture removed to a less conspicuous place. Said he: “If they think my picture too large, I think theirs too small!”

Gerald Murphy seems to be a continuous sensation. Only recently the Ballet Suedois (Paris) presented the fantastic Within the Quota, a pantomime of immigration, for which he wrote the synopsis. This ballet was acclaimed by the younger Parisians as a great step toward the liberation of the dance from the archaic forms in which it has been confined. It met with no less comment when presented in Manhattan.

Murphy is the son of the head of Mark Cross,, Fifth Avenue stationers and famed leather-goods merchants.