r Page Two THE PILOT, Southern Pines, North Carolina Frijilay, March 14, 1947. MacNeils Pursue Artist’s Life In Pleasant Studio Expert Painters available good paint depends as much the painter as 0 the paint. Call 7601 today and arrange to have a crew of our expert painters do your job. Estimates given without obligation. Shaw Paint & Wallpaper Co. CONTRACTORS Telephone 7601 DEALERS Southern Pines Here are Mr. and Mrs. Hermon MacNeil and a corner oi their cheerfully cluttered studio at PineblUff. MacNeil, one of the “greats” of American sculpture, is also a painter, and on the walls are samples of his work and those of his friend, John Ormiston. At the extreme left may be seen two Ormiston water colors, scenes near Southern Pines. Both artists have wintered here for many years. (Photo by Emerson Humphrey.) ful blend of nature with imagina tion. Thus, commissioned to do a historical statue for Portland, Ore., he created one of massive height—^two Indian figures, one somewhat dubious, the other waving a branch in an attitude of welcome. Christened “The Com ing of the White Man”, and plac ed on high ground in a pairk at the river bend around which the white man’s boat actually came, the statue keeps vividly alive an historic moment of the city’s past. In carrying out a commission MacNeil first saturates himself in the history of the place or per son concerned. History is just one of the many subjects a sculptor must learn besides his art. He must know the laws of physics, for working-with huge heavy masses; geology, for knowledge of marble, granite and other stone; metallurgy, for casting in bronze and the newer alloys; mechanics, for translation of the original design into the finished Work. A stone cutter completes the piece, working with electrical equipment from the plaster model; but MacNeil oversees the job, whether it’s done on the spot, as was the Supreme Court pediment, or in his studio at Col lege Point, N. Y., for shipment. Most of his heavy work is done at his College Point home, which is on Long Island, near the homes of his two sons, both of whoin inherit ability in the arts. They have a double right to it. MacNeil’s first wife, Carol Brooks MacNeil, was also a sculptor of note, a pupil of M^cMoimies. The present Mrs. MacNeil, is also an artist—and, better still, an artist at keeping artists com fortable and happy. In complete peace and happi ness MacNeil, his friend Ormis ton and his gentle wife keep up their wprk and play at the Pine- bluff (home—the world forgejl- ting but not by the world forgot. FOR RESULTS USE THE Pt LOT’S CLASSIFIED COLUMat, Telephone 6161 Powell Funeral Home 24 hour Ambulance Service D. A. Blue, Jr. Southern Pines itoiXUit Now With Us.... A. S. JONKERS OF PINEHURST. N. C. With 15 years experience as a skilled mechanic: Mr. Jonkers has specialized on GENERAL MOTOR PRODUCTS. MR. JONKERS, well known in Pinehurst and our Sandhills area, is a welcomed addition to our shop. PHILLIPS MOTOR CO, Phone 187 Carthage, N. C. Noted Sculptor, Hermon NacNeil, Relaxes Happily at Pinebluff Home SEEDS and Fertilizers It's lime to get down to earth about that garden you've been thinking of all winter. * Order the seeds you can depend on for hearty growth. Complete assort ment. McNEILL & COMPANY FEED and SEED STORE Telephone Southern Pities 6244 by Valerie Nicholson One of the world’s greatest sculptors is living quietly in the little village of Pinebluff, near Southern Pines—working when he feels like it, but mostly just relaxing, enjoying the people and the serenity, the longleaf pines and the weather. Yes, the weather, even when it isn’t the kind that the Cham ber of Commerce ordered. Her mon Atkins MacNeil has a love for this country which has brought him back year after year for the winter and spring to his Pinebluff bungalow home, With its back yard studio. Talking to this gay, charming and unassuming man, you’d never guess, from him, that his work is in every important museum in the country,’ and in parks and public buildings from coast to coast; that his name is in the Encyclopedia Britannica, in Who’s Who—and in every who’s who of art, including those which seldom assign importance to any one living. You’d never guess, either, that he’s in his 81st year, except that his work totals up to more than can be done in just a few years. He’s young in looks, manner and vision, and you have the feeling that his best work is yet to be. Two Artists Just now he’s gone back to painting, and every day finds him in the studio. In fact, you’ll find two artists there, for his friend John Ormiston, of New foundland, N. J., who winters in Southern Pines, is with him often, and the two take joy in^ each other’s company. MacNeil at his oils, Ormiston at his water colors, stimulate each other and also the incoming guest, who hears each sing the. other’s praises while keeping mum about his own achieve ments. The studio walls give testi mony to those of both. Early this month the MacNeils staged an Ormiston exhibit, along with a tea, honoring also their house guests. Dr. and Mrs. Riley of New York. The studio was shined up, and the artists swapped their customary old corduroys for, “company clothes” in deference to the occasion. Everyone had a wonderful time. Ormiston’s water colors, scenes around Southern Pines and also of the "Virginia and New Jersey seacoasts, were ranged along one wall. On another they ran into MacNeil paintings in an inextri cable blend. Friendship and Art And that’s the way the two friends are. Their conversation goes in counterpoint punctuated with their echoing wit, wisdom and laughter. You listen, you laugh—and you wind up with the idea that friendship is won derful,. art is fin|,,, and the two together are an unbeatable com bination. MacNeil points out the strength the way he captures the “feel” of a countryside. Ormiston glows with pride in MacNeil’s work, and hauls out a scrapbook con taining photographs of his major pieces. Probably the'’ best known of these is the eastern pediment of the Supreme Court building in Washington, D. C.—10 figures in a vast triangular composition. This was completed some eight years ago. Born in Chelsea, Mass., Mac Neil graduated from Massachu setts State Normal, then taught industrial art for two years at Cornell university. He then went to Paris, and studied sculpture under Henri M. Chapu and Fal- guiere. Winniiig the Rinehart scholarship to Rome, he studied and worked for four years in that sculptor’s paradise. He was elected to the National Academy in 1906. Indian Sculptures Back in America, his interest was captured by an Indian model he used in Chicago, and he went to Arizona for further study of the Indians. From this sprang a series o^ some of the most beauti ful of American sculptures, on which his earlies fame was based, such as “The Mo«qui Rayer for Rain,” now in the Chicago. Art Institute; Primitive Chant,” in the Metropolitan Museum pf Art; ■‘The Sun Vow,” probably the best known, in the Metropolitan, the Corcoran Art gallery and other museums, with dozens of copies also in private hands; “Moqui Runner,” “The Snake Dance” and others, showing the splendid grace and lean fine musculature of the Indian body. Beautiful memorials are loved and admired by thousands who see them daily, yet who seldom think to ask the sculptor’s name —one of numerous occupational hazards of this chancey profes sion. Among those by MacNeil you may have seen, and thrilled to, are the Fort Sumter memorial at Charleston, S. C.; the George Rogers Clark memorial statue at Vincennes, Ind.; busts of Rufus Choate, Roger Williams, James Monroe, Judge Parkman and J. Q. A. Ward, a fellow sculptor, in the Hall of Fame; General Wash ington On the Washington arch in New York city; the Orville Hitchcock Platt memorial in the state capitol at Hartford, Conn.; the Ezra Cornell memorial at Cor nell university; the “Father of Seattle” at Seattle, Wash.; the bust of Chancellor Brown at New York university; the superb horse and rider commemorating the “Pony Express,” in Central park at St. Louis, Mo. Coin and Medals His design was used for the 25-cent piece issued in 1916, and he has designed many Vnedals for expositions and in art and eduv cational fields. He is also con stantly called to be a judge in competitions in which such sions, are awarded. He did important commemora tive work for the Columbian, Chicago, Paris, Buffalo, St. Louis and Panama expositions, and here is just a partial list of honors he has won: the designers’ medal, Chicago exposition; silver medal, Paris exposition; gold medal, Buffalo exposition; silver medal. Charleston exposition; commem orative medal, Louisiana Pur chase exposition; gold medal, Panama exposition; medal of honor of the Architectural League of New York; the Saltus medal of 1923. He has taught sculpture at Cor nell and at the Chicago Art in stitute, and hais (helped [many young sculptors on their way to success. One gets to be a sculptor, says MacNeil, through knowing that that is the one thing one wants to do. Every young person feel ing this urge faces far more ob stacles than encouragement. You can’t fool around or make mis takes where each work repre sents the investment of so much time, money and effort. A major piece takes months, sometimes years of work. Historical Statue MacNeil’s best successes have been arrived at through a force- SPECIAL SALE Automatic Ironers Single & Double Burner Hot Plates Shower Curtains Floor Heaters Southern Utilities, Inc. SANFORD, N. C. 52 Moore Si. Phone 294 Everything From Infancy to Teen-Age New Ricki Gail Dresses The Juvenile & Linen Shop (Over Western Auto Store) SANFORD. N. C. and subtlety of Ormiston’s colors, medals, or important commisr BEDROOM BEAUTY designed by Hickory Manufacturing Co. Five distinguished pieces including 4 poster bed, vanity, vanity bench, chest of drawers and night table. Beautifully finished. $375.00 OTHER MAHOGANY SUITES FROM $155 UP FURNITURE COMPANY THE HOME OF QUALITY FURNITURE Moore St. Telephone 325 Sanford, N. C. U