Art: In Detroit

Detroiters visited the Hanna-Thomson galleries last week for a first view of something they had been hearing about from other cities: the Glorification of the U. S. Workingman by Max Kalish, sculptor. Rich men and poor men went, for a Detroit art critic told them: "He deals. . . in the human symbols for certain sterling human qualities—strength, vigor, integrity, the beauty of a well-knit body and the fundamental character essential to a good craftsman. . . . His bronzes . . . should appeal to a large audience in Detroit, a city where men of millions know the feel of an engine throttle and the heft of a tool." They saw a barrel-chested iron-forger, naked above his leather apron, poising his sledge for a blow. They saw a strong-armed Nordic guiding an electric drill, and a cool Nordic in overalls _ and gauntlets, riding midair on a girder —perhaps a bone in the steel skeleton of the new Book Building, "world's highest." They saw the muscular, furious, aging Christ striding over the world more like a scourge than a savior—the figure of Christ that had caused so much ferment in Sculptor Kalish's native Cleveland. As everywhere, there were plenty of people to quarrel with the artist's anatomical exaggerations and inaccuracies; his tendency to pose a character rather than compose a type. But the majority marveled at his obvious sincerity and unusual power. Detroit, hive of industry, saw its own image and was content.