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Another inviting art trap opened in Manhattan last week was an exhibition of 64 paintings by contemporary Chinese artists at the Montross Gallery. Done on silk or paper in the traditional kung pi or "careful line" technique, and in the hsieh i or impressionist manner, they included some peerless examples of Chinese sleight of hand. Best brush work to the Occidental eye was by Wang Hê-nien, a humorous 75-year-old whose choice of subject and range of feeling far exceeded that indicated in the Chinese saying: "When you are happy, you can paint the orchid; when angry, the bamboo."
Bundled off the Normandie this week to the great relief of a number of interested parties was Pablo Picasso's famous 250-sq.-ft., furious Guernica (TIME, Nov. 14). Getting it across the ocean had been a trial. Artist Picasso at first agreed to its shipment on the Queen Mary, then changed his mind. Besought by cable, he consented to book it for the Paris. The Paris burned. The Aquitania refused to carry it. When it finally arrived, only two days remained to stretch the canvas and get it installed in the Valentine Gallery, where it will be exhibited through May to raise money for Spanish refugees. Among the sponsors: Eleanor Roosevelt, Fiorello LaGuardia.