Man At Work

A popular art novelty of the year is letting the public in to watch a painter at work. One nice thing about it, say publicists, is that the painters enjoy their gallery as much as it enjoys them.

Last week the novelty was being tried at Manhattan's Museum of Modern Art. The painter was famed Mexican Muralist Jose Clemente Orozco. But in this case the mutual enjoyment was not a neat 50-50. The painter apparently did not like all those people looking over his shoulder.

First few days he did his best to play up to the packed onlookers, politely answered questions, politely listened to excitable spectators who wished him to know that they too had been in Mexico. Being shy, partly deaf, disinclined to talk about his work, he found it hard going. Then he took to painting in the mornings, behind closed curtains. Afternoons he came out in the open, amiably walked through his act.

Called Dive Bomber and Tank the mural was a starkly symbolic study of war's destructiveness, done in eleven colors ranging from lime white to vine black with four shades of red, which suggested explosions, storm clouds, dried blood. It had no political significance, said Orozco.

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