PUBLIC FAVORITE (22)

Shortly before Walt Kuhn died in 1949, the rawboned old man looked back on his long, lusty life as a bicycle race rider, vaudeville producer, cartoonist, art teacher and painter to make a typically enthusiastic confession: "I was past 40 before I painted a decent picture. I was the gauchest thing you ever saw. But I've had fun. God, I've had more fun! I've probably painted three or four masterpieces ..." One of Greenwich Village-born Painter Kuhn's best pictures, Trio, is the public favorite at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center.

The stark, monumental one-two-three composition is complemented by the red-white-red of the costumes, which sound out loud and strong, like chords, against the chilly silence of the curtain background. Although crudely painted in spots, the picture is too convincing for technical quibbles. Each of the three acrobats is characterized as an individual, yet even on the tanbark they seem to soar as a team.

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