Art: Whitney Annual

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Last year Manhattan critics noticed a slight droop in the annual sculpture show of the Whitney Museum of American Art. Last week the 1939 show opened, and by the time the critics had written their reviews, the droop became a full-fledged wither. No matter how faded, however, Whitney bouquets always have some spectacular posies:

Most exotic: Isamu Noguchi's Radio Nurse, a grilled bakelite face—prettier as a radio than as a nurse. Most graceful: a brightly colored terra cotta mother and child by Waylande Gregory. Most arresting: José de Creeft's familiar strong and peaceful Head in Belgian granite. Most horrendous: a lifesize, lifeless woman by Alexander Archipenko. Her name: Mâ.