New York may have its shocking exhibitions of new art, of nudes descending staircases, of naughty undraped dancing figures and such things, but there is a town within ‘‘forty-five minutes of Broadway’’ which will stand for none of these new-fangled ideas: New Rochelle.
The town’s public library has rejected for exhibition purposes a painting by Mrs. Elizabeth Watrous. Miss Jessie F. Brainerd, librarian, strolled in to the gallery, and her eyes fells upon Mrs. Watrous’ ‘‘In the War Zone.’’ ‘‘This will never do,’’ said Miss Brainerd. The offending picture was taken down, carried to the cellar and placed in a dark corner. It represents a woman, partly clad, fleeing from the destruction of her village.— The New York Herald, European edition, April 30, 1915