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fflhtotga Srtbwts THE WORLD?╟╓S GREATEST NEWSPAPER D. 831,904 SUN. 1,138,268 AUG 2 3 1964 f RED SKELTON TURNSTOART > SCORES A HIT |M ;Comic Surprised by u Crowds at Exhibit Hollywood, Cal., Aug. 22 (UP?½ ?╟÷ Someone once described Ted Skelton as ?╟úa funny man who thru the- years has become ?╟≤ more than , a comic ... he is now one of the world?╟╓s great clowns, a star who can touch the heart as well as the funny- , bone.?╟Ñ . The thousands of visitors to Red?╟╓s first art exhibit discov- ered that this is true not only of Skelton the performer but ?╟  .also of Skelton the artist. ?╟úI came to the exhibit out of sheer curiosity,?╟Ñ said a : woman who spent two hours ^ examining the 52 Skelton oil ~ paintings in the emerald room of the SaMs hotel in Las ?╟≤ Vegasr**Tve~sflways admired Red as. a performer, but I never dreamed that his paint- ings would be anything more than a pleasant diversion. ?╟úNow I know that his paint- ings have the same sensitivity ?╟≤ that he displays as a clown. 1 He?╟╓s great!?╟Ñ Draws 3,000 Visitors The Sands management had anticipated a few hundred vis- itors, but they played host to more than 3,000. One person '?╟╓offered Skelton. $8,000 for a painting. Others 7 also offered to buy his . can- vases. Red wouldn?╟╓t sell. Skelton was thrilled with the ~ attention his lart has won. The exhibit resulted when . jack Entratter, president of the K, Sands, noticed a stack of paint- ,, ings in a closet of Red?╟╓s Palm Springs home. ?╟úRed, these shouldn?╟╓t be bur- )'* ied away,?╟Ñ said Entratter, a ; serious art collector. ?╟úLet?╟╓s do *; an exhibition .at the Sands ; where people can enjoy them.?╟Ñ ?╟úAw, they?╟╓re not good enough,?╟Ñ Skelton replied. ?╟úWho?╟╓d be interested??╟Ñ But Entratter won Skelton over. Chevalier Asks For One Maurice Chevalier, who was appearing in Las Vegas at the Comedian Turns Artist Red Skelton usually?╟╓does his painting^in his Palm Springs (Cal.) swimming pool, chewing; on a cigar (which he never smokes)'and dipping his brush into the pool water. His wife, Georgia, encouraged him to take up painting. , Mf ?√ß 5' fe ?√ßskhn I - I - - i W M , I ?╤ ?╟≤.^1 ?╟≤ 1 | /.\ I i [UPI Telephotos] : . , Red Skelton (left) and Jimmy Durante pose in front ot some of Skelton?╟╓s paintings. ____________________ . _______?╟÷. time, asked Red if tie could have a painting for his own collection. ^ , *?╟ Red was really floored, recalls his friend, AlFreeman. ?╟úChevalier has a .5 million dollar collection of art in his home in France, and here he was talking about putting a Skelton original in the middle, of his Cezannes, Van Goghs and Renoirs.?╟Ñ ' * Security officers at the hotel won?╟╓t forget the first day of the exhibit when Skelton came tiptoeing into the emerald room and saw dozens qf people studying his paintings. ?╟úThere are PEOPLE here,?╟Ñ he said, Shaking his* head. ?╟úI can?╟╓t believe it.?╟Ñ .His Pool a Mess Skelton usually does his painting standing in his swim*, ming pool, chewing on jr cigar he never smokes and dipping his brush into the pool water. ?╟úIf there?╟╓s one thing painting has taught me,?╟Ñ he said, ?╟úit?╟╓s that oil and water don?╟╓t mix. You ought to see the pool after one of my painting sprees. It?╟╓s an olympic-size palette!?╟Ñ It isn?╟╓t unusual for Red to decide to paint around mid- night. When he?╟╓s finished, he puts the painting by his wife Georgia?╟╓s bed, ready for writ- ten criticism. A typical note from her might read: ?╟úIt?╟╓s very good?╟Ñ or ?╟úthe eyes are a trifle too bulgy.?╟Ñ Mrs. Skeltort-ns an artist in her own right, a graduate of the art center school in, Los Angeles, and she encouraged her husband to take up paint- ing 15 years ago. It?╟╓s just in the last year that Red has worked steadily at painting, with more than .40 canvases completed in* that time.