ART BEQUEST.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 31, 6 February 1936, Page 7

ART BEQUEST.

MEDITERRANEAN SCENE. LOCAL ARTISTS' POSITION. Whether or not New Zealand artists should receive the paronage of their countrymen was a subject discussed by the Christchurch City Council at its last meeting. The council, however omitted to come to a decision on the point. The subject was introduced when the Art Gallery committee reported that under the will of Miss May Sclilesinger the city had received a legacy of £200 for the purchase of an oil painting for the Robert MeDougall Gallery. Mr. Sydney Thompson, one of the Art Society's representatives on the committee, proposed to visit England in the near future, and would make inquiries with a view to selecting a suitable picture. "Why not commission a local artist to do the work?" asked Mr. W. Havward. The deputy-Mayor, Mr. J. W. Beanland, said that some members of the committee had not overlooked that poiut, but they had been more or less bound to give way to the superior knowledge of art authorities 011 the committee. Mr. J. K. Archer said that one of the conditions under which the gift was made provided that the painting should show a view of the Mediterranean Sea. Mr. Thompson did not have the free hand that the report suggested.