"HUMPH!"

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 154, 1 July 1936, Page 8

"HUMPH!"

DOMAIN STATUE. MR. F. K. HUNT'S REACTION. COMMENT AND CONTROVERSY. Above, the new entrance gates to the Domain is poised the bronze nude figure of an. athlete—holding a pose of grace. It is an innocent figure, holding, it was intended, the personification of an ideal of symmetry, action and inspiration. let around its feet, since photographs of it were published, has waged a fierce controversy. On the old question "to be or not to be," there is divided opinion. Athletes criticise it on the ground that the shot-putter represented is-obviously left-handed, and awkward at that. Other citizens, writing under the nom-de-plumes of "Decency," "Mother," and so on, criticise it on the ground that it is indecent.

The opinion of other representative citizens was sought this morning, and is here presented—without comment.

Mr. F. Iv. Hunt, S.M., was one of those first sought out, and his reaction "was characteristic. "Humph!" he said, and then he smiled. "Why ask me? I'm not an. artist." Equally brief was that of Mr. A. J. C. Fisher, director of the Elam School of Art. He did not see the reporter. His answer to a request for a comment was "No." The opinion of Mr. Justice Callan was sought, but in declining to comment he remarked that he did not think that it would be wise for him to enter into such a controversy. Professor E. M. Algie, dean of the Law School at Auckland University College, commentator on many subjects and much sought after-dinner speaker, denied at first his qualifications. .Then his eye twinkled in the light of an inward •thought, and he spoke. "Enviable Position." "That statue will evoke a storm of criticism both from those who know and those who don't. The athlete himself occupies a mosi*"enviable position, in that he, at least, cannot be prosecuted." Speaking more seriously, Professor Algie suggested that though such figures would be regarded quite without comment in a European capital, in New Zealand, where the people were rather-too self-conscious about anything of the sort, and that thus it was apt to give offence. > . Another university opinion was: "Why is it necessary, anyhow?" Mr. R. A. Singer, barrister and solicitor, humorist and artistic critic, smiled when he was approached-—and there was a shade of'naughtiness in his eye.

"Ummm," he mused, and then: "I am afraid that it will be with some trepidation that I will either enter or leave those gates to the Domain. I'm afraid that £10,000 was rather wasted on me." He contributed the comment of a friend on the statue of the athlete, and then his own: "The swan represented on the. other side of the entrance is removed from any criticism of this sort. It also hasn't got any clothes." Dr. E. B. Gunson was interviewed just as he was leaving for Rotorua, and he motored the reporter round to inspect the figure of the athlete. His comment was serious. "The only comment I can make is on the gates of the park as a wljole," he said. "It is a good ligure, aad quite unexceptionable." The gates, he said, were excellent architecturally, but they were in the wrong setting. . Awkward Posture. A different viewpoint was presented by "R.E.M." in a letter to the "Star." He writes: "In your issue of June 29 I observed that the figure surmounting one of the pylons of the new Domain gates was said To be that of a shot putter at the end of hie throw. If, as this man must be the thrower is lefthanded, would he not be standing on his right foot? The normal attitude of a right-handed shot putter at the commencement 'of his throw, is a stance on his right foot. As the shot leaves his hand, he falls on to hie left foot and remains poised, his right hand still extended. I should be interested to know if it is at all possible for an athlete to arrive at such an awkward posture in an otherwise ' graceful exercise."

Humorously "Citizen" and "J.E.E." inquire whether the statue marks the entrance to a nudist colony.

Another correspondent suggests that there should be a special unveiling ceremony, and that the Mayor, Mr. Ernest Davis, should invite citizens to observe a holiday on the occasion.