KING'S CONSENT.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 11, 13 January 1940, Page 11

KING'S CONSENT.

CORONATION PICTURE

ON LOAN TO NEW ZEALAND. AT NATIONAL ART GALLERY. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, Friday. I The magnificent oil painting by Mr. Frank Salisbury, which .was win missioned by the Prime Ministers of five Dominions and, presented to t'hc King in .remembrance .of the Coronation, is now hanging at the National Art Gallery, Wellington. 3Mr. Salisbury was present in. Westminster Abbey and commenced the painting during the ceremony. He also made many sketches and studies of subjects who are prominent in the picture.

The canvas, which, measures 20ft by 12ft, shows the King seated on the Throne wearing the. Grown and receiving the "blessing of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Queen is seated on the hift and is wearing her Coronation robes. The light filters through the stainedglass windows and shows up the blue and gold wall covering,' which was specialty manufactured • for the Coronation. The occupants .of the. Royal Box arc portrayed with great fidelity.

The. portrait of Queen Mary is exceptionally fine, and those of Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret Rose, the Duchess of Kent and the Duchess of Gloucester arc all excellent. Rich rolws are beautifully painted, the colours blending and making a striking and lovely picture. The Prime Ministers of the Dominions aro standing Iwhiiul the Lord Chamberlain, and Mr. Savage is seen in court dress in .profile.

When Mrs. Murray Fuller was in I London she made a request that this I picture be lent to New Zealand for the, Centennial Art Exhibition arranged by the board of trustees of the National Art Gallery, Wellington. The King gave liis consent for the picture, to be sent to New Zealand. It bad in the meantime been lent to the United Kingdom Hall at the New York Fair, and lias come direct from New York to Wellington. It was carefully packed in a large I case within another case. This had to Ibe taken to the gallery on a special float, and was unpacked in the grounds, as the case was too largo to go through any of the doors. The frame came direct to Wellington from London, and was specially designed with the eoatofarms of each Dominion incorporated.

• When framed the picture takes the whole'of the wall in gallery B, and is the largest oil painting in New Zealand. With the collection Of international pictures already hanging in the gallery, this new addition should prove a great attraction to all visitors to Wellington.

When asked if it was likely that Mr. Salisbury's painting of the Coronation would *be exhibited ill Auckland* the director of the Auckland Art Gallery, Mr. John Barr, said lie had received no communication on tho subject. In any case, as the picture, with the frame, measured 26ft by 20ft it could not be taken into the gallery intact through any of the existing doorways. It would be a. very difficult matter to find a suitable building with an entrance, large enough to admit the picture.