NEW ZEALAND ART

Press, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23001, 22 April 1940, Page 7

NEW ZEALAND ART

TWO IMPORTANT INFLUENCES THE PERIOD BEFORE THE WAR ~ (By C.R.S.) The most important thing about the national centennial exhibition of New Zealand art, at present at the Durham Street Gallery, is that for the first time it is possible to review in one collection the work of artists in New Zealand from 1 the earliest times to the present day. The collection is notable for its diversity of outlook, of technique, and of achievement, and although the number of works of outstanding merit is not large in proportion to the whole, the rest are necessary to enable the exhibition to serve the purpose for which the collection was assembled. • Four main categories are apparent in the collection—the topographical work of the pioneer surveyors and explorers, sometimes achieving unusual merit through its sincerity; the work of early emigrant artists and visitors, which mostly expresses New Zealand in terms of a European conception of landscape; the work of the schools which arose from the influence of Van der Velden and James Nairn, beginning in the early. nineties and continuing until the Great War; and the work of the modern school done in the last 20 years, and more particularly in the last 10 years. Of these the first and the last are most likely to attract immediate attention, the first because the manner is unfamiliar and the subjects have become romantic, and the last because it is in an idiom which has become familiar and popular. The second category is unimportant for its later influence, and mainly undistinguished, but the third (covering the period 1890 to 1914), although it is likely to be overlooked, because its manner is ’largely regarded as outoutmoded, is important because it shows the beginnings of influences on technique and outlook ' which have continued until the present day,-and represents the 'work of the first really notable group of New Zealand artists. Van . der Velden and Naim Petrus Van der Velden arrived in Christchurch' in 1890, and within a year James Nairn established himself in Wellington. Both had achieved a considerable standing as artists before they came to New Zealand, and for the first time young New Zealand artists were able to study with men who were far more than amateurs or aver-age-professionals. Both had consider* able influence on technique, but far more important than this was the contact of students with the workshop of artists, the “smell of art,” and the emphasis that painting was work and that skill in handling its tools did not come by inspiration. The work of both of these men was far more diverse than could be included iri the present collection. Yet the mastery of Van der Velden can be judged from the modelling and subtle handling ol light in his small wash drawing, “Dutch Lady” (No; 312), his pencil drawing “Woman Scrubbing” (No. 313), with its bold and , sure draughtsmanship, and his l&rger oil, “Old Jack” . (No. 310), with its Rem-brandt-like effect. His influence was considerable in the - earlier stages of numbers of artists who belong really to a later period. Such are Leonard Booth, Robert Proctor, Cecil and. Elizar beth Kelly, and Sydney Thompson. ; Nairn also is well represented in the water-colour “Wellington Harbour” (No. 224), with its skilled hand-' ling of colour and light, and by “Wellington Coast”. (No. 223). His oil, “Chrysanthemum Garden” (No. 225), is. at first confusing, - but it has the understanding of colour and the good drawing that marked all Ms work. Nairn’s Ihfluence is apparent in the work of Alfred Walsh, who, however, developed, in his own way. His “Valley in the Seaward Kaikouras” (No. 324) shows both the influence and the originality, and his earlier “Beach” (No. 326) is striking with its careful but lively composition. Among Nairn’s pupils was Maud Sherwood, well represented by “Dee Why Beach” (No; 278). -One or two other artists have had a considerable irifluqnce, not only much by teaching, but by encouragement. These include A H. O’Keefe, of Dunedin, represented by a striking recent portrait (No. 233). In Auckland the influence of John Weeks has more recently been considerable, and in Christchurch also a later stage is represented by the continuation in other artists of the outlook in landscape of Ronald McKenzie (No. 208). W. Menzies Gibb; .representing an earlier landscape influence. achieved more in the encouragement of others than in his own work. The ability -of William Sprott, a notable young artist, who died in 1893, is \ represented by his “Pacific Surf” (No. 285). Of the artists- who went overseas and ’ achieved success there, the most notable is Raymond Mclntyre, who went from Christchurch in 1909. He shows a Whistler influence, but his originality of ideas was accompanied by technical skill. “Self Portrait” (No. 204) and “Portrait” (No. 203) show why English critics after one exhibition compared his work (to his advantage) with Augustus John’s. It is often said that in the period before the war young artists; in New Zealand lacked encuoragement, at least compared with the conditions existing now. But it appears that although there were no , scholarships to take them overseas, they went of their own initiative and of their own resources. These are represented by such artists as the cartoonist. David Low, and the painters Fiances Hodgkins (No. 150), Heber Thompson, pupil, of O’Keefe (297), Eleanor Hughes (Nos. 162 and 163), and Owen Merton (Nos. 214-and 215) Sydney Thompson. (298), and Cecil Kelly (No. 177). A study of the achievement m the 25 years preceding the war shows that there was a great deal of .work of a surprisingly high- standard ' and that young artists then were as intellectually alive as they are to-day. Like young artists at any time they were susceptible and absorbed the latest fashions in manner, but many were strong enough to pass beyond those influences to originality.