Miniature Of Actress In McDougall Gallery

Press, Volume C, Issue 29436, 11 February 1961, Page 2

Miniature Of Actress In McDougall Gallery

A miniature painting of Dame Sybil Thorndike by the Christchurch artist, Mrs Elsie White, has been hung in the Robert McDougall Art Gallery.

Mrs White last week received a letter from Dame Sybil Thorndike expressing her interest in the painting’s resting place.

•'I am very interested to know that my miniature has been acquired for the Chnstehureh collection. and am proud to be there through your agency." Dame Sybil Thorndike wrote.

The miniature has had a long and complicated history. The first sketches were made in the 1930 s when Dame Sybil Thorndike, first visited Hew Zealand. Mrs White saw her in Shaw’s "St Joan,” a play wntten for her.

“I was fascinated —l thought she was wonderful," said Mrs White. She made rapid sketches of the actress from the stalls, and from these began work on the painting. When Dame Sybil Thorndike heard of this she wrote to Mrs White, enclosing a photograph which she thought might be of some use. She wrote again when the painting was completed, sending her best wishes for its success.

The completed miniature gained Mrs White admittance to the Society of Miniaturists, and was hung in the Royal Institute Galler.es. London. It was bought for the Robert McDougall Gallery late last year, and now hangs in the ga.’ery alongside a miniature of the actress. Barbara Jefford. also done by Mrs White. When Dame Sybil Thorndike visited Christchurch two years azo she was entertained

by Mrs White at her home in Christchurch, and her recent letter recalls the visit

Mrs White has been earning her living by ler brush for more than 50 years. “I was apprenticed to an artist at the

age of 12. although I was not paid anything for some time.* she sad yesterday. She has concentrated on miniatures for the last 35 years, and in this time she has painted m irthan 20C0 More than 1000 of

these have been painted during her 16 years in Christchurch. Sitters have come from all over the world, and Mrs White has had to turn away many applicants. “Although the camera has filled the place of the portrait to a certain extent. there are still some things that the camera cannot capture—the spirituality behind the face,” she said. Pattern Of The Past

Mrs White believes that a good miniaturist must work to the pattern laid down by famous miniature painters of the past. “They must paint the live, vital likeness, the human aspect idealised. There is no room for experiment in a miniature. Every stroke must be perfect—the slightest move out of place and everything is spoiled,” she said.

“The artist must not be conceited. He must not look at the model through his own eyes, but through the patron’s eyes. Children must be seen through the mothers’ eyes, and then the parents will love and cherish the portrait.” It rarely happened that what the sitter believed himself to be and what the artist saw in him differed. Prayer For Help “When a model sits down m the chair, he becomes wonderful and noble to me. I just don’t see the bad side of him. I think this is because I do my work as a religious duty When God gives you a gift, it is your duty to make the most of it. I never sit down to paint without humbly praying for help; and so somehow I manage to see what God sees in people,” Mrs White said.

This she felt was the secret of pleasing people. “I ’ could tell you many sentimental tales of people who have come to love others through their miniatures. Macy of my sitters are middle-aged women whose husbands are beginning to lose interest in them. Many a time I have seen such a husband take his wife into his arms right here in the studio, when he has seen the miniature. I had managed to create the woman as she was when he first fell in love with her.” Mrs White’s success is seen also in the artistic world. She was the first New Zealand miniaturist to exhibit in the Royal Academy. This painting is entitled “Miranda,” and is of the daughter of a Christchurch solicitor. She was invited to exhibit at the Smithsonian Institute, in the United States, and received notable mention when she exhibited at an exhibition of the American Society of Miniature Painters in 1952.

For the last year Mrs White has been doing less work than formerly “I found I just could not cope with the demand, so I limited myself very strictly, and after 50 years of painting for a living, I am now painting solely for pleasure.” shg said.