One-man Show By Dutch Painter

Press, Volume C, Issue 29536, 10 June 1961, Page 13

One-man Show By Dutch Painter

Nicholas Herber, a young painter from Holland who is holding a one-man show at the Durham street art gallery, first came to the notice of the Christchurch public when he won a minor prize in the Hay's competition last year. His present exhibition shows him to be a more accomplished painter than the work seen then suggested The colour sense indicated by the Hay s painting is confirmed and it proves to be reinforced by considerable ability to construct and design a painting. Frequently he combines a wide range of colours with strong spatial composition m a way that is reminiscent of Delaunay in its logic and clarity The pa ntings in the exhibition cover several years and show that Mr Herber has made rapid progress, but he has yet to develop a respect for the characteristic qualities of oil paint. Rather insensitive handling of paint is the least satisfactory feature of his work It is perhaps this unfeeling and stilted handling of paint that is responsible for a mannerism in his figure paintings. Certainly the style of painting makes possible this mannerism, which ■s in basic opposition to Mr Herber’s compositional style. TTie “Reclining Nude" 'No 461 is a good example. The whole basis of the composition. and presumably the whole basis for taking the subject, is the sinuous compound curve of the figure's back. Mr Herber does not state the vital line with a full sweep of the brush, but makes hints and oblique references to it. approaching it from both sides so that it is implied by the meeting of jJittle brush and knife manrs This soit of visual understatement is all too common in contemporary painting, especially in the work of the products of English art schools There, however, it deliberately cultivated archness; in Mr Kerber's case it seems to be merely the result of passing stylistic uncertainty. One of Mr Herber’s most ambitious works is his “Hiroshima Triptych" in three sections—“ The Flash." “The Fire." and “The Victims." He presumably aims to convince his audience of the horror of one of the most monstrous events in human history, and if he does not succeed it is not because his views are not deeply felt. It is simply that paint is a

: medium in which it is very i difficult to preach. Even the celebrated "Hiroshima Panels." which were shown in New Zealand <but 1 not in Christchurch! a few , years ago, were, when one . had intellectually comprehended the subject matter, lyrical and rather delicate works of art. Similarly. Mr Berber's Hiroshima paintings are rather cheerful designs. although the colour ' is not controlled as well as it is in his other works. When a painter can arouse horror in his audience, the horror is probably at some aspect of his own personality Many people feel thus about much modern Mexican painting, with its overtones of death and destruction— D. H, Lawrence dealt with it in “The Plumed Serpent." Much of the German expressionist painting of the 1920's and 1930’s similarly foreshadowed the impending eruption There is little of this to be seen in a mild collection of German expressionist prints on show in the Canterbury Public Library's exhibition room, though. The graphic art processes, particularly woodcutting, have long been favoured by German artists and these mediums seem to suit the national temperament. In more pliable mediums the expression somet becomes distorted into crassness: whereas the very physical resistance of wood and metal tends to direct and

harness the feeling. Perhaps the most interesting works in the collection, which comes from the Auckland City Art Gallery, are the woodcuts of Karl Schmitt-Rottluf. one of the leaders of the group known as "Die Bruecke." which reacted against the impressionism of Max Liebermann. Lovis Corinth and others in the early years of this century. Schmitt-Rottluf's angular designs almost have a period charm now. Another member of “Die Bruecke,” Emil Nolde, is represented by a disappointing etching which could almost be by Frank Brangwyn. Corinth's “Garden of Gethsemane” gives a good idea of the high romantic, morbid sweetness of his work Probably the best known of the more recent artists represented is Hans Hartung, one of the so-called abstract expressionists. His lithograph shows a characteristic of the less inventive members of this school—a single detail blown up to a large size so that it becomes an inflated, empty gesture. -J.N.K.