GIFT ENABLES PROFESSOR TO VISIT AUSTRALIA

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30093, 29 March 1963, Page 10

GIFT ENABLES PROFESSOR TO VISIT AUSTRALIA

The head of the department of fine arts at the University of Canterbury, Professor H. J. Simpson, will on Sunday leave for Australia for a month’s visit, made possible by an offer by Mr S. E. Mair, of Christchurch, to provide

the money. Mr Mair’s offer had come as a complete surprise to himself and to the University Council, said Professor Simpson. He said that the council was delighted with the offer, and was also giving financial assistance.

Professor Simpson will visit Sydney, Canberra, and Melbourne. One of his aims Is to study the work of artists who went to Australia with the early ships—cartographers and official artists —and compare it with that of Hodges and other contemporary painters in New Zealand.

He is especially interested in the work of a group which towards the end of last century moved from Melbourne to settle in a small colony at Heidelberg. He will compare the work of this group with that of a Parisian group of about the same time. Most of Professor Simpson’s attention, however, will be devoted to all aspects of present-day Australian art This, he says, will include not only painting but also sculpture, architecture, and design in furniture, textiles, and other products. “The state of indigenous Australian design is most important to New Zealand. I will meet members of the Australian’ Council of Industrial Design, see what they are doing and see whether New Zealand can learn from them. I consider that there is definitely a place for an

industrial design council in New Zealand,” Professor Simpson said. He hopes to see a good cross-section of Australian art education during his visit. He will investigate, and will compare with standards in New Zealand, the teaching of art in kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, technical and polytechnic colleges and universities. He may give some lectures in Sydney, and will attend a seminar in Canberra if possible. “My main aim is to try to come back to Christchurch with a lot of new facts and information, and to gain some lasting benefit from the trip,” said Professor Simpson. He hopes to make contacts in Australian art circles so that art exhibitions that go to Australia from Europe can come also to New Zealand.