‘Sensibility And Courage’ For Evaluation Of Art

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30125, 8 May 1963, Page 9

‘Sensibility And Courage’ For Evaluation Of Art

The evaluation of art required sensibility and courage, said the British author and critic, Sir Herbert Read. Inflationary trends in art were not necessarily an indication of true worth, he said. The puritanical British heritage, aggravated by the Industrial Revolution, had caused art to become vaguely suspect, and other nations had valued art much more highly than Britain, with the result that many art treasures had been lost overseas.

“It has been a case of too much money chasing too few artists,” he said. However, the fact that dealers were prepared to pay high prices for work as it acquired investment value need not be taken as a true indication of a modern artiste’s wwk. In New Zealand, British culture had been successfully transplanted, and this was hindering the development of notably national culture., The Maori influence on this culture would be very slight, as it was decorative rather then a formal art expression. The hearty, open-air society of New Zealand was also a hindrance to artistic development, as much of the great art of the world had flourished in quite adverse conditions of life. “Until you can create your own values, in design, architecture and other forms, you can not have a distinctive school of your own,” Sir Herbert Read said. , The patronage of art was a strong influence in this movement, as there were only a few writers or artists in New Zealand who could live by their work, and it could not develop fully as a “sideline.”