Christchurch Artist Wins Hay’s Competition

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30245, 25 September 1963, Page 17

Christchurch Artist Wins Hay’s Competition

The exhibition of prize-winning paintings and selected works from entries in the Hay’s, Ltd., Art Competition this year makes a more interesting show than the last one. The Hay Prize of £250 has been awarded by the judge, Mr Gordon Thomson, the deputy director of the National Gallery _of Victoria, Melbourne, to the young Christchurch painter, T. A. Field, for his oil painting entitled “North Canterbury.”

In the watercolour section, Peter Noonan has won first prize (£200) for bis “Upper Harbour.” Second prize (£100) went to Colin Wheeler’s “Misty Morning.” Second prize for oil painting (£100) goes to Mary Darwin for her “McKinnon Pass from Pomipolona,” and merit prizes of £25 each have been awarded to Andre Brooke, Peter Mclntyre, Selwyn Muru, Ross Ritchie, Eric Lee-Johnson and Ronald McEwen, the last two being for watercolours.

Mr Field’s winning painting is similar to one in his recent exhibition at the Durham Street Art Gallery. The idea is bold but to my mind he has not succeeded in establishing a satisfactory tonal relationship between the components. The painting resolves into three large planes which float without relation to each other—the blues and white above, the greens and light ochre below and a very weak green segment at the right. Newspaper reproduction, of course, cannot even suggest the brilliance of the White area, which is the chief source of disruption, nor the heavy impasto used in some areas, which intensifies the lack of cohesion. Mr Field's other painting in the show has much greater vitality and coherence.

The watercolour section is extremely weak, but Mr Noonan's painting is fresh and airy.

Last year’s winner of the Hay Prize, Peter Mclntyre, causes surprise by taking a couple of steps in the direction of Ben Shahn. Although unimpressed by the result, I applaud his willingness to change from a commercially successful style. The most glamorous of the merit prize-winners are the works of Mr Muru and Mr Ritchie. Neither has much of his own to say, but Mr Muru’s pastiche of Dubuffet is accomplished with greater vitality than Mr Ritchie’s pastiche of Francis Bacon. The rest of the exhibition is extremely varied, from a few paintings worthy of inclusion in any New Zealand exhibition to the hesitant tumblings of beginners, and it introduces a considerable number of useful painters who are new to Christchurch galleries. Milan Mrkusich, of Auckland. is not known here but we have seen too little of his recent work, in which he has made great advances. His “Chromatic Form.” shows the beauty and delicacy with which he now uses brilliant colour.

Another fine piece of colour is David Graham’s “Red and Biack.'’ in which varying reds are used with great subtlety, and which moves outside the range of expression usual in New Zealand painting. Among the new names are Betty Clegg, whose “Marching Girls” is fresh and original; Stanley Palmer, whose swirling expressionism in "day Pit and Brick Works” is assured and genuinely ex-

pressive; Alan Armour, whose “Cthooks” is a lively piece of colour; and Catherine Coolahan, whose still life is not without mannerism but has considerable vigour. Michael Illingworth is another painter who is well known in Auckland but new to Christchurch. His “Passing Out of the Great City, H” is an elusive and subtle work which improves on acquaint-

ance; the delicacy and precision of some of the colour relationships are very fine. John Coley, with his “Patriotic,” jumps aboard the Larry Rivers bandwaggon, trailing red, white and blue bunting, but he takes his Old style with him and does not succeed in establishing a connexion bettveen old and new. Quentin Macfariiaine also shows a change of style, since he last exhibited here, with less restless jostling of forms and areas of flat colour.

A curious work by Astrid Steven’s “The Way,” in which the painting continues round the sides of the panel. Technical problems have clearly prevented full realisation of the idea, but a hint of some metaphysical quality comes through. This exhibition of 194 paintings will remain at Hay’s exhibition hall until October 11. Some of the rejected works will be shown from October 15 to 25.