Unidentified Artist Named A fter Former Registrar

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30481, 1 July 1964, Page 6

Unidentified Artist Named A fter Former Registrar

“The Logie painter” is the name now given to an unidentified artist of ancient times whose work has been discovered in the James Logie collection in the classics department of the University of Canterbury. Sir John Beazley, the eminent English archaeologist, bestowed the name on the artist, whose work is known,' but not named, in some famous museums overseas.

Mr Logie was the former registrar of the University of Canterbury, and funds to establish the collection of pottery and other classical items were given by his wife in his memory. The Logie painter’s work includes two cups, one in the Logie collection and another in the Louvre. Each is decorated with the head of a man, with a woman set between the eyes. The use of eyes as a decorative motif was common at the time, and probably is derived from the use of a painted eye to ward

off evil. There is a slight difference between the two cups, in that the one in the Louvre has a siren painted under each handle, whereas the one in Christchurch has a panther. Some Greek vases have been signed by the potter or the painter, or by both, but most bear no signature. Mainly through Sir John Beazley’s own researches over more than 50 years, many thousands of vases have now been attributed to their painters on stylistic grounds. If the name of the painter is not known from a signature, a name is devised for the sake of convenience. The name may be taken from the design on one of the painter’s masterpieces. For example, the Foundry painter, who painted a cup with a reclining banqueter in the Logie collection, is so named from his cup in Berlin which shows scenes in a foundry where bronze statues are being made. Or the naive may be taken from such things as some characteristic feature of the drawing, the place where the vase was found, or the town or museum where the vase now is. This applies in the case of the Logie painter.