Discoveries In Borrowed Art

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30803, 15 July 1965, Page 12

Discoveries In Borrowed Art

The present exhibition of painting, silver, sculpture and ceramics organised by the Canterbury Society of Arts at its Durham street gallery is a tour de force. The value of the work done by the society, largely a voluntary organisation. is not sufficiently recognised in Christchurch, but even the most complacent visitor will surely acknowledge the formidable problems posed by an exhibition of this kind. That Christchurch can respond most generously, even with infectious enthusiasm, to a series of well presented art exhibitions was proved by the success of the recent arts festival. But the work of art

and of artists must go on between festivals and for those who have not been able to pursue their interest more recently this present exhibition provides an ideal opportunity to do so. The south gallery contains: early New Zealand painting: European academic and middle-of-the-road painting: an amazing collection of silver; some furniture, china and various "bits and bobs” charmingly arranged in pleasantly contrived alcoves. Early N.Z. Works

With so many interesting works it may be invidious to mention only one or two, but this has to be done. The fine pen pencil and wash drawing

by E. Norman was a discovery for me. with its sensitive and slightly brooding and melancholy mood. Similarly, the languid icy blue of Hoyte’s “Mount Tarawera,” surprisingly Japanese in manner.

Van der Velden’s “Dutch Landscape” further reveals him as a very important Canterbury painter and one whose influence may come to be regarded as being central to the development of painting in this country. The painting "Riverboats” gave me the greatest pleasure and disappointment; pleasure with its joy, its rapturous song of life, and disappointment by being the work of Frances Hodgkins instead of a great unknown waiting to be discovered! A fine picture so beautifully unexpected in an exhibition of this kind. The silver dramatically displayed against black velvet includes many fine pieces, especially the two iankards (42) and the silverfish (46). The superb, simple yet imaginative craftsmanship of these pieces would grace any national collection. The standard of display in this room is curiously inconsistent, ranging from the august and judicial black to the chit chat of the cottage picturesque. To Advantage In contrast the North Gallery is superbly arranged: painting, sculpture and ceramics all appear to best advantage mutually enhancing one another. It seenis to me that W. A. Sutton’s “Nor’wester in a Cemetery”—magnificently set apart and seen against a large rearing vertical plane—achieves symbolic importance for the whole exhibition, for. with its feet firmly set on the solid ground of tradition, it divides past from present and points to the possibility of a genuine New Zealand idiom in painting. His smaller painting. "Jim O’Fee’s Paddock,” will repay searching scrutiny, with its ploughed hills rolling majestically like an ocean.

Olivia Spencer-Bower’s “Island Child” sadly reminds us how very pleasant it used to be to see her wonderful colour gracing the walls of a gallery. M. T. Wollaston rents the air with his hymn of praise “Takaka Valley,” one of his finest paintings. Don Peebles’s drawing shows that impressive scale is not merely a matter of large size and that poetic imagination

and formal discipline are not mutually exclusive. While it is only a matter of few months since Michael Eaton’s painting “Black Flowers” was exhibited it is very valuable to be able to take a second look: this confirms it as a beautiful little painting and one capable of retaining its fresh lyricism for many years to come. Clever Disguise The nicely designed central display cleverly incorporates and disguises the useful but rather unfortunate kiosk; it introduces furniture, carpets and rugs as a setting for recent painting and ceramics. The exhibition contains much to delight those interested in the visual arts, but in the space of a short review it has not been possible to more than touch on a few exhibits; many important works have been omitted (the Henry Moore and Sydney Nolan drawings, for example). The exhibition, open until July 25, provides a unique i opportunity of enjoying works from many private collections, one unlikely to be repeated. —H.J.S.