“N.Z. Painters Lacking In Artistic Nerve”

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31000, 4 March 1966, Page 8

“N.Z. Painters Lacking In Artistic Nerve”

New Zealand painters seemed to be lacking in artistic “nerve,” said Mr G. Docking when asked to comment on entries for the 1966 Hay’s, Ltd., art competition, of which he is sole judge. Mr Docking, formerly a staff member of the National Gallery in Victoria and director of the gallery in Newcastle, has recently been appointed director of the Auckland City Art Gallery. “Looking at New Zealand painting after seeing Australian work most of my life, there seems a tendency in New Zealand for painters to swing stylistically, too rapidly and too frequently,” he said. “There is a large group of very capable painters here, With the technical ability which is needed. But from my observations, they are too readily influenced by overseas current and popular trends.” He had seen the work of prominent New Zealand painters swing violently, within a period of three years, from one definite source of influence to another—from, for example, Bacon, to pop, and then to op. Every artist had to study the work of other painters. “But these influences have to be thoroughly assimilated, and too much of this work is too close to the original source,” Mr Docking said. Main Difference “I think this is the main difference at the moment between Australian and New Zealand painting.” He illustrated this remark by referring to the work of the Australian painter, Charles Blackman. "There is an undoubted Blackman style right through his work, evolving, even fluctuating occasionally. . . . When his style becomes too ‘sweet,’ he swings not to another artist but back to early Blackman again. “Painting should be as characteristic of the person as a signature,” he said. Mr Docking attributed New Zealand painters’ abrupt switches in style to a lack of artistic “nerve.” “A painter needs a certain amount of brashness, and colossal nerve. He needs faith in himself, ruthlessly to shut away

other popular influences which are pouring in from overseas. “I also find there are mot enough private and company collections in this country. I would have expected more. It is necessary in New Zealand for more of these to grow for the artists here to have a greater feeling of confidence. “They lack terribly the support of collectors. There are virtually no collectors—only three or four major private collections in the country. “Local bodies, too, could do a lot more than they do,” he said. Mr Docking said he had endeavoured to arrange the Hiay Prize entries in “family groups.” These included the primitive or naive, the more representational work, organic abstracts, geometric abstracts, pop and different interpretations of the human figure. Similarly, the grouping of the watercolours ranged from the primitive and the representational, through various interpretations of landscape, to abstracts related to landscape. This year, he said, Hay’s Ltd. had paid the freight both ways on paintings submitted for the competition, resulting in entries from a wider area. The prize had been increased to £5OO, making it one of the most valuable in the country. Moreover, the maximum size had been increased to 20 sq. ft, giving painters the chance to “work big”; and no restriction had been made on style. “This is marvellous for the country,” he said. “There has consequently been a strong entry from established painters as well as minor artists and hobby painters. “I feel there are six or seven works here which could go into any public collection, just as they stand.”