Fine Arts Party Spends Week In Melbourne

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31378, 25 May 1967, Page 14

Fine Arts Party Spends Week In Melbourne

Visits to the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne and lectures on the collection were included in the itinerary of a party from the School of Fine Arts of the University of Canterbury to Victoria. A lecturer at Ham (Mr T. J. Taylor) arrived back in Christchurch yesterday from the trip but the 19 members of his party have stayed in Australia. They will visit the Mildura Sculpture Exhibition and the Sydney galleries before returning to Christchurch on Friday. Mr Taylor said he had been in Melbourne last year and the then deputy director of the National Gallery had suggested bringing a party from Canterbury. “He is no longer deputy director, which may account for the slight breakdown, but I went ahead anyway,” said Mr Taylqr. “It says much for the enterprise of the party that members found the funds to stay a little longer.” He said the party had had a mixed week. The National Gallery was in the process of moving to a new gallery and many of the paintings had not been on view. The sculptures had all been taken out for recataloguing.

“We were taken to the new National Gallery which is nearing completion. At the National Gallery we attended lectures on Australian painting, historical and modern, and on the extraordinarily good impressionist collection.”

Mr Taylor said the party had visited artists’ and sculptors’ studios. Lectures on “Art at University” and another by Dr. D. Hayman, of U.N.E.S.C. 0., had also been attended. Members of the party had been billeted with students and staff in Melbourne.