The European elegance

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32568, 30 March 1971, Page 21

The European elegance

QUENTIN MACFARLANE)

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Some years ago I had, occasion to visit Gopas in| connection with the acquisi-l tion of one of his paintings for a public collection. He! rented a small studio in Sydenham at the time, but had set up the selection- of lar- ■ ger works in the sitting room of his town flat. We ' discussed the merits of "each work before selecting one from the collection that ; spanned a good 10 years of (painting a richly textured piece painted in metal,l lie pigments and glazed J with fine coats of colour. Gopas, somewhat uneasy ■at being his own sales ; agent, turned to his latest • project, a 6in reflector tele- ; scope about which he was ■ very enthusiastic. We had 1 selected an appropriate i painting, as it was one of ’ the. first of his “Galactic” serieI marvelled at the com--1 plex machine and the ingenu-

ity of the artist who had made most of the compojnents from the simplest materials: paper, cardboard, metal and fibreglass. Even in | his passion for astronomy he demonstrated his remarkable ability to improvise and to produce something sophisticated with modest simplicity. In a way Gopas has been improvising since he arrived in New Zealand in 1949. He had, after all, worked and exhibited in Europe for some years, and Dunedin, where he settled, was hardly a thriving art centre in the early fifties. A few other emigrant painters had also arrived at various times and, like the local painters, they worked around the city and hills. I suppose Gopas was doing the same thing, because his paintings that I remember were of familiar scenes, but quite distinctive in that they were less picturesque than the dry, timid water-colours I saw as a schoolboy in local exihibitions. His paintings were much freer, were drawn with gusto, and had a European elegance.

They were romantic works which could have been painted anywhere, and even today one is given the impression that Gopas could work in any civilised country provided the environment did not inhibit his desire to reject his formal training.

Gopas is a dedicated student of painting: again and 1 again he seems to return to j a familiar theme which is , approached from a new : direction each time. This impression is not ] confined to his paintings— ( he enjoys discussing objec- , tives in art, and warms to spirited discussion between I artists. He will argue with i vitality. When he arrived in Christchurch he had become something of a myth to a younger , generation of artists then training at the art school. On one occasion he was invited to be the'guest critic at the Sketch Club. He systematically demolished each hesitant painting, with involved theorising, and few who were there will forget the night. The reasons for his onslaught were fairly obvious: most of the student painters of that time were influenced by English romantic painters of the post-war period, and were unaware of the enormous changes that were taking place in America and Europe. Later, when he exhibited a series of colourful watercolours similar in style to the rectilinear unit paintings of Paul Klee, it seemed that a giant step had been taken. Later he moved on to landscape and abstract themes. A good deal has been written about the debt Gopas owes to the German Expressionists. It is not that he consciously followed their : example, but that he understood his Northern Euro- ‘ pean heritage and adapted • this style to fit his cultural > roots. i Perhaps this is the reason] > that he is placed somewhat apart from his own genera-

tion of painters, often being neglected in favour of artists who are working in what appears to be an “indigenous style.” In other respects his influence on a younger generation of painters has been recognised, and his dedication as an artist has inspired many talented students to make a career of painting. On another plane, he can wither lesser talents with his hard-line approach that few painters can aspire to true professional status, and that the rest should give up. This attitude has saved him from becoming one of the few “hero figures” of New Zealand painting—a delicate position for anybody. Since his first showing with the Group he has exhibited widely and his work has grown in stature. The sketchy brushwork and vivid acid colours of his coast paintings in reds, yellows and blue seem to teem with energy. His more sombre paintings of fishing boats rising at their moorings still have this energy, but also reflect his liking for subjects that have intrigued European painters. Some are painted with a storm of brushstrokes that never degenerate to scribble.

I The abstract works have always been more demanding, and one senses that he has struggled to avoid decorative effects which his technical skill could have made.

The large nudes of the early sixties are less rewarding, but again his desire to study seems the most urgent theme. They are beautifully painted, great care having been taken over the preparation of the surface.

He can surprise when he moves into works with a veritable storm of tiny colours and rich texture, as in the series of painting with vague allusions to astronomy; and he commands a wide variety of media. Perhaps his use of exotic painting materials has enhanced his standing and influence with younger painters, because he has used egg tempera and synthetic materials at times when only a few ventured to change from accepted painting media. He obviously delights in building his textural effects and his metallic glazed paintings of a few years ago contrasted with the bland or anonymous surfaces of painters working in the north.