Paintings as a history of N.Z. art. 1918-39

Press, 13 June 1978, Page 12

Paintings as a history of N.Z. art. 1918-39

By

DERRICK ROONEY

Home & People

A collection of New Zealand paintings which could well serve as a history of art in this country between the wars has just gone on public display for the first time for many years. It is the Memorial Hall Collection, owned by the Christchurch Technical Institute and assembled by the late McGregor Wright. McGregor Wright was chairman of the board of governors of the institute (then a college) in the

“The Veranda,” a watercolour by Olivia SpencerBower, one of the paintings in the collection.

19205. When the board was building the memorial hall in the 19305, to commemorate former pupils killed in World War I, he suggested that it be used to house a collection of paintings by artists who were living or working in Canterbury, or who had been associated with Canterbury.

Once his idea was accepted, he set about making it a reality', and within a few weeks had been given or promised 20 pictures. By the time the hall opened in 1935 the number had passed 100. Many of the donors were artists with whom Mr Wright, a keen artist and photographer himself, had come in contact through the Canterbury Society of Arts, of which he was a promin-

ent member and, for a time, president. Among these are a number of artists whose names have become very widely known: Sydney Thompson, Menzies Gibb, Rita Angus, Austen Deans, Dame Ngaio Marsh, Olivia SpencerBower.

In recent years the board has encountered difficulties in maintaining and showing the collection, and it has now been put on permanent loan in the Robert McDougall Art Gallery. The gallery has made a special display of the full collection, and this will remain in place until August 31.

The director of the gallery, Mr Brian Muir, says the collection offers an excellent opportunity to see

the early work of many prominent artists, and to make comparisons with their later development. Most of the paintings are small, and many are typical landscapes of the era. “For all that it is a clearcut picture of what artists were working at and seeking out at that time,” Mr Muir said.

“Although many of the paintings are conventional and picturesque, and an aftermath of nineteenthcentury academic works, there is a technical skill involved which is worth examination, and signs that the bolder brushwork and high-keyed colouring of the post-impressionists made a mark on quite a number of the artists.

“It is also possible to

see regional trends in some of the paintings, and several portraits, both of headmasters and lesser beings, are to be seen and enjoyed.” Mr Muir says the action of the college board in giving the collection to the gallery is far-sighted. Only rarely do entire collections documenting some important trend or era in art become available to public galleries.

“This very wise move will not only ensure that all of the works will be maintained in the best possible physical condition, but will mean that the collection is constantly available for study by art and art history students and specialists as well as the public.”