McDougall’s acquisitions

Press, 10 January 1986, Page 22

McDougall’s acquisitions

“Recent Acquisitions,” at the Robert McDougall art gallery until March 2. Reviewed by John Hurrell. A selection of recent additions to the McDougall’s collection, aquired through bequests, donations or purchases, is on display in one of the large central rooms in our municipal gallery. The 20 artworks do not include sculpture, pottery, or photography, although there are recent sculptures by Neil Dawson and Bing Dawe elsewhere in the gallery, as is a very large painting by Neil Frazer. To display such a variety of works in one room is an unenviable task, for during one year, a wide range of types of art is accumulated. When shown all together like this, the display is peculiar only to this particular year, and not likely to be repeated. In this way, unusual juxtapositions occur. For example, Rudolph Gopas’s “Self Portrait,’ 1 “Boats of Kaikdura” and “City lights” look as if he is part of a Canterbury regionalist tradition, yet their content is quite different from the galactic, cosmological concerns found in the later paintings for which he is more well-known. William Sutton’s

“Threshold IV” is one of his best large oils. Its adventurous treatment of sky and land makes it an important addition to the gallery collection, unlike his recent portrait of Sir Hamish Hay on display in another room. The works of Sutton and Gopas, along with an exceptional, elegantly composed painting by the late Leo Bensemann, called “Hills near Takaka” (generously bought by the Friends of the Gallery), tend to lend credence to the view that wisdom and experience come with age.

Of the non-figurative abstractions and the works by younger artists newly acquired, only Simon Ogden’s wooden construction, “Russian Cross,” convinces in the way its coloured shapes have been arranged. Many of the paintings by younger or midcareer artists are not the best examples of their work, and in the cases of Jeffrey Harris and Philippa Blair, both are more capable in drawing and printmaking than in painting. Bing Dawe and Robert Ellis have works included in the “New Acquisitions” and also on the other side of the gallery.

Ellis’s drawing and painting in the “Rakaumangamanga” series provide

variations on a theme, while Dawe’s very large woodcut on canvas, “May dance Design for a Funerary Vase,” contains elements identical to parts of his tight-rope walker sculpture balanced above the centre court. It also aptly refers to Greek vases. There is a sound case for the McDougall to stop acquiring works for its collection altogether. It has a very small budget, an unelucidated purchasing policy, storage problems and is conspicuously understaffed. By attempting to function as a museum and keep objects in storage, the gallery is not having the varied turnover of shows that it should, and many important touring exhibitions are missing Christchurch altogether. Such a change in gallery policy would be expected to meet much public resistance, as of course, repeated viewings of certain favourite works are a pleasure, like re-meeting old long-lost friends. Artists themselves, however, gain very little from spasmodic purchases, and the advantages of greatly developing the gallery as a showplace for the works of local and nationally respected artists might well outweigh the losses.

“May Dance Pattern for Funerary Vase,” a wood block print by Bing Dawe at the Robert McDougall Art Gallery.