MERYON’S WORK

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 141, 11 March 1930, Page 7

MERYON’S WORK

“ART IN NEW ZEALAND”

The life and work of the French etcher, Charles Meryon, is the subject of a large part of the March number of “Art in New Zealand,” the illustrated quarterly devoted to the arts. The number has been promised for some time, and awaited with interest. Meryon has a link with this country, coming out here in the early 'forties on a French ship to Akaroa, where his company was stationed for several years, to protect the interests of the small French settlement. Meryon’s life and work are dealt with very thoroughly, and the idea has been to supply— so to speak—“the outline of Charles Meryon” in as palatable a form as possible. A portrait of the man himself, the finest and two others of _ his magnificent Paris etchings, four etchings of Banks Peninsula, and three of the South Seas, an admirable sketch of his life by Dora Wilcox, a poem which begins with Wordsworth or Milton or someone, but has an excellent second movement and succeeds in linking him with New Zealand —all these are topped off with a synthetic criticism of the man's art. which enables us to ratify Campbell Dodgson's opinions just as strongly as we raise our voice against those of Joseph Pennell. The pictures and articles form an excellent survey, and, as the editor says, “no trouble has been spared to put Meryon before the public in a clear perspective.” It has been done extremely well.

Another high spot in the March number is a first-class survey of chamber music, by John Bishop, which sends us racing off with an obvious mission to .Cobbett’s list of contributors. Mr. Bishop traces the growth and history of chamber music with a masterly hand, from its earliest days to its modern existence. One flushes with pleasant agreement to hear him speak of Brahms and Vaughan Williams, just as there is a mild sting in finding someone not accompanying Dvorak, and in the absence of one or two beloved moderns. But musicians know that apart from the universal thrill of Schubert’s octet, or Beethoven’s “Rasoumovsky,” or works qf similar greatness, their minds see a sermon where others see a stone, in chamber music as in.no other division of the art. Every significant movement in chamber writing is touched on adequately by Mr. Bishop, and he gives a precisely measured prominence to the more remarkable aspects of its’ choronology and development. An innovation in the present number is a wise and inimitably written review of three recent books of verse by New Zealand poets. Prester John deals adroit-’ ly and courteously with these three writers, and seems to remember that he is addressing himself to the gentler sex. The grace with which he reviews their poems, and the exquisite way he writes, makes one excuse his weighty diagnosis of the nature of truth and beauty. The letter from London is full of interest, written at a time when the Italian art treasures were the topic of the day. It has other news, too, and constitutes an excellent service for New Zealand readers. “To think about colour is to delight in it,” says Herbert Lindsay in a short but quite excellent article on the subject Joyce I. West reaches goqd heights in her tale, “Splashed with Spray.” Firstclass verse by John Dene and a remark- ■ able poem bv Gwen E. Merrett complete the literary part of the magazine.. .Now for. the plates. “Kaikoura Coast.” an oil-painting by the Christchurch artist, A. F. Nicoll, is of course wonderfully good. D. K. Richmond's water-colour, “Mt. Sefton from the Hermitage,” is a capable piece of composition, and has just the amount of indirectness to attract considerable interest. A water-colour of “Frimley,” the oldest garden in Hawke’s Bay, is but satisfactory. It is the work of Lucretia Johnson. In half-tones, there is a reproduction of several fine pieces of metalwork by A. Hanson, of Auckland, as well as a bromoil by Gerald E. Jones, and a photogram by J. W. Chapman Taylor, both of the same city. “Christ at the Well of Samaria,” a decorative cupboard door in oil on stained Oregon pine, and the work of R. N. Field, of Dunedin, is reproduced in colour, and is the most striking plate in the issue. The usual art notes from other centres, and some students’ work from the Wellington Technical College nrt school which give us a glad heart for the future, are the remaining features of a highly successful number. The best line in the publication is the ante-pentultimate one on page 164.