WAR AND ART

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 5, 6 July 1928, Page 15

WAR AND ART

THE ACADEMY DINNER SPEECH BY FIRST LORD (From "Tho Post's" Representative.) LONDON, 16th May. ■ Mr. Bridgcman (First Lord of the Admiralty) replied, at the Eoyal Academy banquet, to the toast of the "Aimed forces of the Crown." Sir Frank Dick'see .(the president), in proposing tho toast, remarked that by combining : the Services in one toast they could ■better symbolise tho spirit which now animated all three Forces—a notable and far-seeing unity, a trinity welded into ono Supreme purpose—the well-be-ing and security of tho Empire. The I'aet that tho toast i'or the first tirno was combined, said Air. Bridgeman, waff a sign that tho Royal Academy realised, what was undoubtedly a fact, that those three Forces worked very harmoniously together. (Cheers.) A certain number of critics were somelimes at a loss to know how to criticise tho defence forces, and, when everything failed, the blessed word "co-or-dination" was generally brought into use.1 (Laughter.)' There were many people who imagined that there was no co-ordination between the threo Services. They wero told by those who ought to- know bettor that when, they wero arranging their contracts, thoy competed with one another and ran up the price one against the other. That was vory far from boing the fact, and, where it ivas possiblo, they arranged to work together in that respect. There was another method of co-ordination, and that was in their hospitals, where now tho Services wero entirely agreed in making use of whatever hospitals there were, vwhether navy, military, or air. A further and a new example of co-operation was the Imperial Defence College, where the threo Services were working together on tho difficult problems of defence. Continuing ho said, the president had mentioned tho Navy as the senior Service, and he (Mr. Bridgeman) was sure that none of the three Services was jealous one of the other.- So far as ho could trace its history, the first conflict, that between Cain and Abel, was undoubtedly a land affair —(laughter)— and while he did not want to dissociate the Navy from boing the senior Service, that affair, at any rate, was long in advance of Noah's Ark. (Laughter.) AETISXS AND THE SEA SENSE. Science and art were often spoken of together, and he could not help feeling, with regard, at any rate, to the Navy, that the further thoy advanced i~ science, the -more they were in danger of receding in art. They wore very grateful to those- who had drawn tho most fascinating pictures of ships of all 'ages; to Mr. Wyllie, perhaps, in particular, for tho Victory and other pictures. But tho task of those who emulated hini in making a picturesque canvas, say, of the Argus or any other air carrier, must be moro difficult as science advanced. Tho same might bo said of the Army. They understood that now somo of the Lancers were to bo superseded by tanks. There, again, tho positon of tho artist seemed to be made much mere difficult, except, perhaps, that of tho Cubist—(laughter)—who might find in t'ho Tank Dorps the eubjeet which appealed particularly to him. But there, again, the Air Force had a great advantage, because their picturesque wings had not lost tho attraction to the artist which some of tho modern developments of science had destroyed both in the Navy and Army. But he most earnestly hoped that artists would still continue to do tho service which they had done for the Services, and would cope with tho difficulties which modern science had placed in their way. Ho felt sure, speaking for ,tho Navy, that .thoy could rely upon artists to encourage the sea sense of the people of tho country, not only for tho Navy, but for the Mercantile Marino, oil whom1 they placed such implicit reliance—(cheers) —and that thoy would not be discouraged from continuing in the work of depicting the Services, not merely in tho occasional scenes of war, but in their much more frequent occasions of tho preservation of peace. (Cheers.)