FINE PAINTINGS

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 29, 3 August 1939, Page 11

FINE PAINTINGS

IMPORTANT SHOW

BY MR. SYDNEY THOMPSON

"What may probably quite, rightly be described as the most important and largest "one-man show" ever held by a New Zealand artist was opened in the Academy's section of the. National Art Gallery yesterday evening. The artist thus honoured with such a fine setting for his work was Mr. Sydney Thompson, and the exhibition consists of close on a hundred paintings. The great majority of these are the fruits of the last eighteen months' labour, during which time Mr. Thompson was painting on the European Continent.

There are a few New Zealand pictures in the exhibition, and one would have liked to see more.

Perhaps the first thing that strikes one after a critical survey of the paintings the majority of which are in oils, is that the artist is less impressionistic than he used to be. Indeed, he admits that. There is the same masterful good drawing as a basis for all his Avork as there used to be —the sine qua non of a good picture;, then comes the division of the subject into masses, with the elimination of unnecessary detail; and, finally, the artist's individuality. and subtle power finds expression. The result is a painting by Mr. Sydney Thompsondistinctive in treatment and extraordinarily truthful, rich in colour and atmosphere. At last night's opening, which was largely attended, Mr. G. G. G. Watson, president of the Academy, presided. He traced Mr. Thompson's career as a painter, and remarked that one could not look at his Avork Avithout being struck by the artist's genius for colour, technical strength, and, perhaps more than anything else, the feeling that lay behind his Avork. The exhibition, he considered, was the most ■ important one-man show ever to be held in the gallery The Mayor (Mr. T: C. A. Hislop), declaring the exhibition open, retold some anecdotes connected with the artist's career, and expressed the hope that some of the pictures Avould be acquired for the National Gallery and by private citizens for their homes. In returning thanks, Mr. Thompson described briefly his experiences and reactions while painting on the Continent. If those present enjoyed looking at the pictures as much as he had enjoyed painting them, he would be satisfied.

One group of about forty oils are paintings made in Brittany. The old fishing town Of Concarneau has an irresistible picturesqueness which has ensnared many an artist, and Mr. Thompson has been a willing victim. The quaint architecture of the buildings, the colourful peasant life, and the picturesquely coloured sails of the fishing boats have all provided Mr. Thompson with studies of a phase of Continental life .which soon will be a thing of the past. The paintings in the Provencal group of oils were down around the town of Grasse, in the district betAveen Toulon and Nice in the south of France. The name of Old Provence is almost a synonym for all that is romantic, and one glance at Mr. Thompson's work .corroborates this. Here are lovely paintings of old world scenes, blossoming almond trees, and the like.

In the relatively small group of New Zealand pictures, a scene in the region of Mount Cook and another in a quarry stand out pre-eminently.. Very interesting is the artist's use of tempera and detrempe as a medium for painting. The latter is probably the oldest painting medium in the world, and Mr. Thompson confesses that he likes > it very much, . its matt surface being very effective.

The exhibition Avill be open free for the next fortnight, and is certainly an outstanding event in the local Avorld of art.

Mr." Sydney Thompson's portrait of his wife, which is entitled "Darning," and which shows her seated out of doors, has been purchased by the Academy for the National Gallery out of the Macarthy Trust funds. A reproduction of the picture is shown above.