Objection to Nude Figures

Manawatu Times, Volume 61, Issue 279, 25 November 1936, Page 5

Objection to Nude Figures

Labour Leader’s Memorial CHURCHES’ VIGOROUS PROTEST Per Press Association. AUCKLAND, Last Night. Objection to the nude figures in the H. E. Holland memorial which is now in the studio of the sculptor, Mr. R. O. Gross, has been made by the executive committee of the Auckland Council of Christian Congregations. The national executive of the New Zealand Labour Party, which commissioned the work, has decided to take no action regarding tho protest. "All I need to say at this stago is that not one member of the Council of Christian Congregations has seen the memorial which is still in my studio,'’ said Mr. Gross when asked to comment on the council’s attitude. “In the circumstances the protest and the remarks made by the council in a letter to the Auckland branch of the Labour Party are unfair. I may add that the member of Cabinet who has shown great interest in the work is Hon. W. Nash, who is a prominent churchman. On the same day recently that Mr. Nash read the lessons in an Auckland church he spent the afternoon at my studio inspecting and discussing the memorial. ’ ’

The letter of protest from the Council of Christian Congregations which was sent to the Auckland branch of the Labour Party, is as follows: “At a meeting of the executive committee of the Council the attention of tho committee was drawn to the memorial to be erected in Wellington in honour of the late H. E. Holland. My committee is of opinion that the sculptured figure of a man in the nude and other figures representative of the emergence of the race from primeval times is hardly worthy of your great leader and will give pain and some offence to tho Christian community. We do respectfully suggest that the complete nudity of the central figure is not necessary and is contrary to the accepted canons of good taste. We appreciate sincerely the desire of the Labour Party to perpetuate the memory of the late Mr. Holland and our only thought is to suggest that the memorial should bo one in which all sections of the community could fittingly take pleasure and pride. —Yours truly, L. B. Busfield, seertitary. ’ ’ In reference to this letter Mr. Gross has received the following from Mr. D. Wilson, national secretary of tho New Zealand Labour Party, Wellington: "It is quite evident that tho Auckland Council of Christian Congregations is proposing to start an agitation with regard to the Holland memorial. For your information I am enclosing a copy of the letter which they sent to the Auckland branch. This matter was considered by a meeting of the national executive when it was decided that apart from notifying you of the protest no action should be taken in the matter. Somo time ago it was decided that the Prime Minister, Mr. Savage, should unveil the Holland memorial on Easter Sunday, March 28.” In the memorial, now in its final stages, the sculptor has sought to convey the aspirations of man beyond the mero material. The memorial is designed to be viewed from the slope leading up to it. It is in marble and without considering the question raised by the Auckland Council of Christian Congregations it is a strongly conceived and artistically executed piece of work on tho grand scale.