AUCKLAND SOCIETY OF ARTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 8585, 5 June 1891, Page 5

AUCKLAND SOCIETY OF ARTS.

■ ANNUAL MEETING. The annual meeting of this Society was hold in its rooms,' Municipal Buildings, last night, the President (Mr, J5. A. Mackoehnic) occupying the chair, and about 25 ladies aud gentlemen being present. ■f' The, Secretary (Mr. IJ. L. Holland) read the auaual t report, in which it iWivs stated ; that i the committee had nothing of special moment to record,; The work of the Society during the past year had been conducted on i the usual lines, and had , been fairly success- j ful : throughout; ■■:•; The & finances' of the year,' after the liquidation; of all • liabilities to ' dato,/ showed :/a-v< small v credit balance.' J?he Report»then:; proceeded to ■:.detail what had been done at the various ■ competitions and exhibitions' during the year, referring specially to the -opening of the eleventh annual exhibition by Bis Excellency the Governor, and the ; conversazione which was then held, i The winners tit the various: competitions were enumerated, and the committee's thanks were expressed to those who Had assisted thereat. .<■ • ■ ■ : The following ia a summary of the balancesheet ;—Receipts: Balance from last i year, £9S 13s 9d; members'- subscriptions, £76; exhibition receipts, i £97 6s';':■ pictures sold,' £76 3e; miscellaneous, £85 4e^H;) total, £308 43 2d. Expenditure j General, £37 3s 8d; exhibition expenses, £79 83 lid competition expenses, £1?! 19s; catalogues, £10; cash to artists for pictures Bold oommis* sion), £71 19a 9d; secretary's honorarium, £50: total, £268 113 4d. Balances j Savings Bank, £77 18s Id; Bank of New: Zealand, £19 9a 8d; in hand, £25s : total, £9912s 9d.' The Chairman said that the report and balance-sheet which, had just been road called for no speoial remark from him, in moving .their adoption. >; The ordinary routine business of the Society j had = been I carried on as usual; v the. receipts \ during the»year j have been auflicient to meet, and more than meet, , the disbursements, and the balance to credit remained as much as }it was before, "k That appeared to him to be very satisfactory, and he hoped the balance now to credit would not be diminished, as it gave a certain : stability to the Society and put it in a position to meet any unexpected loss or expenditure. r There , was one i matter outside • the fa report upon which he wished ito make i & few remarks, , namely, the efforts which had been made to unite the artists of Auckland in one Society. Unfortunately these; efforts; had not been successful ;i he) aaid unfortunately, ; because he thought that in . the interests of the : artists it a would «be much better if they combined and formed one society, instead of being split up into two or three. . This, was, of course, a matfcerjfor the artists themselves. If they did not see that it was in their interests to amalgamate, they could not be compelled to do so. It appeared to the members of this Society that ' they should ascertain the views of Messrs. Watkins and Steele, as representing the other,' and they had therefore asked the secretary to write to these gentlemen. The letter had been forwarded and a • reply received, and it would be for.the meeting to decide whether the correspondence should be. read. /;; ...- ■ .: j The question having been . decided ;in the I affirmative, the Secretary read • a letter addressed by him to Messrs. Steele' and Watkins, artists, in which he intimated that the committee would be pleased to consider any suggestions they might make as to altering the rules with a view to the progress of art.: With a view to,: enabling them tto take part in the proceedings at ; the annual meeting the committee pad resolved that ■payment of annual subscriptions for the ensuing year prior to the. date of the meeting would qualify them to du so. The letter then proceeded to ; urge, at : considerable; length, that as experience had shown beyond all doubt that there was not : room for more than one Art Society in Auckland, the cause would bo greatly advanced by all the artists working in unison. It was stated that the majority of the members of i the committee of the Society of Arts had always been either professional or amateur artists,. while it , was urged that as the honorary members contributed the greater proportion, of the Society's income, it was but just that they should be represented on the committee if they so desired. It was pointed.out that the officers were annually elected, and that , while such institutions must always be governed by majori- ; ties, : difficulties and differences 'of opinion \ could generally be got over by a little quiet consultation and mutual concession. v The letter concluded by expressing the opinion that, if they all worked together, their common cause '. would be greatly benefited,- and art would soon have a home of its own in Auckland, the same as had been, by united effort, secured for it in Christchuroh. In-reply to this letter Messrs."i'Steele Watkins wrote, stating that the only opportunities, when concessions such as were now asked of them were admissible, were when they fully ; explained I their views Ito I. Lord Onslo: : In • declining the • graciously - proffered membership ;„;.: or the Society they did what they considered their duty to ,art, which was ; sacred? to them as their own creed. ' The Chairman said it appeared that Messrs. Steele and Watkins considered it in their interests to carry on an : independent 'society,* and that bein? so he did not see that it would be becoming for this Society further to press them to join it. s (Applause.) It had been said outside that the rules of what was called the Auckland .' Academy of \ Art were far superior to those of this Society, and for the purpose of comparing the : two sets of rules he had obtained and examined copies of each. He then proceeded to compare the rules, stating that he did so in no unfriendly spirit, but only to show that as a whole the rules of their own Society were superior. All he had to say was that if there were room for two societies in Auckland he \ wished them both every ; success. He moved the adoption of ; the report ; and ) balance-sheet, and that they should be printed and circulated among the members. The motion was seconded by Mr. Gregory. The Chairman said the next business was the consideration of proposed alterations in theiriiles. ' Mr. W. H. Shakespkab ; moved an' alteration in the rules, providing, for an , indefinite umber of vice-presidents, and , ; that ithe business should be ; conducted by the committee, the secretary, and the treasurer only. He said his object in excluding the president from taking part in the, business was to place a gentleman in that position at whom none could cavil," and whose name: would be an honour to the institution, for all time to come. He thought it would also be judicious, for reasons which he stated, to have a large number ; of influential vice-presidents who would not take any part in the transaction of the society's busiuess. . After some discussion the motion for the alteration of the rule was negatived. ■_ •,-'-• A proposal to make the subscription for ladies the same as that for gentlemen, 10s, instead of ss, as at present, was lost by a large majority. Some unimportant' alterations in other rules were agreed to. *'■',' '. ■:'. ■ The Chairman , intimated that the next business was the election of a president. z< As ho had stated at tho last annual' meeting .he proposed to fall out now, having occupied the position for several years past. He therefore asked to be relieved.;: ; ■ ' Mr. SiMKESrEAR, after an ' ineffectual attempt to get Mr. Mackechnio to re-consider his determination, moved " That Sir George Groy be elected presidont of the' Society." Seconded by Mr. E. and earned unanimously. " ':" ' ' i :*,-, The following other .officers wcro elected; Mr. Mackecljnie declining all office and announcing that Dr. Campbell, one 7: of the formor vice-presidents, had determined not to accept any position until the amalgamation of the societies /waff effected:— Vieopresidents, Sir William Fox and Mr., H. Brett;. oominittee, Messrs. C. BlomHeld, W. H. Shakes)jear, F. Wright, W. Wright, W. Ball, M.. Treriwith, and: the Rev. Dr. Purshas ; -treasurer, Mr. E. W. '■ Pay ton;; secretary, Mr. J. L. Holland ; auditor, Mr. E. Barclay. . The following | list 7 ' of patrons was "/approved : — Bishop ; Cowie, , : : Major George, the Rev. Dr. Purchas, and Messrs. W., Aitken, E. A. Mackcchnie, E. Heekcch, J. M. Clark, A. Dcvorc, J. H. Upton, and G. B. Owen. ; On the motion of Mr,, Barclay , a? hearty vote of thanks was passed to Air. ' Mackechnie for his past services" as president,' a compliment which that gentleman suitably acknowledged. : Mr. Barclay moved • " Tliafc in the opinion of this meeting the time has arrived when the Art Gallery should bo open on Sunday afternoons from ; two till five, and that this resolution be forwarded to the City Council."—Seconded by the Rev. Dr. PunaiAS and carried unanimously.