ART EXHIBITION

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21879, 15 August 1934, Page 13

ART EXHIBITION

INFLUENCE OF SCHOOLS DR. E. B. GUNSON'S LECTURE Although the loan collection of British art, at present on exhibition at the Auckland Art Gallery, represents the work of British artists of the last 70 years, it does not constitute the work of a school. This point was made last night by Dr. E. B. Gunson, a former president of the Auckland Society of Arts, in the fourth of the series of talks arranged in conjunction with tho exhibition. "The reason why the pictures do not represent a school," said Dr. Gunson, "is that they are compounded of influences which come from practically every school of art in the past and, in addition, from most schools of contemporary art operating outside Great Britain." Dr. Gunson dealt with the criticism advanced by correspondents in the Herald on the grounds that the exhibition ignored Victorian art and artists. Victorian art was a very distinct thing, ho said, and had particular qualities and characteristics. It approximated very closely to popular ideals. Certain painters like Turner and Cox belonged to the Victorian period, but their ideas were quite alien to the generally accepted standards of Victorian art. Similarly there were artists to-day who were painting in tho Victorian manner, but they were not representative of contemporary art. Modern British art owed its quality to French impressionism, which came into England with Whistler and his contemporaries. Tho effect of tho impressionist inlluence had been to break down the barriers which had insulariscd British art in the 19th century and to make it more cosmopolitan. Dr. Gunson pointed out how false was Buskin's original appreciation of Whistler. If a critic of Buskin's capability could fall down, there was an argument in favour of greater tolerance in doaling with contemporary art. The lecture to-night will bo given by Mr. J. L. J. Wilson.