OUTCROPS OF ART

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21991, 24 December 1934, Page 8

OUTCROPS OF ART

Efforts have been made at various times to find oversea origins for the rich and unique art of the Maoris. In a discussion of the famous statues 011 Easter Island in a recent book. Mr. Stanley Casson, Reader in Classical Archaeology at Oxford, states principles which seem to make such speculations about Maori art almost unnecessary. "There is no mystery about Easter Island, except in so far as the working of man's aesthetic activities is mysterious," he writes. "Without having recourse to wild theories about lost civilisations, we have to explain this strange outbreak of megalithic sculpture "in this forgotten island. We have also to explain the existence of a very highly-developed script which was in use until very recent times. The statues are almost all of the same type, broadly conceived, boldlv executed and instinct with a fine feeling for form and design, and unconsciously carved into works of art of immense power and majesty. Here among these forgotten islanders there sprang up suddenly a school of artists of originality and Inch quality. Among the other Pacific islands 110 satisfacto.v clues have yet been found. The habit of megalithic sculpture is not known in any other neighbouring island, with a few isolated and unimportant exceptions. The Easter Islanders made a school of art of their own. We can only hope to solve this artistic mystery bv reflecting how many sudden outbursts of art are to be found in unexpected places, and how the course of art seems to run wholly independently of the course of history. Palaeolithic painting and carving, the art of the Siberian nomads and of the theocratic Maya, bud and blossom irrespective of the amenities of civilisation or the advantages of education and culture. Art seems based on uncontrollable instincts, and the history of art does not run parallel with the history of social conditions. Insular life is strangely inventive and reflective. The ancient culture of Malta holds many surprises for those who doubt the inventive capacities of primitive peoples. Crete. 111 its day a very isolated place, was the \ery home of invention. 1 think that Easter Island is but another example of a small community, living in a favourable climate, drawing from its own fertile resources. It is a marvel rather than a mystery."