AUCKLAND ART

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22865, 21 October 1937, Page 16

AUCKLAND ART

SPRING EXHIBITION CREDITABLE WORK SHOWN VARIETY IN LANDSCAPE Tho spring exhibition of tho Auckland Society of Arts, which will bo opened by the president, Mr. R. 0. Gross, to-night, at a private view in the society's clubrooms, Victoria Arcade, is in general most creditable to the artists of Auckland. The cata--logue contains 99 items by 43 contributors, and selection has been carried out by a compromise between the ordinary method and tho "free for all" plan that was tried with moderate success some years ago. The exhibition is divided into three sections, one for oil and water-colour paintings, another for black-and-white work, and the third for design in industry. Any working member of the society was entitled to enter three works in each section and to have one hung as of right. This latter provision explains the presence of some paintings which would certainly not have been included if tho hanging committee had had unfettered discretion, but the number of such is small and the average standard of work is decidedly high. Scenes Near City

Landscapes in oils and water-colour naturally predominate, but there are some good portrait heads and many pleasant flower and still-life studies. The black-and-white section, although not large, is enough to show that Auckland has some competent etchers. A still-life in oils by John Weeks •is notable for extraordinarily rich and harmonious colour. "Showery Afternoon," by the same artist, represents a typical suburban market garden, and tho" straight rows of vegetables and bare earth are mado to form part of a novel design. Ida G. Eise has attempted something new in "Grey Day on tho Manukau," which < shows a sombro expanse of water viewed from a height under a lowering sky. Two other landscapes aro more in her usual manner. "Tidal Creek" and "Red Roof," by C. H. Tole, aro charming examples of tho uso of cool colours. In "Geysers, Rotorua," Winifred Bodlo has adopted a subject that might bo more often used by Auckland artists. Tho largest painting in the exhibition is "Aokahia Landscape," by I. M. Richdale. This shows a sunny stretch of rolling pasture land with, a lino of brown willows along a creek. "Railway Station," a smaller work, is lively and rather more successful. Good Portrait Work

Tho ' water-colour landscapes include a number inspired by a simple love of nature, but others are broadly treated with a good deal of verve, notably several by Vernon A. Brown, F. H. Beckett and Albert N. Goldwater. Mr. Brown's trees are dynamic, and his pictures always show a most satisfying choice of colour. Mr. Goldwater's "Brickworks" is an intriguing jumble of roofs, turned to many hues by rust and old paint. Portrait studies include a charming head of a baby and a 'conte drawing of a girl by A. B. Barns Graham, a remarkable oil monochrome head of a girl in profile by F. J. Mac Donald, and others bv W. Jones and A. Lois White. There are flower and still-life paintings by Frances Hunt, J. Crippen, Alice F. Whyte, Bessie Christie, F. J. Mac Donald and Peggy Spicer.

A remarkable contribution is made by Joan Dukes, who shows two most accomplished pen drawings of the schoolboy and the pantaloon from Shakespeare's "Seven Ages of Man," n coloured drawing of a scene from "The Mikado," a stage costume design and a number of repeating patterns, pictorial and otherwise, intended for book-jackets. Prints of various kinds are shown by E. M. Taylor, Betty Jackson and 0 G. Adams. There are some excellent pieces of pottery by Olive Jones and needlework in various national styles by Molly C. Stewart.