ART IN ITALY

New Zealand Herald, Volume 81, Issue 25055, 20 November 1944, Page 6

ART IN ITALY

NEW ZEALAND SOLDIEBS EXHIBITION OF WORKS (N.Z.E.F. Official War Correspondent) DIV. HEADQUARTERS. Nov. 17 On the walls of a bare room in one of the little mountain towns round which the New Zealand Division is now resting hang nearly 100 paintings and drawings. These are the works of four men who, throughout the long months of the campaign in Italy, have devoted almost all of their off-duty time in a painstaking attempt to reflect the atmosphere of the countryside under the shadow of war. The measure of their success has been considerable. The four exhibitors are Sergeant J. W. Crippen, of the New Zealand Artillery, Corporal E. W. Lewis, of Divisional Headquarters, and Signalmen J. F. Figgins and U. L. Moller, of Divisional Signals. All are employed with their units as draughtsmen. Sergeant Crippen and Signalman Moller studied together at the Elam School of Art, Auckland. Signalman Figgins was a student at the Canterbury Art School, while Corporal Lewis spent three years at the Royal College of Art. London. The general standard of their work is very high considering that it was all carried out in the field under conditions which were at no time favourable for the production of finished works of art. Particularly refreshing is the accent placed on the picturesque, rather than on the horrors and stark - ugliness of some aspects of war. There is drama and tragedy enough in studies of the gloomy ruins of Cassino and of other villages. Arrangements are being made for the exhibition to be placed on display in New Zealand in the near future. WORK OP PRISONER OF WAR EXHIBITION IN LONDON LONDON, Nov. 18 A Now Zealander who developed a talent for painting during three years in a prisoner-of-war camp in Germany has had some of his work accepted for exhibition here. Ho is Captain John Mclndoe, of Dunedin, who was taken prisoner in Crete and is now in Ofiag IX/AZ. After some of his pictures were shown at the P.O.W. exhibition in the Scottish National Gallery, three were submitted to the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours for the exhibition which opened _ this month. Three was the maximum number allowed and all were accepted.