WHAT IS ART?

NZ Truth, Issue 156, 13 June 1908, Page 5

WHAT IS ART?

PURITANICAL PROSECUTION AT NAPIER.

The Querimonious Quid-Nunc Quartermain.

WHITE-CHOKERED BRIGADE ARE SHOCKED AND SCANDALISED.

The Troubles of a Tennyson-street Tailor.

There has been a recrudescence of alleged indecent picture prosecutions, and this time Napier is the plate where one Is led to believe there are a lot ol filthytninded people who have but to gaze on a nude or semi-nude picture' to have created within them immoral and libidinous thoughts. Anyhow, the individual this, time singled out for prosecution was not Some innocent, business-like news-agent; the person charged with exhibiting pictures which were indecent and immoral jras one Arsene Le Petitt, a Frenchy by the sound Of his little name, and who has a tailor's shop m Tennyson-street, Napier. .The pictures, held to be of an indecent, immoral and obscene nature, and which vrere held to have an indecent, Immoral and obscene effect, were more or less nude figures, entitled "L' Amour au Bain" (E. Krug 1 ), "La fali« de Titauia". (P. Gervais), ."Poursuito d' Amour". . |(J. V. Verdier), and "Diana au Bain" .{(Boucher). Lawyer Cresswell appeared for the French person, who doesn't look a lover of art, but might appreciate a good thing when he sees it, and he pleaded not. guilty when the case came before Mr P. E. McCarthy, S.M., the other day. Inspector McDonnell, who prosecuted defendant, 'said the defendant had a tailor's shop m Tcnnysoh-street, and his window was much -frequented by people to Bee his pictures. He was warned by the police a number of years ago and had started again. Nude pictures had the effect of corrupting -the youth of the town and the police wished the guidance of the Court m the malrter. He submitted that ,the present case was difieren-fc to the one recently decided m Wellington, and these pictures were not m a book but exhibited In a window on the footpath. If anyone ' jrould look at the beach on a hot summer'!! day and see THE MEN WATCHING WOMEN not nearly so nude as these pictures they {would see the effect of this kind oi thing. Acting-Detective Quartermain, who was '. stationed m Napier m. March last gave evidence. The witness saw Hie pictures produced m Le Petitt's shop, and he told him that he (Quartermain) considered their exhibition a breach of the Offensive Publications Act, but Le Petitt declared them to be works of art. Quartermain then announced that the police had decided to have a decision on the point and gathered the pictures m. With an impudent usurpation of a Magistrate's ' prerogative, ■ Quartermain said he considered the pictures tended to immorality ' and added that, being a married man, he (Would not have such pictures hungup m his children's bedroom and would object jfco the pictures being exhibited m the school which his children attended. More amazing still was $he ' finger-print "expert's" evidence, that he considered he Knew human nature as well as the average man and could not see what good purpose the defendant had m hanging up "these pictures. How Magistrate McCarthy allowed such evidence to be given is iwhat "Truth" 'cannot understand. Never- j theless, it was given, and, what is surprising, no objection was taken to it. Lawyer Oresswell then tackled theque* cimonious Quartermain and asked him il •he would be surprised to hear that for ; the past' fifeeen years the defendant had been exhibiting Similar pictures m Napier, and the "expert's" reply was that it had « \ nothing to do with him, and that he would be surprised to hear it. Mr Cresswell : Would you be surprised (to hear that Inspector Macdonnell has gone into the shop .and asked -to see these pictures and admired them? Inspector Macdonnell (hotly) : That tt a deliberate lie. Mr Cresswell: Would it surprise you to hear that Inspector Macdonnell went into the shop and looked at the pictures under the pretence of ordering a pair <A Itrousers which he did not get ? Inspector Macdonnell : That is also untrue. . \ . . Witness : From what I know of.lnspectpr Macdonnell I should be very nrach surprised to hear that. Mr Cresswell : Did you see a nude statue of Eve m the Christchurch Exhibition ?— Yes, one looks for a certain amount of art m an. exhibition, but not m d tailor's shop. Mr Cresswell : Were you shocked at the nude figures you saw m the Christchurch Exhibition ?— No, Mr Cresswell, I AM NOT EASILY SHOCKED. People who go to an art gallery know what to expect, but they may not) care to have them thrust under their nose m a tailor's shop. Continuing the witness said he had never seen any pictures so glaring as these outside of galleries. Quartermaiu further asserted that the people who visited art galleries were of an artistic turn of mind. What he meant by declaring "they had not an hereditary taint such as some whp looked at these pictures" is probably best known to this Puritanic policeman, who further as-' sured the Court, "I have heard boys pass obscene remarks about similar . pictures." It is a prfcy that. Quartermain was not called upon' to prove that latter assertion. For a young slop he's up to all the tricks of the policeman's tirade. He was further of the opinion that the mind must be cultivated to appreciate such pictures — no average man could. He would admit that the pictures shown m the dej fendant's shop window were copies of Vorlts of art. At the same time he did not think they should be exhibited m shop. , windows. "I know;" said witness, "that if 1 had a daughter of courtable age and her young man brought pictures of this kind to show her, I would very soon kick him out." Mr Cresswell : And yet you would not object to that same daughter, if she wanted to ,icarn drawing, going to an art school and studying from the nude ? ! Witness replied that that was quite a different thing. The mind had to be cultivated to a true appreciation of art. Continuing, witness stated that as soon as he saw the pictures he reported the mat- , ter to the ; Inspector, and was instructed to lay an information. He could not say why proceedings had hot been taken before.. Mixed bathing had been going on on the beach while he was in' Napier, but he saw nothing objectionable m connection with . it. . It was rather refreshing, however, to hear Mr Quartcrmain admit that ' HE WAS NOT AN ARTIST. He v/as vulgar enough not to appreciate art gaUerieg and he gave his view as that of an average man, and yet. in view oi this candid confession, he had the Chick hide to say he considered the pictures, which, it was contended, were works of art, to be indecent and immoral. A number of copies of "The Sketch" and reproductions of Royal Academy pictures were submitted, but Quartermain's inartistic soul could perceive nothing . objectionable m them. A new feature m such prosecutions-was the introduction; to the witness of clerical persons. Canon Mayne was called. He was shown the pictures', and, as was natural, he promptly gave it on his Bible oath that they we're filthy, particularly one of them, and all were likely to have an immorol effect on the younger generation. Ai'-aih, this evidence was most improper. -It' was lor Magistrate McCarthy to %yf*

his opinion and not to form an opinion on the evidence of those naturally prejudiced. Mr Cresswell : I suppose you know, Canon Mayne, that since the beginning of art the study of the nude has taken, pride of place. Witness : Of course I know that, but there is the nude and the nude. There is the nude that is elevating and the nude that is indecent. Mr Cresswell : Can you point out one of those pictures that is ungraceful ? Canon Mayne : I cannot say that, but the whole thing is suggestive. Thete is no suggestiveness about Millais' or Leighton's pictures. A picture "Venus couchee" was described as disgusting, although exhibited m an art gallery, while another plate the < witness said he would not care to look at. It was "dirt." Considered some flgr ores m Kirkcaldie and Stain's catalogues were not to be compared with the pictures of Le Pettitt's. One of the pictures which offended the moral susceptibilities ol Canon Mayne was one showing a girl PUTTING ON A PAIR OF -STOCKINGS. Asked plump and fair to point out where the suggestiveness came m, the reverend "croaker" »Tvas metaphorically floored and crawled out of the corner by telling bis questioner that if he could not see the suggestiveness of it, he (witness) could not show him. A particularly intelligent answer this, considering the Canon's assertion that the pictures were. filthy. ThQ broad mind of the sky-pilot was exhibited further when he was asked if he had seen the picture, "Sleep," which recently formed the basis of a Wellington parson pimp prompted., hut abortive, prosecution. "No/ said the "Red m the Pocket," "'I have not seen it and I don't want to. I have seen enough filth." The filth he had seen may, perhaps, have had re'lerence to some picture m "The Sketch" and reproductions of art KsiUery rcU'rcs which were m no way saggnsfive, though others he considered were dirt and . others simply ludicrous. Mr CressweH : Have you not seen men and women bathing to^thwr oa tha beach here ? ' ' / Canon Mayne : Yes, I have, and / - I CONSIDER IT DISGRACEFUL. . Continuing, the witness said he would not like to say that the pictures produced were fair reproductions of French art. If Mr Cresswell^eould not see the mggestiveness m them be (witnesff)*^uld not show him. Mr Cresswell :, Can you tell me the difference between these pictures being shown m an art gallery and m a tailor's shop ? Canon Mayne : A lady may wear evening dress m the evening and nothing be thought of it, but if she went down tue street m it in* the daytime she would be thought a had woman— at least, one you would not care to marry. *In reply to another question the witness said that he thought that one picture was not fit to be exhibited m the Christchurdi Exhibition. Ladies would not look at it. . It was the deliberate opinion of the Rev. Robert McNaughtan that the pictures produced would ha^Ve an immoral effect. Mr Cresswell : Have you seen the men, women and boys bathing on the beach here ? Mr McNaugh-tan ': No, I have not. Mr CressweH :' Oh, you turned your head away? / Witness : No, I never happened to be there. _J In reply, to further questions the witness said that they wanted less art and more morality. Considered the Australian artist who painted "Sleep" SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF HIMSELF Could not say he was greatly 'shocked by the pictures he had seen. Had occasionally seen pictures like them. ' The Rev, Canon Tuke deposed that m his opinion the pictures were calculated to play Upon the passions and were not fit to he exhibited is a window close . to the footpath. • To Mr Cresswell : He considered the pictures suggestively indecent. If he saw them m an art gallery, he would object to ; them, be did not like that sort 61---thing. If thousands of leading men all over the world looked upon the nude as the highest form of art, he was sorry for them. When he had noticed pictures m I the nude m art galleries, and had young people with him he got them away as quickly as he could. Mr "Cresswell : And did you then , go back and have another look for yourself ? Witness : I would not do such a tiling,; perhaps you would. Another pure-minded individual named William Henry Fenton considered that the fact of the pictures produced being ex- ; •hibited m a shop window was a shame-. •fill thing. Could not understand why a tailor should exhibit such a picture unless playing to an awfully low taste. The pictures would tend $b make children who saw them immoral. ' ■ ) Mr Cresswell : They could not have been very immoral if Inspector Macdonnell saw them for five years and did not take action. Witness : It might have been an oversight. To Mr Cresswell : He had seen other pictures of a similar nature m the same window. He had been shocked, but had not complained to the police. Sergeant Treanor thought the . pictures would have an immoral effect. He had seen young men looking m the window and laughing and joking aboirt the pictures. ; . . , To Mr Cresswell : Witness had heard that a previous ' case of the same nature against the defendant had been, ditmissed. Detective Hill deposed i that his duties had often TAKEN HIM INTO BROTHELS m various parts of New Zealand, and he had often seen nude pictures hanging on the walls. The defendant did not always show pictures of the class ■ complained of m his window ; he had other pictures. Sometimes' there were no pictures at all. To Mr Cresswell ; Witness had been stationed m Napier for about two years and had passed ''"; defendant's shop hundreds of times.- The reason that he had not- taken any action before was that when he arrived m Napier he was given to understand that a prosecution against the defendant had been dismissed. He found m his drawer, certain pictures which he had understood to be those upon which the dismissed information ihad been based. He had only recently discovered that they were not. Inspector Macdonnell himself gave evi> dence,to the effect that he had instructed an officer some years ago to caution the defendant, that if he ceased to exhibit such pictures, some of which he had taken possession of, he would not be prosecuted. For a long time no pictures were shown, but again the defendant went back •to his old practice, with the result that the present proceedings were taken. This closed, the case for the prosecution. Evidence for the defence was given by J. H.Coleman, sheep-farmer, who declared ! that there was not a suncsestive or ungraceful attitude m any of the picture?:. ' Henry Hill, Inspector of Schools for Hawke's Ba" deposed! that he saw no-

thing indecent or immoral m the pictures. There was nothing m them that suggested to him indecency. He would be very glad to have the originals. In the Napier Art School there were pictures of the nude which both boys and girls used as models for drawing. Witness thoroughly approved of all that the previous witness, Mr Coleman, had said. The subject of one of the pictures, "La Folie de Titania," v/as from a scene m Shakespeare's "Midsummer Night's Bream," THE FIGURES BEING FAIRIES AND SPRITES. To Inspector Macdonnell :i With regard to hanging such pictures m the public schools discretion would have to be used, and they would have to be placed only before those whose, minds had been trained to appreciate them and upon whom they would have an elevating influence. He did not know sufficient about the prurient miiid to say whether or not such pictures would have an inflammatory effect upon it. He would not hang such pictures before junior pupils, for the same reason that he would not give solid food to little babies. He considered that the police had done no public good, but rather harm, by bringing the present case, as they had drawn attention to' what otherwise would not have beeu thought of. Inspector Macdonnell : But, if they are good pictures, the more attention drawn to them the moie good we have done. ■ Witness : You have drawn attention to them m such a way that some of the public may say, "The pictures mean so and so, according to the police." Evidence was also given by J. W. Craig, bookseller, Henry Williams, Robert PufIctt, I-I. F. Butcher, G. Widerstrom, G-. Kelly and J. C. Westall. \ This was the evidence for the defence, and the Magistrate reserved his decision. His judgment was delivered last Monday. The Magistrate m his judgment reviewed the evidence and went on to say, "The penal laws are directed not against the virtuous, but the vicious, and this statute is intended to protect all— whether old or young— who are liable to fall under the malign influence of ' immodest prints and literature. To trained and j pure minds "the contemplation of such works is not harmful m effect, but to the untraiDed — more particularly the young — continuous dwelling upon creates prurient and obscene thoughts, which not infrequently lead to acts of lust and crimes „ of violence. The strong meat of classic • art is not for THE DELECTATION OF THE SOCIETY WEAKLING." One picture the subject of prosecution could not, the Magistrate said, by any stretch of imagination be termed a work of art, and the fact that this had been exhibited, with others, compelled him to ! find that all pictures exhibited by de- ] ' fondant were immoral and indecent, and ' intended to have an iiTimoral and indecent effect. A fine of 10s and costs was , imposed,