ART GALLERY SITE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19800, 27 May 1926, Page 7

ART GALLERY SITE.

ACQUIRING EXHIBITION BUILDING. PUBLIC MEETING OF APPROVAL. COUNCIL TO BE APPROACHED. ''kt a representative gathering cf Dunedin citizens, held in the Art Gallery Hall yesterday afternoon to discuss the proposal to acquire the Exhibition Art Gallery for the city the following resolution was carried :

“That this r.v ’ting of citizens urges tne City Council o acquire the Exhibition Art Gallery at Logan Park as a permanent gallery to house the municipal collection of pictures and other works of art for the following reasons: —

1. The present Art Gallery in Cumberland street is too small to enable the pictures now owned by the city and those recently acquired at the New Zealand and South Beas Exhibition to be properly hung. 2 It is badly lit according to modern ideas of lighting picture galleries. 3. The high cost of making the necessary alterations and additions to the present gallery if it were decided to retain same. 4. The Exhibition Gallery is generally recognised as being built on the most modern lines, and is in every way suitable for the display of pictures and other ■works of art.

Sir William Sim presided, and there were also present on the platform the Hon. Mark Cohen, Mr D. E. Theomin, Dr Herous, the Rev. Dr Mernngton, Lady Ferguson, Mrs C. E. Staham, and others. . I have been asked to take the chair, and have much pleasure in doing so because I am strongly in favour of the proposal to purchase the Exhibition Art Gallery and dedicate it as a Public Art Gallery, said Sir William Sim in opening the meetfle added that other speakers would support the motion to be placed before the meeting, and he would content himself by saving that it would be deplorable indeed if the City Council missed the opportunity of acquiring so suitable a building, and a shocking piece of vandalism if a building more suitable than any other in the Southern Hemisphere was dedicated for the purpose of a dressing shed. Several leading citizens had been unable to _be present, but two had expressed their views in letters to the chairman. VIEWS OF ABSENTEES. Sir Lindo Ferguson had written as follows: “The suitability of the building" for the purpose is beyond doubt, and with the large additions to the city art treasures we have now in hand the position with regard to the old city gallery has become acute. To hang our collection to advantage the old building will have to be remodelled and very considerably extended at a cost of some thousands of pounds, and it will be difficult, if not impossible, to get the views through from one room to another, which add so much to the effect of a well-designed gallery, and. which are such a marked feature of the building at Logan Park. “With the growth in importance of our collection which we can foresee in the not distant future, I feel that it would be unwise to attempt a policy of makeshift, and that it would be a fatal mistake to miss the opportunity of securing a bidding which will fill our requirements for many years to come.” . . . , Th© opinion of Sir George Fenwick was also read to the meeting by the Chairman, and was as follows: —

“It is a great pleasure to me to learn that, as the result of explanations that have been made, the strong opposition of the sports bodies to the retention oi the building is likely to be withdrawn, and this being so, there should be no hesitation on the part of the City Council to fall in unanimously with the considered judgment of the Art Gallery Council that the Exhibition Art Gallery building should be secured for the city. The citizens are to be congratulated on the splendid collection of pictures for the adornment of its walls as that now under the care of its council, and it cannot reasonably be questioned that such a gallery will constitute one of the highest means of recreation that will be afforded the citizens of Dunedin. The gallery should prove a welcome adjunct to the playing areas of Logan Park, and it does not require any penetrating vision to realise that in years to come the wisdom of retaining the Exhibition Gallery will have amply demonstrated itself.” AX EXHIBITION LEGACY.

“I have the very strong conviction that it would be a crime if the admirable building at Logan Park ceased to perform the function of an Art Gallery,” said the Rev. Dr Herrington in introducing the principal motion carried by the meeting. It had been said that the Great War left one legacy—the League of Nations — he continued, and he was there to express the hope that the demolition of the Exhibition would also leave its legacy’ to the city of Dunedin —a public Art Gallery, modern and up-to-date in every way. He was convinced that the % citizens of Dunedin would do all in their power to retain the Art Gallery at Logan Park — an institution that had proved its worth to thousands. The great carnival recently held at Logan Park had left the finest grounds in the Southern Hemisphere for sports purposes, and he hoped’ that before long they would ring with the plaudits of crowds watching great representative and international matches of all kinds. It was a mistake to suppose that those *-ho were present were not interested in ihe sports of the community and did not hold sympathetic views in that direction. Nothing was further from their desires than antagonism towards the sports bodies, but they wished that there should be opportunities for the education of the artistic taste by works of art as well as the entertainment afforded them by the games. The speaker quoted the remarks of “Hands Off the Park,” a correspondent who had discussed the subject -at length in the columns of the Otago Daily Times.

“He states that art is a dead language to most people,” said Dr Herrington, “but in the same issue of the Otago Daily Times we find that the number of visitors to the Exhibition Art Gallery was 268.553. There is also the fact that pictures have been purchased and expensive gifts have been made by citizens of Dunedin who have shown a generous practical ■ interest in the progress of art. It is not a dead language—it is becoming more and more appreciated in Dunedin. The appreciation of art here compares more than favourably with the capital cities of Australia. In my visits to Dunedin homes I have been struck by the good taste that is displayed by even the moat humble people —there is a yearning after the best in art, and they know something of a good thing when they see it. “I believe the time is near when we shall find signs of the development of a distinctive New Zealand School of Art.” CONVERSION A SACRILEGE.

In stressing the fact that the Art Gallery at the Exhibition was admirably suited hi every way, Dr Merrington said that it might stand as a permanent monument of the New r Zealand and South Seas Exhibition. It was a legacy worth thousands to the city of Dunedin, and the proposal to use it as a dressing shed was sacrilege. It was in the University section of the park, but would be on the roadway of the park, and those who used it would have to cross the road when lines of motor cars would be formed up on sports days. Further, the sporting public could raise thousands to build whatever they required, bat how could the money to construct a new Art Gallery be raised? Such a position was allied to the historic phrase; “The fleet in being”—Kt it be kept in being. The distance from the citv was n good thing—distance increased appreciation of art, and one did not get the correct atmosphere in the present Art Gallery, which was too central and too dismal. People should try and exercise imagination, visualise the position. There, at Logan Park, were fine grounds, and what could be better than the Art Gallery between two. “It would be far better,” he said in conclusion, “to take a trip to Logan Park with friends and visitors and spend some time studying the Art Gallery, than to i-ush across Cumberland street into the Art Gallery, and out again.”

SPORT ALLIED TO ART. Speaking as a member of the University and one of the staff. Dr Hercus supported the motion, and said he felt it his duty to take active interest in the proposal to acquire the Art Gallery for the city. It was a matter of health, for a sound condition of mind was closely associated with a sound condition of body. There was no opposition to the sports bodies, and such misunderstanding was disappearing like mist before the sun. There had always been the criticism of colonial life not paying enough attention to the sesthetic sie.o of life, and now was the chance to remedy that. Athens was not as wealthy as Dunedin was to-day, yet the glories of her contributions to the art of the world had been handed down through the centuries. Surely the citizens of Dunedin could establish an resthetic side to the community and give a lead to the whole of the Dominion.

"In regard to the distance from the centre of the town,” he added, ' “we are not dealing with a hotel, where one goes in to have a drink and comes out again—we should have a pilgrimage to Nature to find art. The precedent of establishing an Art Gallery in the surroundings of a beautiful park may bo credited to our own Scottish ancestors in Glasgow. Let us follow their example. In the interests of education alone let us support the proposal —in the interests of health and art itself The present building has been described as a sepulchre.” The Chairman then proceeded to put the motion, but was interrupted by Mr Malcolm Stevenson, who rose at the rear of the hall and asked if he could speak against the proposal or if the meeting consisted simply of those in favour of the retention of the gallery. A DISSENTING VOICE.

With the consent of the chair, he added that he felt it his duty as a ratepayer and a citizen of Dunedin to voice his disapproval of the proposal. The speakers had made very able appeals, but he asked those present to look at the matter still further ahead. The first duty of the citizens was to the coming generation, and Dunedin was crying out for more sports grounds. When the Exhibition was started there was no mention of a permanent Art Gallery at Logan Park, and the arguments advanced in favour of it could be wiped off the slate in two minutes. The present Art Gallery was run by the ratepayers, and the £4-000 to purchase the gallery at Logan Park would have to be found by" the ratepayers. Surely the money for an Art Gallery could be found if it were required The noise at the sports ground would be as great as in the city. He advocated the carting away of every building from Logan Park and its conversion for the purpose for which it was handed over by the Harbour Boavd. He did not wish to move any amendment, but wished to voice his disapproval of the proposal. In reply to Mr Stevenson, the Hon. Mark Cohen said he was an old sport before Mr Stevenson knew what sport was. The questions to consider 'were —first, was there any need to provide an Art Gallery for Dunedin? The present gallery was out of date, and on the other hand there was an ideal building at Logan Park. The distance was a mere bagatelle, and Mr Stevenson’s argument that the sports ground would be as noisy as the city was irrevelant in view of the fact that sports would be held only once or twice a week. There was a building costing £13,000, and it was proposed to waste all that money in providing dressing-sheds. There were plenty of waste-areas in Dunedin that could be used as sports grounds and with great advantage, as they would bring the grounds to the doors of the people rather than having them all grouped at one end of the city. From every point of view the proposal to acquire the Exhibition Gallery was one that should commend itself to all. Ho had read with great pleasure the remarks made by Mr Ernest Marsh (art director to the Exhibition Company), who had wisely suggested that the Art Gallery should have an Arts and Crafts Section. With such a section there would be a chance to show the class of work that had been seen in the Women’s Section at the Exhibition work that had been a great credit to all who had carried it out. The -present ArL Gallery was not in the right place, and the chance to improve the position and the bu'ld'ng was one that should not he missed. The saddest episode in the whole of his public career had been the loss to Dunedin of Forbury Park, and he appealed to those present not to let such a mistake be repeated. . “Let us go to the ratepayers with a good case and T am satisfied that we will win hands down,” were Mr Cohen’s closing words. The resolution was then out to the meeting and carried unanimously*

A FURTHER RESOLUTION. Mr D. E. Theomin then moved as follows : That a deputation consisting of as many of those now present who can possibly manage to attend shall wait upon the Mayor and City Councillors at a meeting called to receive the deputation, and that the speakers shall be Sir Lindo Ferguson and Dr Hercus, who will convey to the City Council the resolution now earned, and urge that effect be given to the views endorsed by this meeting. Supporting the motion, Mr Theomin stressed tho fact that the Art Gallery belonged to the citizens of Dunedin and two years a£o assets approaching neatly £3O,UOJ had been handed to them by the body controlling the Art Gallery, of which he was a member. There was, therefore, no occasion to introduce party feeling or differences. The building at Logan Park was so suitable that if another were built no alteration would be necessary, and the present building was worso than a sepulchre. ( That was no fault of those who designed it—i at that time they had no knowledge of what was really required, and had afterwards found that the lighting was insufficient and that the roof was always giving trouble. Pictures to the value of £4682 had now been acquired, other gifts to the value of £B2O had been made, and only that dav it had been announced that three new pictures had been bequeathed to the city. Were the people to check that flow of generosity. He understood that the council was very willing to receive the deputation, and would give it a cordial reception. Mrs C. E. Statham seconded the motion, and in doing so said it would be a great pity if the council came to any decision without hearing both sides of the question. It had heard all against the acquiring of the Art Gallery at the Exhibition, and it was right that it should hear the arguments for the proposal. “Surely those who object will be sports enough to allow those who cannot take part in the frames to enjoy the Art Gallery at Loaan Park.” she added* The motion was carried unanimously, and Sir William Sim announced that the council would receive the deputation at 5 p.m. to-day. , , . , A vote of thanks to the chair, proposed bv Mr Theomin, closed the meeting.