DUNEDIN PUBLIC ART GALLERY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21542, 14 January 1932, Page 3

DUNEDIN PUBLIC ART GALLERY

A PROGRESSIVE INSTITUTION ACQUISITIONS AND LOAN ATTRACTIONS. In the progress of the Dunedin Public Art Gallery there have been several rather notable stages. One in particular coincided with the great Exhibition at Logan Park in 1925, when, largely through the stimulus provided by the fine Art Gallery which was a feature of that display, many valuable acquisitions were secured for the civic collection. Since then the transfer of the collection to the spacious and well-designed gallery at Logan Park has undoubtedly been an important factor in the steady promotion of its advancement. The local gallery of to-day is one of which, both as regards housing and contents, a municipality of the size of Dunedin may well be, proud. It excites admiration in visitors upon its merits, and donations of works of art are encouraged by the knowledge of the donprs that they will be shown to every advantage. The year which has just closed has marked, it is pleasing to note, yet another rather conspicuous step forward in the important additions that have been made to the civic collection.

Noteworthy pictures hung upon the walls during recent months materially strengthen the collection. They include Turner’s “ Dunstanborough Castle,” as fresh and strong to-day as in the year in which it was painted; Ambrose M'Evoy’s delightful portrait entitled “ Dorothy,” an example of this brilliant artist’s work which any gallery might covet; P. Wilson Steer’s “ Chepstow Castle,” a most interesting work from the brush of an artist of acknowledged reputation; and a very fine portrait of the older .school, a depiction .in the rich trappings of uniform of the First Earl of Macclesfield, by William Dobson, a pupil and follower of Van Dyck. These works are in themselves quite a sufficient attraction to inspire 'many, a visit to the gallery, and the room at the southern end in which they .are hung in good company with ample wall space to permit their being seen to the best advantage, will be admitted by good judges to be a particularly satisfying corner of the building. It is pertinent to remark that an admirable feature of the Dunedin Gallery as it exists to-day—one which not every gallery of the kind, even in the great centres, can present —consists in the absence of anything in the nature of overcrowding. This permits every attention to be paid to the niceties of arrangement and position, so that pictures may not clash with and jostle one' another. It is to be hoped that nothing may occur as time goes on to disturb the permanence of this fortunate state of affairs. The recent additions mentioned' represent by no means the sum total of the pictures added to the gallery during the past year, but only the most recent and important, r■ v The Turner and the Dobson, it may be mentioned, were-acquired in terms of the Robert Htiy bequest, while' the, M'Evoy and the Wilson Steer were purchased, under the Smeaton bequest. The value of these’four works alone must represent a considerable sum. Finance is always,, of course,’ a -weighty factor in the affairs of an institution which has but limited purchasing funds. Rumour has Tt, ■ however, that recently the Dunedin Gallery came within measurable distance of the acquisition of a representative Constable. A present attraction to the gallery which will not be permanent consists in the display of several -pictures .purchased by Mr P. L. Haleted during his recent visit to the Old Country and kindly lent by him for exhibition for a short period. These will abundantly repay a visit of inspection, constituting as they do a: very -choice; little collec-, tion. This includes “ Les Sylphides,” by Dame Laura Knight, a picture of balletdancers, “seen the stage,” with reproductions of which a good many ■ art lovers may be familiar. It, is a striking example of the artist’s work and admiration will be divided between the rich colouring of the lofty scenic background and the clever lighting and life and movement of the dancers them- , selves. Another of Mr Halfffed’s acquisitions is a fine example of the work of that master .of water-colour, Mr W; Russell Flint; Its title- is “A Little Wedding—The Salute, Venice,” and the case, vigour, and sweep of the composition in the treatment both of the bold architectural centrepiece and the reflecting foreground, which is liquefaction itself, must- be a revelatibn to the average practitioner in a medium the difficulties of which are generally recog-, nised. Water-colour handled on such a scale as this is an object lesson. Mr Haleted is to be further envied tho acquisition of three fine examples of the work of another artist, of not less repute than the two already mentioned, in Mr' Muirhead Bone, whose drawings command exceptional attention in the art world. Those now on view in the Gallery include examples from Mr Muirhead Bone’s recent exhibition in London of Spanish Of outstanding interest perhaps is “The Vega of Granada from Carmen de Canada,” which exemplifies the artist’s ability to delineate detail and the effect of detail in a truly remarkable way. This is one of the works which provoked the art critic of The Times to write—“ There are drawings that it hardly seems right for a man to have made, so inhumanly skilful are they in following the complications of the" subject. Mr Muirhead Bone uses pencil, black chalk, pen and wash with equal skill, ; as can be judged from inspection of the other two drawings on' view, which are entitled ‘ Oviedo — Market at a Palace’ and ‘View of Caceres.’ ” Mr Halsted’s collection includes two further pictures, a small Constable entitled “On the Beach, Brighton,”, .which possesses much t of spontaneity and charm,- and a strongly-limned study of a head, entitled “ Melita,” by R. G. Dunlop. As evidence of the interest taken by the general public in the Art Gallery it may be mentioned that within a period of just dver eleven months it has been visited by as many as 17,500 persons. The public has every _ reason to recognise that the Gallery is an important . civic asset,- and that its progress is mainly due to the public spirited directing influences that are behind it.