THE OTAGO DAILY TIMTES THURSDAY, MAY 3, 1934. ART AND THE EMPIRE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22252, 3 May 1934, Page 8

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMTES THURSDAY, MAY 3, 1934. ART AND THE EMPIRE

The need of cultural movements in our own time may well appear to be particularly emphasised by many developments peculiar to this age of mechanism. The world is in such a hurry that art is in some apparent danger of being shouldered into the background. It faces at least a fiercer competition, which may seem to provide a test of its adaptability. In actual truth the demand for art, the term being of course used in a broad sense, should grow rather than diminish by reason of the enlargement of the field for its application. Industry and art cannot be divorced. Art, in the words of the President of the Royal Academy, is a dominating force in all human production, and one of the chief factors in national development. Of the more rarified atmosphere of what are termed the fine arts the former serenity has suffered a certain disturbance by “ modern movements,” mostly ephemeral, the general influence of which can scarcely yet be appraised. But if art is a product of the age from which it springs, if of necessity it reflects that age, there should be little occasion for perturbation. If the Empire Art Loan Collection, opened for exhibition in Dunedin yesterday, bo accepted as in its dcgi'ec typical of what British artists are aiming at and producing the outlook can be considered distinctly cheerful. In its cultivation of the arts a young country like New Zealand necessarily suffers by reason of its being cut off by distance from contacts with the world’s great galleries and art centres and from the environment

and education which they provide. But there is a method by which the distance may be partially bridged, and in the Empire Art Loan Collection Society, formed to carry into practice the lofty conception due to Mr P. B. Sargood, of this city, a really effective instrument to this end appears now to have been established within the British Empire.

The launching of this society’s first venture has been a very onerous undertaking. But Mr Sargood and his fellow-workers in this organisation are to be congratulated in the fruition of their persevering efforts which was represented in the opening yesterday in this city of the first exhibition to be shown anywhere within the Empire under this society’s auspices. The community cannot but acknowledge a debt to Mr Sargood and the Empire Art Loan Collection Society in respect of this achievement, and as time goes on it may have reason to realise that its indebtedness is very great indeed. The society had to borrow all the works of art for this initial venture, and the generosity of private owners in the Old Country Li parting with so many of their treasures for a considerable period in order that they might he shown in New Zealand and Australia becomes very manifest. But the society lias larger plans in view, and it was a striking vision upon which, in his speech at the Pioneer Hall yesterday, Mr Downie Stewart invited his hearers to dwell, that of a chain of art collections, inclusive of masterpieces from the national galleries of Great Britain, circulating with some regularity throughout the Empire. The possibility of this need not be considered remote in view of the sympathetic attitude of the British Government, as expressed recently by Mr Ramsay MacDonald himse’f, in regard to the promotion of the legislation necessary to .nable national art possessions to be exhibited overseas.

Thus, provided the encouragement is adequate, the Empire Art Loan Collection Society nay be the means of introducing in the future something like a new era in the educational aspect of art in these dominions. It is for the people of Dunedin to appreciate the opportunity which, without effort on their part, is being afforded them in the present exhibition. The hope may be expressed that they will manifest their appreciation, otherwise their interest in the exhibition, in a manner so emphatic that the organisation which, in a spirit that cannot be too highly eulogised, has made this practical gesture on their behalf, may find full compensation for its labours and an incentive to the continuance of them. The stimulating character of the exhibition will be at once recognised by art lovers, and to art students it should be a boon. The names of those whose work is represented include many of the most distinguished practitioners in the field of British art to-day, and in this respect the display at the Pioneer Hal! will be recognised as something quite exceptional in this Dominion's experience. In a letter which was read at yesterday’s ceremony the GovernorGeneral has expressed the opinion that there is a danger of a craving for artistic expression on the part of the young people of this country finding utterance in false or distorted conceptions of artistic beauty and in adherence to transient canons of art. His Excellency is always observant, but it is probable enough that the danger to which he alludes is becoming a diminishing one. At all events the Empire Art Loan Collection as a whole is decidedly calculated to provide a corrective. It is sane, stimulating, enlightening, and but discreetly challenging. Perhaps the most requisite thing for the advancement of art in New Zealand is an art-loving public. The creation of it should be greatly assisted by the promotion of the objective of such an organisation as the Empire Art Loan Collection Society.