LANDSCAPE ART

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25915, 6 August 1945, Page 6

LANDSCAPE ART

THE BLEDISLOE MEDAL RESTRICTIVE CONDITIONS ALLEGED The Bledisloe Medal for a work dealing with national New Zealand landscape remained unawarded at the 1945 winter exhibition of the Auckland Society of Arts. Under the restrictive conditions governing the award (states the June-July issue of The Arts in New Zealand) the A.S.A. was unable to single out any painting of high enough merit among the usuai few eligible works, and it was decided the medal would have to be withheld. The position is made the subject of further reference in the periodical in an article by Mr A. R. D. Fairburn. “ Viscount Bledisloe is one of the most distinguished of living agriculturists,” says this writer; “he has a profound grasp of the basic principles of land-utilisation, and during receni years especially he has done very great service to agriculture in Great Britain. As a connoisseur of art, however, he has, as far as I know, little qualification beyond that of knowing what he likes. I think it may fairly be said that his generous gift to the Auckland Society has caused members of the council of that body a good deal more worry than satisfaction. The task of awarding the medal becomes more embarrassing every year. . . . “It is an awesome thought for a painter that a finely-executed work showing some aspect of virgin New Zealand may be cheated of the award of the Bledisloe Medal because some scrap of newspaper, dropped by a careless picnicker, has been conscientiously painted in the' foreground. The issue might even hang on a cigarette butt, or a used safety-match. As for such man-made abominations as fenceposts or bridle-tracks, they are enough to put a picture out of the running from the very start, even if it should be the most significant bit of painting done in New Zealand in 20 years. There have (I believe) been occasions when haggard council members have gathered in a solemn little group before a painting and tried to decide whether a patch of light tone in the foreground was intended by the artist as a piece of chopped wood, an old copy of the Referee, or just an innocent patch of clay uncovered by erosion. -“I think the Auckland Society of Arts should remember its dignity, and summon up the courage to put an end to this nonsense. It is probable that by this time Viscount Bledisloe is so engrossed in the problems of pig-breed-ing that he is indifferent as to whether his medal is awarded for virgin landscape or for the best doodle on a post office blotter. He would most likely consent to having the terms widened to allow the award to be given for the ‘best landscape,’ or even for ■ the ‘best picture.’ It would then have some meaning and cease to be such a source of embarrassment.”