OTAGO ART SOCIETY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2436, 21 November 1900, Page 27

OTAGO ART SOCIETY.

THE ANNUAL EXHIBITION.

SPEECH BY THE PRESIDENT,

The twenty-fourth annual exhibition of the 'Otago Art Society was opened in the society's gallery, Choral Hall, on the 9th. There was a large attendance of ladies and gentlemen. and the President (Mr G. Joachim) occupied the chair. In opening the exhibition, the President said : Ladies and gentlemen, — The council are much gratified by your response to their invitation to-night. I hope we may augur from it a more favourable season for our society than we had last year. Once more our. exhibition of pictures is before you, and we await the verdict of the critics and the public. Are we to be liberally supported by attendance and sale of pictures? is the all-important question to us. Speaking of the pictures, I think the water colours, as a whole, are far in advance of the oils, and I am a little disappointed that a number of our usual exhibitors are not represented this time, probably owing to the Christclmrch Exhibition. More "than the usual number of works have been rejected this year, as the Hanging Committee thought it was desirable to gradually raise the standard. Only two of the society's prizes were competed for, and the council regret that the two landscapes sent in were not of sufficient merit to receive an award. The prize for wood-carving was well competed for, and many really good exhibits were sent in. The quality of the work, in many cases, is excellent, and the judges had some difficulty in deciding. I have no doubt in my own mind that the medal was rightly given to Mrs Butterworth for her beautiful carving; but the judges have highly commended several other exhibits. — (Applause.) I am sorry to cay that by an oversight those works which were highly commended were not printed so in the catalogue, but we will take steps to rectify the omission later on. At our annual meeting the accounts showed that the last exhibition had not been financially a success, and I said there that I would, at the proper time, make a suggestion whereby we might secure the support of the public. The question is, Whose fault is it that art is not well supported? For it is not only in Dunedin that art languishes. Let me read to you what a great artist has recently said (Mr G. F. Watts, R.A.) : — "With a few rare and conspicuous exceptions," he says, " artists spend their time in making toys for the annual exhibition, which few people consider to be more important than a maypole. If the world oared what we did, art could not help speaking. Demand creates supply; man can obtain nothing he does not ask for. What a man really desires and asks for, he usually obtains." lam afraid that indictment is true ; \ but I am not sure that the public is more to blame than the artists. The divorce of the co-called fine arts from arts and crafts which took place in the last century did, in my opinion, deal a heavy blow to both, from which neither has recovered, and if we want to see them both flourish and really obtain the support of the general public, they must be again united. It seems to me an absurdity to expect anyone to buy good pictures unless the rest' of his surroundings command his interest and respect. How can you do this with houses built by contract and furnished, let us say, by the yard from Guthrie and Larnaoh'e? Depend upon it, the public will never patronise art unless thay are interested in the design and making of all their sur-

roundings. Now, my proposal is that we should include in our exhibitions handicrafts such as metal work, wood carving, cabinet work, book-binding, pottery, embroidery, etc., but the eize of this building does not admit of it, and therefore I have proposed that we should hold an arts and crafts exhibition in the autumn, the first exhibition to be a loan collection of such work as we think will be good examples for the workers of Dunedin. — (Applause.) If it succeeds, I should then propose an annual exhibition of arts and crafts from local workers, which, I am afraid,

must be held separately from tha pictures until we can secure a larger building to combine the two. I feel confident that if we can really secure the interests of the craftsmen the success of our fine art section will be assured. Anyone who appreciates excellence of work in one branch will be far more likely to take ai> interest in excellence in other branches of the arts. The trustees of the Public Art Gallery have been compelled to close the gallery to prevent further injury to the pictures from the defective building. The time is come, I think, when we should try to

get a permanent art gallery for Dunedin. The City Council, as you know, have granted a site near the Town Hall, and it is proposed to erect a building by subscriptions or debentures, or both combined, letting the gallery and subsidiary rooms for certain purposes to raise funds for the necessary expenses and extinction of the debt, and when the building is paid for to hand it over to the public. I had hoped that the site would be large enough to give the Otago Art Society house room, so that the rent we should pay would help forward the scheme, and that this society might

have worked for the general object. I am disappointed that the site granted is so small ; it seems doubtful if there will be room for us, and the public gallery may lose a good and permanent tenant. I hope, however, the City Council will reconsider the matter. — (Applause.) I wish to express the sincere thanks of the council to those ladies who have so kindly decorated the room with flowers and supplied the refreshments, which, later, you will, lam sure, fully appreciate ; and, especially, we are most gratful to those who have come to-night at great inconvenience to give us some musical items. — (Applause.) There is one exhibit I wish to call special attention to to-night — a presentation which has been obtained by public subscription for the American Consul at Pretoria for his kindness to New Zealanders and others while they were prisoners in the hands of the Boers. This beautiful piece of work is on view to-night. — (Applause.)