OTAGO ART SOCIETY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2985, 31 May 1911, Page 86

OTAGO ART SOCIETY.

EXHIBITION OF SKETCHES,

The Otago Art Society opened its exhibition of sketches at the Art Gallery Hall on the 23rd inst., when there was a la.rgc attendance of the public. Some 600 or 700 pictures in all 'are raJiged round the wall, and included in the exhibition are some excellent studies in -olack-and-white, oils, and water-oolours. The students of the local Art School are showing some fine black-and-white work from life, and the show of stencils is also very praiseworthy. __ During the evening the president ot the Art Society (Mr G. Joachim) made a short speech. He stated that before deciding _to hold an exhibition of sketches this winter the council of the Art Society was much perplexed about two questions. Firstly, would the' artists send sufficient sketches to make the exhibition worth coming to see, and, secondly, supposing they did send a goodly number, would the public be sufficiently interested to come and see them? After looking at the exhibits on the walls and seeing the large number in attendance that night in response to the council's invitation, he had no hesitation in answering- these two questions in the affinnative, and ho trusted they would all 'jgreo with him.—(Applause.) The exhibition was. he thought, especially interesting, for on tho walls they saw so many sketches—pictures in tho making—which seemed to him to be almost more interesting than the finished pictures themselves. There wero being exhibited -studies contributed by the School of Art, and those showed the artists in the making. The future of the Art Society mainly depended on tho students turned out by the School of Art, and theireforo the exhibition afforded much food for thought and much ground for congratulation. The society was much indebted to tho trustees of the Art Gallery for lending' the hall without charge, and this enabled them to throw tho exhibition open till the end of tho week free of charge.—(Applause.) It would bo open each dav during the week from 2 to 5 in the afternoon, and from 7 to 9 p.m. An rirt union of shilling tickets had been started, and as there wero many beautiful sketches for the prizewinners to select from the society hoped the art union would be well supported.— (Applause.)