ART AT THE EXHIBITION.

Otago Witness, Issue 3743, 8 December 1925, Page 24

ART AT THE EXHIBITION.

THE ART GALLERY, in. Augustus John is generally acknowledged to be. among painters, the greatest living genius. And yet the public generally, and probably large numbers of local artists also, on seeing the portrait of Mr Massey, will be inclined to wonder why he deserves that reputation. A painter genius is a man who can put down, easily and naturally, with a few strokes of the brush, that which it takes other more ordinary painters hours of patient labour to accomplish. John is one of those isolated cases in the history of Art of a man for whom the study of his business and the mastery of his material are not necessary. For him, the limitations and proper craftsmanship of paint do not exist. Nowhere in any of his work is there any evidence of his having learned the art of painting from any particular school or person. His work is not reminiscent of anything that has gone before, and shows no sign of the influence of any particular trend of artistic thought. In painting a portrait, Augustus John will put down each tone and colour as it actually ' is, and, once down, it remains. For him there is no scraping and repainting, building up of tones and masses, or finishing touches. Neither is he bothered with the proper use of brushmarks, or the elimination of brushmarks, or anv of the generally accepted methods of painting. None of his work is ever finished, in the way that a picture is usually finished—that, is, the canvas covered with paint, and attention paid to details and accessories, ill a person’s clothing, or even part of the person, does not interest Dim, he does not paint it, and the picture is finished when Augustus John has put down on canvas everything that gives him any pleasure to paint. The clothes of the modern man, for instance, arc an offence to his highly sensitive »c*tlietici*in, and he declines to paint i hem Many other artists, and possibly people also who are not, artists, feel the nine, hut no one else has the courago to iv so. That is why Mr Massey’s clothes have been so badly treated, not because Augustus John could not paint them, but because he could not be bothered to do so. There is, however, one feature of a John portrait which can he seen in all, and that is the amount of concentrated attention which has been paid to the upper part of the face. It is quite evident that the eyes of his fellow-beings interest him more than anything else, not because they are interesting to paint, oi bocuuse he has made a specialty of painting eyes (as some painters do with certain features), but because it

is through the eyes that he reads the character of the sitter and conveys it to

Augustus John’s geniu« lies in the fact that he can use his brush in the same way that a writer uses his pen, to tell others what he thinks about your personality, and not how beautiful (or otherwise) you are externally. It is true that certain externals and certain types interest him, and he has painted a large number of pictures which are very beautiful studies or compositions. But as the only example we have is a portrait, we must deal with portraits alone. The usual portrait represents a person with his best clothes on, placed amidst artistic surroundings, and generally wearing his best party expression. That is what, the public expects (and also what the sitter usually expects—and pays for), and if the result is not a beautiful picture the artist is condemned. But a beautiful picture often appeals only to the senses and rouses no particular thoughts or feelings, but rather has a lulling and soothing effect on the brain so thnt people will judge a picture by whether they “like” it. or not, meaning whether it appeals to their eye. Close by Mr Massey's portrait is a very fine picture of “ Miss Doris Jack,” by Richard Jack, R.A.—a beautiful picture and a beautiful piece of painting, which certainly deserves the admiration which it has received. But it tells us nothing about Miss Jack herself except that she is a beautiful young woman. It was painted for the t>ake of making a fine picture. Close by, also, is a portrait of “Thomas Hardy, Esq., 0.M.,” by R. G. Eves, R. 0.1., which certainly shows us that Mr Hardy is a dear old gentleman, but what is there m this portrait to show us the tremendous brain power and imagination of one of England’s foremost authors? It was painted obviously because Mr Hardy’s exterior alone interested tlie painter. Or, if we turn to the 1 Three Children Singing,” by Professor W. Rothenstein, we find a picture painted for a different reason altogether—that of the artist setting himself a task or exercise in painting, which he has accomplished only after much hard and patient labour, and without any particular attention being paid to the making of a fine picture. It will therefore be seen that it is impossible to judge all pictures from the same standpoint—namely, that, of “liking.” Artistic geniuses are. as a general rule, highly temperamental, erratic, and productive of work only in occasional bursts. Mr Massey, a genius of another order, was the extreme opposite of all three. Augustus John’s favourite type, in painting, is the dark and swarthy Gipsy type, slender and attenuated. Mr Massey was neither dark nor slender. It is probable then that Augustus John was not particularly interested in painting Mr Massey. There is evidence of a great deal of concentration in the eyes, and he certainly became very interested in the forehead and the construction of the head, but he seems to have dismissed the remainder with a dash of the brush. One wonders whether Mr Massey’s opinion of Augustus John was equally short and to the point! It cannot possibly be pretended by the most ardent admirer of Augustus John that , this is a good example of his work. In fact, his real admirers would consider it a pity that it should have been shown publicly, or at any rate, in a public gallery, amongst gallery pictures. Probably many will consider that it should not be shown at all. and perhaps they are right. It takes a really great genius to produce a work bad enough to arouse an outcry, and this picture, from the point of view of the ordinary visitor to the gallery, especially if he be an admirer of Mr Massey, is bad. But before condemning it, let us see how far it hears out what has been said of Augustus John’s genius for portraying character. Mr Massey was straight, rugged, far-seeing, and deteimined. This painting is full of straight, strong lines all leading up to the remarkable straight line of dark shadow from forehead to jaw, which gives the head the appearance of a massive and immovable column. The whole figure has (he appearance of a rock, against which any storm might break without altering it one jot All this would have been Tost had it been painted over and “pulled together” lo oblige tho person who likes “finished picture*.” i

No other pointer in the world could have oonveyed the impression that Mr Massey was mentally far-seeing, by making him appear to be physically far-seeing, and that is what Augustus John has done in this portrait. It is as if the painter, in the short time that Mr Massey posed for him, had penetrated his inmost thoughts. It is a thing that the camera can never do, and the vast majority of painters are prevented from doing, because they are too bothered by, or are enjoying too much, the handling of their paint, or the drawing of a particular feature. There are other paintings fn the gallery which are superior as pieces of technique, colour, composition, or draw. Ing, but none that have anything like the intensity and live force which is compressed into this. Iu spite of its merits, however, It will always shock the observer, and give him an uncomfortable feeling, as if Augustus John had jeered at public opinion and, worse still, at public sentiment.