ART IN AMERICA

Taranaki Daily News, 14 October 1933, Page 2 (Supplement)

ART IN AMERICA

GROWING INFLUENCE. WEALTH OF INSTITUTIONS. That the effect of industrialisation on artistic life in the United States was daily growing less was claimed by Mr. John Barr, director of the Auckland Art Gallery, in the course of a luncheon address to the Auckland Society of Arts recently. The Americans had been so busy building up a nation that there had been no time to devote to the art of living. In the last three or four decades, however, a change had occurred. Industrialisation was as acute as ever, but modern standards had introduced art into business itself, and modem industrial buildings reached a high standard of architectural beauty. Mr. Barr considered this change had had a greater effect on the'art of the country than had political or economic changes. Washington was to-day one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, the Mormons’ garden town of Salt Lake City, Michigan Avenue, Chicago, the buildings of Fifth Avenue, New York, and the beautiful homes near Los Angeles were all outstanding of their kind. The art and book institutions of the country were endowed with immense sums, and more could be learned in the United States about the organisation of such institutions than anywhere else in the world. The’ activities of the art galleries were very wide, embracing painting, drawing, engraving, photography, sculpture, archaeology and architecture. The buildings were very impressive, conforming generally to classic styles. It was noticeable that few British artists were represented in the collections. French sculptors and painters had most influence on current American art.

Educational programmes and lectures were looked on. as essential to the true appreciation of the objects displayed. Children’s museums existed, in which the making of etchings and other objects or art was demonstrated, apparently with the idea of interesting the children in art. The democratic ideal of the enlightenment of the community had been instrumental in making libraries a force in the national life. They had been developed on the same grand scale as the art galleries. Mr. Barr concluded his address with brief descriptions of the library of Congress at Washington, which was without exception the best equipped in the world, and other other important libraries he had visited.