A NEW ZEALAND ARTIST

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXIX, Issue 20064, 22 March 1935, Page 12

A NEW ZEALAND ARTIST

Of the three women painters now exhibiting at the Leicester Galleries, Frances Hodgkins claims the most serious attention, states the "Daily Express.” Working independently, with an ardour for experiment that has evaded attachment to any particular clique, Miss Hodgkins deserves much wider appreciation. The enthusiasts for Matisse and Dufy would probably have bestowed it by now had her name been French. She paints in a free Arabesque, but beneath the ease of gesture that gives her canvas its freshness and spontaneity lies a subtle control of design, imparting logic to the charm of apparent haphazard; colour is allowed its boldest, most brilliant play. “Spring in the Ravine.” “Wheelwright’s Shop” and “Arum Lilies” are especially typical of a show that is always lively and a tonic for dark days. New Zealand is still a small country, remote from the centres of art and culture, but when New Zealanders do break through you find them near the top in open competition with the rest of the world. Frances Hodgkins stands high among the modern artists of today; Marie Ney now launches herself as actress-manager, with her new play. “Mrs Nobby Clark,” which opens in London in a few weeks. And Merton Hodge’s play, “Wind and the Rain.” is still running, while dozens of other plays have come and gone.