Brought to Light Australian Art 1850-1965

with Elmslie Owen, whom he had heard speak on Cubism the month before. Owen encouraged Wilson to explore methods of getting something abstract from realism', and introduced him to the work of Juan Gris and Georges Braque and the techniques of collage.6Wilsons notes for this period convey an air of excited discovery as the revelations of design, perspective, tone and rhythm were made. Whatever he learned in Owen's classes he also showed to Meninsky and Gertler. In June 1938 he visited the Braque exhibition in Bond Street. Another major influence came through the classes that Wilson undertook at Amédée Ozenfants studio. Ozenfant was, with Charles-Edouard Jeanneret (the architect, Le Corbusier), the author of the purist manifesto, Après le cubisme, published in 1918 to coincide with the first purist exhibition. In it the authors paid tribute to Cubism, while simultaneously laying the foundation for a post-cubist art. Cubism was principally concerned with the fragmentation of space as represented analytically (through an emphasis on form) or synthetically (through an emphasis on materials). Ozenfant and Le Corbusier, however, felt that 'even in the finest Cubist painting the balance between abstraction and representation was not always satisfactorily maintained', and that it was frequently whimsical and decorative, especially in Cubism's later manifestations.7 Purism emphasised the formal properties of a painting by limiting the use of colour to barely distinguishable tones in order to achieve a 'pure' art that was above the caprice of fashion. Subject matter was restricted almost exclusively to still life, and the finished canvas was smooth and clear. The purists linked their art to the Classicism of Ancient Greece and to a universal order of elements based on geometric form, though, as several scholars have noted, these views were also part of a wider aesthetic and intellectual debate.8 The Purists ... were the supreme optimists of their age. They rejoiced in the purity and beauty of the machine and felt that modern man must take pride in its products which helped to reintroduce into daily life a sense of symmetry, of proportion, and of utility. The art they advocated was a new, up to date, mechanized form of classicism.9 Aside from his importance as an artist, Ozenfant was an influential writer and teacher. He had taught at the Académie de l'Art Moderne (founded by Fernand Léger) and at the Bauhaus. Having established the Académie Ozenfant in Paris in 1932, he moved to London in 1936. Although Wilson studied only briefly under Ozenfant before the latter's departure for America (the remainder of the lessons being given by Ozenfants assistant, Shari Diennes, and by Henry Moore), Ozenfants theories appear to have had an enduring and profound effect on Wilson. This is seen most clearly in his painting The violin 1939 (QAG), part of a double-sided canvas with Stove theme 1942. As Wilson's diary reveals, the artist began The violin in early August 1939 while at Mrs Diennes's studio, working on it steadily into early September.10Wilson wrote on 9 August: Continued violin composition all day. Learned from Japanese students trial that good quality texture of smooth even and full sort can be got by putting small brushstrokes firmly down by fully loaded brush over small area and stroking it gently to smooth quality by soft brush passed over ridges. Especially for areas of quiet background is this practice usefull [sic]1 For two months Wilson struggled with the intricacies of the painting, in between visiting the National Gallery to study the techniques of the masters. On 13 September he wrote: War now started, streets undergoing changes, sand bags against shop fronts and strips of paper pasted on windows. Helmeted special police and wardens patrolling. News of Poland's gallant stand against Germany. French begin operations and British arrive in France. Air raid warnings twice awakened early in morning but 'all clear' sounded. Later Mr Bagnall, the cockney help in house very cheerful and source of encouragement to us all in this new trial.12 On 7 October Wilson tucked the rolled-up canvas of The violin under his arm and boarded the liner Themistocles home to Australia. 'Will be my best in Ozenfant influence', he wrote.13 In The violin we can see the artist's attempts to come to terms with the principles of Purism. Form is perfected through the meticulous finish of the paint and an almost creamy surface. Objects appear to float in space and yet still manage to maintain a relationship with one another. There is no other oil painting in Wilson's oeuvre which comes close to this work, though his large black chalk drawings The violin 1939 (Art Gallery of Western Australia) and The pool 1946 (QAG) approximate its flawless perfection. A musical instrument was typical of purist iconography and along with the palette, the jar of brushes and the books (Wilson was an avid reader) might be interpreted almost as a portrait of Wilson's life at that time.14Altogether the elements lend an impression of a number of creative activities — painting, reading, making music — which are reflected in the canvas's harmony and stillness. They also epitomise Ozenfants theories as expounded in his publications L'Esprit nouveau (1920-25) and The Foundations o f Modern Art (1931)!5 Purism was not a stunt or trick', Ozenfant maintained, but a turn of mind, a way of feeling, an attitude towards contemporary life.16It was, he contended, one of three living branches that had issued from the 'trunk' of the cubist tree, the other two being Neo-Plasticism and Constructivism, and, as he saw it, the key to Purism's distinctness from the cubist 'trunk' was its theoretical coherence.17Wilson was to apply Ozenfants theories again several years later in a smaller painting, Hot feed, Left Eric Wilson Westminster girl 1939 Oil on canvas 61.2 X 51.4cm Purchased 1961 Queensland Art Gallery Facing page Eric Wilson Stove theme 1942 verso of The violin 1939 Oil, paper, sand and collage on canvas 96.8X 53.3cm Gift of the Godfrey Rivers Trust 1948 Queensland Art Gallery 154 BROUGHT TO LIGHT: Australian Art 1850-1965