Catalogue of French and British Contemporary Art

FOR EWO R D THE Trustees of the Queensland National Ar t Gallery have pleasure in presenting this Exhibition of French and British Contemporary A r t designed to give the people of this State an opportunity of direct contact with the work of those masters whose art is influencing the artistic expression of our time., It may be that in viewing this exhibition you feel that you are not in agreement with the artists. They claim that they have created for our generation a new method of expression in art. They have taken new paths and developed new methods and, in the opinion of many people, they have succeeded in liberating deep impulses hitherto unexpressed. It is claimed that they have given art new meanings and mankind a wider language for its soul. Perhaps it is a little too early for us to reach a decision on these points, but generations to ccme will no doubt form sound judgments. The pictures here gathered are truly representative of these masters and of men in France and Great Britain who are developing their language. Some of the pictures are of great beauty; others are at least sincere attempts to paint significant things. The artist in all his work must always be exploring and striving, and in Australia we have many artists of fine taste and sincerity whose vision will be widened by this experience. To you who view this exhibition I say that these pictures will not easily yield their message. Some knowledge is needed in this partnership offered by the painter; according to the degree of under- standing which the observer brings, so will his pleasure and profit 'be increased. Many believers in the ennobling influence of art and many friends cf Australia assisted in making this collection. We thank them all. J. J. STABLE, Vice-Chairman of the Trustees of th? Queensland National Art Gallery. CONTEMPORARY. ART WHAT IS CONTEMPORARY ART? It is impossible, of course, to give a definition, but it is necessary to suggest some approaches. If someone accustomed to admire the masterpieces of Greek and Renaissance art looks at modern or contemporary paintings and sculptures, he does not understand why the modern form is so for and different from the old one. Because he does not understand he be- lieves that the fault lies with contemporary artists, and emphasises that present-day art is the reign of ugliness. In order to avoid such a blunder you will be wise to recall that Greeks and Italians no longer speak the ancient Greek and Latin languages, and that this is not a sufficient reason for considering the present Greek and Italian languages as ugly. It is also wise to recall that a Gothic Cathedral differs in style from a Greek temple, that a portrait by Rembrandt has a different kind of beauty from a Raphael portrait. It can be stated, therefore, that ideals of beauty in painting and sculpture change through centuries no less than literary and musical ones. If you are ready to admit such a change in taste, you have to know why i t changed. Remember how the Greeks gave a human body to every aspect of nature, and imagined nymphs to express rivers and dryads to express woods Only after Christianity dominated the civilised world was i t possible to feel the humanity of a river, of a sky, of a light, without having to attribute a human body to them. That is to say, man is no longer isolated from surrounding nature, rather he is immersed in nature, becoming a whole with nature. Its form has to be no longer closed but open. Human form appears as a reflection of the universe on a human body, instead of being an object abstract from the universe. Compare a human form of Cezanne and a human form of Raphael; you will understand what a participation with the universe is in a Cezanne figure, what an isola- tion from the universe is in a Raphael figure. Of course the 'partici pation with the universe is not an invention of Cezanne's, you find it in Rembrandt or in Giorgione, or even in Romanesque sculpture. What i t is necessary to state is that, since the death of Ingres, not one good painting has been painted without realising the fusion of humanity and nature, and that such a fusion found its apex in Impressionist painting.