Queensland Art Gallery Presscuttings Book 1 : Presscuttings, 1959-1962

Phone MU 5133 1401111101 1111111/101.1 PRESS CU .IGS cae Chambers Collins She. .me, Victoria VG HERALD," Sydn.y, N.S.W. 11 t ippli lim, on. r Ac If n I bet ntingi ?veld! hear, in. a picture was or two so d, but collector and dealer, .c," she Mrs. S. L. Hines, who bred Mrs. Money's last King Charles Spaniel, Horatio, and her present one, Junior, bid et for her and got the picture. e with One of the most successful in art private women purchasers of nn dl the day was Mrs. Eddie Me- e Vic- Mahon. Like at least half of South the buyers and onlookers. sh I price spent most of the day standin 440 -on a floor spread with Chin Arthur ese and Persian rugs and lit palate. tered with cigarette butts-an bought several paintings, in both eluding a J. J. Hilder mono there type. for her Darling Poin ollee- home. lent of et the EARLY SETTLERS Mr. B. Frank Clune bought George anY" Lambert's oil, "Entrance t one. Newcastle Harbour,' as a gif con -lot Mrs. Giune, members o long whose family were among th earliest settlers in the New ma 40 castle Jistrict. cetion. Mrs. Noel Vincent droppe in for a quick look during th rr and afternoon. She and Mr. Vin Mrs. cent will leave to -day in th Itc sale Themis, for a few months i France. ional Americans. Mrs. R. P using- Rochester and Mrs. Alan Hal for a who ale at present living a inting, Cmnulla, spent most of th :tor of day "just looking." Wit E A Thing of Beauty ART: THE MODERN CONCEPTION by JUDITH GREEN In the scientific and sceptical world of today, the artist is habitually regarded either as a crank or as a dilettante who copies cranks, and it Is hard to draw the line between the "art" of the one and the mere "imitation" of th others, of whom several talented specimens exist at our University. le this attitude justified? .Are the people who look upon modern art as the product of an intellec- tually crazed or depraved war - worn generation missing out on something? May we not rather say that they themselves, with their scorn and scepticism for the subtle pleasures of the creation and appreciation of works of art, are perversions of mankind, whose distinguishing feature is the ability to rise above the purely material and non - aesthetic aspects of life? Often the artists are to blame who paint for the select and un- initiated few. Their aims as ex- pressed in words are varied and difficult to reconcile. However, several writers agree that the aim of all that non -photographic (al- though in truth no great painting is photographic) or perhaps anti - photographic art termed "modern" Queensland owned, Queensland made, What blighter went And used the spade? is the expression in 'significant form of feeling; for good modern art is infallibly individual and sub- jective. One writer says:- "Art is inextricably bound up with life, but is only accidentally concerned with surface aspects of nature-it is concerned with ex- pression rather than representation, with creation rather than imitation, and is characterised in each separ- ate work by a particular and ex- pressive quality in the nature of expressive form." The writer goes on to emphasise the words "expressive and signi- ficant form" bidding us. ask (0 shades of the Victorians!) "Is it the subject nr the woe f that has tl acs tarts Consciously or unconsciously, every artist - painter, sculptor, what you will is a showman. He sees some special significance in an aspect of his subject which he must make more apparent, and he does it, if need be, by wilful distortion of visual reality, in order to achieve what is to him the even greater emotional or intellectual reality. "It is a function of all art," writes T. S. Eliot in Poetry and Drama, "to give us some perception of an order in reality by imposing an order upon it," "The painter works by selection combination and emphasis among the elements of the visible world; the musician In the world of sound." Notice the words "selec- tion, combination and emphasis." All these imply to ,the strict realist (it is herd to believe that he exists in an unadulterated form) the falsification of reality. Yet it is only by eliminating the unex- pressive, by placing the expressive element in significant relation to one another, and by finally differ- entiating their importance that we obtain the true reality, the true significance, which has the won- derful ability to stimulate emotions, different for each person, quite dis- tinct from the purely visual or narrative interest of a photograph, The worst omen for art in its reception by the public is not hos- tility-provided it be a thinking hostility-but apathy and ignor- ance. What are our art enthusiasts doing to arouse interest in and increase knowledge of modern art? And Seeking. Find It may surprise University students to know that St, Lucia has a collection of paintings and sculpture (the finest example of the latter recently carried off by Huns under the orders of Goths under the pressure of Van- dals) on the first floor of the tower. The barbarous Commerce faculty being on one side and the head -in -the -sands of anti- quity Classes department on the other, no wonder our gallery is deserted, Another resort for art -lovers is the Art section of the library, housed in a well -locked cupboard. The key can be obtained at any hour of the day or night by any decent, moral, well-behaved student not addicted to dog-earing. Finally, let us net fon'tet that our University itself is a fine work of modern art, and well worth studying. Art In Brisbane A haveh of art in Brisbane is the Johnstone Gallery, hidden in ob- scure recess beneath the Brisbane Arcade. Recently it treated us to a display of prints by contemporary artists working in Melbourne. Some of the best by Tate Adams, Allen David, Walter Oheradin and Kenneth Jack gave the lie to any supporter of the idea that modern art is not for living with. Decora- tive and interesting, often charged with emotion, they were such pic- tures as stamp a room with their personality and become life -com- panions, ever -living, ever new. What of the Art Gallery Itself? Needless to say it is now improv- ing by leaps and bounds. The pictures are better hung, some wonderful acquisitions have been made, beautiful furniture is mak- ing its appearance, poet -card size reproductions (so far in black-and -white only) are avail- able, exhibitions are better ad- vertised, art classes for children are held; in short, a most Pro- gressive policy has been adopted. The exhibition of French'art and the present display of paintings and etchings by Sicked and heads and busts by Epstein have attracted midi Interest, in spite of-or be- anie, of-the shock tactics of the the drab ne ulocs and inde- '5 work, stein The Horse's Mouth To find out how the battle for enlightenment is progressing, Semper went right to the can- non's mouth. Mr. Robert Haines, director of the Gallery, was pre- ferred an examination paper which he most obligingly answer- ed in 291 minutes flat-the thought of a life-time selected, combined, and emphasised ex- clusively for Semper's readers, 41' Here it is: Q: Does Modern Art consist merely in a different form or presenta- tion, I.e., a convention of form, or is it the result of an entirely different outlook? In other words, is It different from all art that has gone before? Mr. Haines: Is anything new? So- called modern art is, Of course, n reflection of modern times, and there is a great deal of experiment, especially in abetted forms. It is not any more understood or at- tempted to be understood, by the man in the street, than the impres- sionist painters were at the end of the last century. Time gives per- spective, so let us wait, Q: Do Brisbane people prefer prints of the Old Masters to modern work in their homes? Mr. Haines: I should think so, but preferably the cover of a seed Page 4--SEMPER FLOREAT-Monday, June 20454 catalogue to a Rembrandt, Q; Do they see enough modern art, and a good representative selec- tion? Mr. Haines: No. The French ex- hibition was a great stimulus- even to a reaction against-but it is good to get people to react ra- ther than to be passive. Questioned about whether the French Exhibition was truly rep- resentative ,the victim told the in- quisitors that the younger artists were well represented; on account .// Jacob Epstein's aESTHER" of tick, tile ,nore eminent names, less well cc; Q: What further improvements do you intend to make or think should be made? Mr. Haines: A new gallery, The policy is that art is not limited to painting and sculpture, but that it embraces art objects-furniture, silver, glass, porcelain, pottery, fab- rics, etc., etc.-not only of the past but of the present. A gallery is an educational institution even if it doe .t provide pleasure and for amusement. Q: Do you think Salvador Dail a mere showman or a sincere artist? Mr. Halms: A sincere and able artist with an appreciation of his fellow man's mentality. Q: What is your opinion of the religious feeling and artistry of the Blake Prize entries? (The Blake Prize is given for re- ligious painting. The clergy of Syd- ney have been at one another's throat's about the church worthi- nes of "modern" pictures.-Ed.) A: Often practically nil. To paint a religious painting it is not suf- ficient to paint a religious sub- ject. Art is a medium of ex- pression, a language, or a vehicle to convey beliefs and feelings. So there you have it. Before you condemn the whole body of modern art, try the Moreton and Johnstone Galleries (a new display of Strachan's painting is on there) the Uni. collection and the Art Gallery, and even the newspaper art panels. Then you're qualified to kiss or spit upon modern Art-at least you won't be able to disregard it.