Queensland Art Gallery Presscuttings Book 3 : Presscuttings, Sept 1959 - Sept 1967

••I Painting like a back-street laundry sign M AY I, as a professional art critic, comment on the article (C.-M., 2!1/11/61) by the Queensland Art Gallery Director (Mr. Laurie Thomas)? think Mr, Thomas mnkes his two Hrt cate– gories loo general and far loo Inclusive. I agree thnl the kind or representational an which Ls Just mindless colour photo– graphy tand most loeal nrt Is or that type) ls bod and useless. But Rembrandt. Vermeer, Turner. Ooya, Manet, nnd Olotlo, and the llallnn Re– naissance painters of Venice and Florence were nil purely representntlonnl. Slmllnrly "modern" art. runs o II the wny Crom Post-Impression– ism through Expressionism, Cubism. Vortlclsm to Tnch– lsm I what 1 call Rtvegau– cherleJ, and to the art which Is perpetrated by !ir– ing paint nt n canvns from ~./ 0 ~u~'t. W~l~~l'-fdi~~~t' wt~~ young Kram Notyalc did In Cnnberrn lust. week. In the midst or the \'ILSt ncreage or t.hls sturt In Parts, Bernard Burret, a rcp– rcsentutlonnl ijenre painter, i~ considered ntnonR the very bcsl. If not the best,, by most crillcs. his nrllsllc contempora ries. forclJUl COJ'l• nolsscurs nnd buyers. Appnrently Mr. Thomas thinks or modern art solely In terms or abstr•ctlon. or the scores or pointers· work I have seen In this mode I know of onlv one for sure and perhaps 'two otherR who communlcnte the sort of ln– tellectunl thrill I require and I claim that my tas te is cul– tivated. Mystical The aesthetic excitement Mr. Thomas descrl.bes Is too often .mysllcal and thus spurious and self-conscious. and actually incommuni– cable. Aesthetic Illiteracy Is useless. A ,~f ral~anscaebs t~~~ ifo~fs~:t/i. ls a closed school or mutual ~~~s~}c r:\~kW o,~~J\;.13~: allty, I can best Illustrate what I mean by what hap- r. cncd to some good Qurcns– and nrllst.s. . Sydney Show In September In Sydney I saw a show or entries in a competition. Five Queens– landers entered, John Rigby, ~?61e~g~~,i~m~insoi{, nd ,\~1~ Jon Molvlg, who, happily. not .ook like n tree, who la lo know that It 1, 11 Tree. Bui, Rnys Mr. 'fl1omas, thn t Is not the point. ,..;;.::c tfi~int dl:u~~:t \l~L;t1!~ Mr. Thomas calls him i who actually produces Ihe work 1R now dolng. and n o Cnuute or public opinion c11n stop him . You ore wrong lllr. '111omns. Public opinion can stop nnythtng, even :rn Art Dlrcctor.- S. I'. Parker, Glzeh Street, Eno~«•ra. e The glib talk ONC.. ~,;:t~c~n;:.:::110~ 1 : , n10ctcrn al't, Those Who talk glibly of "n11r" Art Gallery are apt to only darken it:; doors when they hear there Is somethln~ new to criUcisc, and they pay a visit !or I.hat rcnsou alone. The ones who arc forcver condemning are more apt lo be In need of psychlntrlc treatment than modern artists. - Edna Courlman, Nelson Street, Kallnga. • 2 Fundamentals i\'[ R. TII0~1AS says there are, In !act, hundreds or •tandards which we apply to dU!erent work • or art, There Ol'r many people , who Lhlnk that thr.rc arc only two rundomcntnls In rc– gnrd lo all art : Is Lhe ictcn or emotion WOl'lh expressi11g? Is It. wrll expressed'/ - J. i\lahonc,·, Carina, • won. All rtve, Rigby lea.st or J WISH to withdraw my :~;.,)~~iect"" 1 l?,~fr ~/;dtf.t':/;\~'; damarlnr remark• styles for which I admired :fi• 1 ~cL"/\I.. 1ri~:rrar,.rary theh· work and had turned I hove received a quite suddenly to this new guinea orrer !or my work– Idiom. shop door-unframed !-H. In errect they sw1k their . D Price Rathlyn A,•enue distinctive and striking styles C~rlnda. • • In a sea of tasteless w1d monotonous mediocrity. • Trees . . and frees To one or two, perhnps, rive. this nbstract style may be natural but surely not ror people who hn\'C rounded their styles on drawing, per- ~r,~i}~~~- ~~f~lnf~~Jla~~ti~~~ tellectual honesty for as much n.s 20 or 30 ycRrs. "Daubs" To dese,:t to the dull, rtal , formic~ daubs of colour masses nnd scrawls nnd brush strokes like an nrlvcr– tlschlenl ror " Chinese laundry In a Sin~npore back street. seems to me tnexpllc– a.blc 011 nny ground or in– tc~rlty. I have nn open bu L 1101. an g~JPc~~e ni' 1\ndui'~boi~-tl~l1\its ~~~~ appraisal. I nm all for ex– periment; without It lire 1s 6~! 1 i~"~1~~ 1 daf~·ori~~t'i l~l~y;~ funcLion of a lonely few nor, or a horde or mindless mi– metic camp-followers. - tDr.1 ,I. V. Duhlg, llnwken Drh·e, SI. l,uC'la, 'You· re wrong' l\1 t;ST • tree look like " tree'! a~k~ l\lr. Thnma~. With re!erence to the II. C. Richard• Prize palntlni-. lllr. Laurle Thomas askK: "l\lu!lt a tree look like " tree'!'' He then procced.s to SR.Y: "What or. for exnmple. t.ht sense of wonder which. IOOk– ln~ sometimes nt a tree. we reel but cannot express." Surely this latter Interred query covers his first. WIii he tell me how I nm to cnpt11re nnd enjoy my own particular "sense or wonder'' while viewing mnrks upon canvns whic'h ~o to illustrn tc nnothcr·s emotional rcnction to a tree: • clutchln~ hand, maybe, or stnrlng eye? To me a tree. m Its mnJcsty of uge or the up– Clung ~lory or youth. bears an Invitation to the Prcs– c11cc or the Mnster : and this Is only p0sslblc while In Its presence, whether in Nnture or throu~h the medium or the C':tll\lRS. I R!-ik ynu : If n pni111.1nc cteplcl!\ som ething thnt cior!ii Undoubtedly, the present rin.v trend of modern nrt 11111st prnvc or vcr.v grent use ns n study ; but cto you 11ttnk It 1, of value outside the stucilo or the psychi11- 1ris1.?-II. S. Pnton, Morell Street, Eagle llolKht, . YOU BEAUT' 250 GNS. rustees buy up paintings Art Q UEENSLAND Trustees have purchased £1100 worth of paintings and drawings entered in the H. C. Richards and L. J. Harvey Memorial Prize art Competitions, by Som Fullbrook 1'he eight purchases 811 .!~~g;~inan" bv Neville include (Al 250 guineas) Matthews, of Brisbane 185 the Richards pri1.e• ~uinea.si . winner, ",Journey into pcfi'SiA , l~t d~:,~r~t )~m- 1 t he ' Yo u Beaut' Conn- "Outline or Nlrhtrall," try No. 2," by John ~~r'r;~~,~~~a?i~e~;.~~~rtrh~f Olsen. the gallery 1. The amount spent by "Head or a Boy/' by the trustees Is the largest Robc1·t Dickerson 135 sum voted at a single gulncus\. meeting !or pictures Crom "Portrait or D•me ~lary one source. · Gilmore," by Lollis Kahan Art Oallery director Mr. Laurie Thomas · said yes– terday : "The purchases will Corm a very good nucle1Ls or contcmpo1·nry Australian paintings !or the gallery. "We are getting • good nucleus because the artists who entered for the com– petition so obviously sub– mitted the best eXRmples or their work. "A shame •••" "I personally would like another rour or rive paint– ings ror the gallery. but I nm very glad the trustees have gone as rar as they have. "I wl•h we had a !eW ~~~e ~1bi3l;t~'/fri~~e~ cm; !~~f~~r cou~~i?.':/'oz!~ le~} these paintings. "It ls a shame that some of the best paintings In Aust.ralla should have to I leave the gallery and go back to their owners." The purchases were: I from the Richards com– petition tfor palntlng)- What sold I "Journey Into the 'You roh~t·o?.~~~trJ1n~:r z:;2~ guineas). HAutumn In the Oar• den," by Leonard French <300 l!'Ulneasl . "Conatructlon In Space," by WIiiiam Rose U75 guineas>. ••Nor' \Yea& MOIIIOOJI" HAVE you noticed how Queenslandera can become stirred to indignation and anger by art? The contemporary paintings in the H. C. Richards Prize exhibition at the Queensland Art Gallery touched off further con• this week. Some Queenslandera obviously feel that "non– representatlonal" paint• ing ls nonsense or worse; others belleve that artists can and should paint as they wish, without regard for "objective reality." This is an issue which no authority cRn decide for the whole com• munity. Everyone has R right to his own taste nnd opinion, The lmpor• tant thing is that the community regards art as something vital; something important enough to discuss and even quarrel about.