Daniel Thomas : Newspaper writings

4"- 4.@ Stip4DAT, Tg4f,G2APH, AUGUST 26, IT is curious how different 31 ourne's art is froin Sydney's. Roger Kemp's ex- hibition at, Farmer's gives something of its flavor, and no doubt Edwin Tanner's will next week. When it is not literary, like some of the Antipo- dean group, it can be high- ly intellectual. It is not so sensuous, nor so visual as a lot of Syd- ney painting; It does not have the delight or skill in color that Ls often found here. It can be bleak. An emphasis on signifi- cant content will some- times allow banality of form to go unrepentant, as in Pugh's Rubinstein Scho- larship entries. Sometimes it may even transcend and justify plain ugliness, and it will be in- teresting to see If the "Re- bels and Precursors" ex- hibition does so next month when it comes to the Art Gallery of N.S.W. Organised by the Nat- ional Gallery of Victoria, the exhibition will show the earliest rebel work of Tucker, Arthur Boyd Per- eeval and Nolan, and that of their precursors Vassi- lieff and Bergner. Could It be that Mel- bourne has a stronger In- 1962 The Week in A by Daniel Thomas tellectual life than Sydney, and that this Intellectual climate affects the artists? It is I think generally ac- cepted that the University of Melbourne is the best in Australia. Certainly it int itinges on the life of its dity far more than does the University of Sydney, and certainly Melbourne paint- ers do mix with university philosophers, historians, writers and scientists. Roger Kemp Is a middle- aged Melbourne artist now holding his first Sydney exhibition. He comes with a considerable reputation. both as a person and as a painter. His position there might roughly correspond to Godfrey Miller's here; though he Ls infinitely more prolific, The exhibi- tion has 52 paintings. The content of his work Is obviously i m portant. though not absolutely clear. The shifting uncertain- ties of life in a world of war, of immense cities and of an uncontrolled science could be symbolised by the darting, angular bird forms and levitating Jostling CHINESE Funerary Vase. rang Dynasty. humans. The dance, or the destruction, of atoms and molecules might be in- dicated. A human problem Is stated pictorially, but un- like Goldfrey Miller's vital unities, Kemp's pictures are less interested in resolving the problem. At time, however, the tense fragmented jumble crvstainses, as in the large and quite splendid "Gothic," or else unifica- tion takes place by means of heavy "stained glass" outlines around the forms as in "Plano Movement." The latter method also permits a few extra red and yellow notes in his predominant blue key. Eva Kubbos 1 VA KUBBOS, a young artist of Lithuanian origin, Is holding her first one-man show at the Barry Stern Gallery. It consists of water- colors. a few oils on paper and some of the linocuts for which she la already known. Her graphic skill, a strong tradition in North- wood -blocks and - Europe, is greatly liberated in the move from linoleum, to attacking paper with the brush ("Whirl Dance of the I Storm" is one title she has Ached with a little color. basis of simple, strong forms is in most cases en- chosen). A black calligraphic , All artists reveal them- selves utterly in their work, and one need only describe Miss Kubbos to describe her work: generous, warm, pretty, seductive, charm- ing, supremely feminine. The boldness which Is also in these drawings must then be an expres- sion of her own generosity. or else an act of admira- tion towards strength and bigness G. W. Lambert THIS month's exhibition in the print room of the Art Gallery of N.S.W. is of drawings by G. W. Lambert. He was an im- mensely influential artist in Sydney In the twenties. Dobell for instance would have grown up in a world dominated by Lambert, whose specialisation In portraiture might con- ceivably have set an example for the younger artist. Besides portrait heads there are some rather facile drawings for illus- trations to romantic stories and to jokes in the Bulletin and elsewhere. Lambert, with these, earned a living when he was a young man, Sydney did most arti in around 1900.sts Other new exhibits at the gallery Include a col- lection of Chinese cera- mics lent by Mr. V. V. W. FretwelL At its best, the craft of ceramics can occasionally approach the status of an art especially in the East. Either It can take on the characteristics of sculpture like some T'ang Dynasty funerary vases, or it can express the human sensibility of Its maker in the highly re- fined T'ing ware bowls of the Sung Dynasty. The collection extends forward to the twentieth century, and back two thousand years to the Han Dynasty from which there are some bronze mirrors, Some British paintings from the gallery's collec- tion are at present on view for a while. Sickert, Steer. Augustus John are amongst them and several have been transformed by cleaning. in particular the Augustus John portrait of Prime Mtn biter Billy Hughes. POraRAIT of a woman (1922) Pencil drawing by G. W. Lambert. Coin petitions T HAVE been asked to 4" mention various forth- coming art competitions. However this column Is not Intended for artists but for the general public, as a guide to current events. Sydney provides excel- lent infmnation facilities for its artists. There Is the notice board at the entrance of the Art Gal- lery of N.S.W. organisers also should send all their notices to the Royal Art Society, the only society with rooms of its own. The most efficient source is the monthly news sheet sent to members of the Contemporary Art Society (mailing address c/ - George Styles, 39 Rowe Street, Sydney). For the two -guinea annual mem- bership there will be given news of all compe- titions and other events, as well as comment, There is, of course, no compul- sion to subscribe to all the society's beliefs. Nevertheless, I might mention the new competi- tions that have been creat- ed this year: Wellington (N.S.W.), Manly, Com- monwealth Games Prize. Perth (the usual Perth Prize has been moved for- ward to January), and the biggest new one will be he Roy H,la s prize of no., MOO for the best work by a CAS m3mber at their October exhibition. The Robin Hood Prize, which inadvisably printed its forms without the Judges' names, has now an- nounced that they will be James Gleeson, Wallace Thornton and Elizabeth Young. Nei v Gallery THE Andre de Leede Gallery has opened at 7 Kingsway, Cronulla, where It will keep a wide range of paintings and sculptures. Research AT present research Is being conducted by the University of Mel- bourne into the life and work of various Australian artists. Mrs. Sylvia Passioura Is working on John Glover, Miss Jocelyn Gray on Louis Buvelot, Misr Hea- ther Leembruggen on Phil- lip Fox and Mqp David Thomas on Frederick Mc- Cubbln. Would owners of work by these artists, or of in- formation about them, please write to the appro. priate person at the De partment of Fine Arts, University of Melbourne, 0.1.1.11. What's on: TODAY AND NEXT WEEK Art Gallery of N.S.W.: Special Exhibitions; Helena Rubinstein Travelling Art Scholarship (final week), G. W. Lambert drawings. CLOSING MONDAY Macquarie: Ian Fairweather (till 12 noon only). David Jones': Australian Watercolor Institute. ALL NEXT WEEK Education Department Gallery: Society of Artists. Sydney University Gallery: Paintings by Dr. J. W. Power (final week). Farmer's: Roger Kemp. Barry Stern: Eva Kubbos, watercolors and prints. Terry Clune: Fifth Anniversary Show. OPENING WEDNESDAY lioniOn: Fred Williams. Macquarie: Edwin Tanner. DOminlIptit POlksart paintings from Form ,s, 4.1.14NIMOIWINOW4.14.0'41NOMININO".41...