Daniel Thomas : Newspaper writings

"TELEGRAPH" Sydney, N.S.W. THERE'S a big exhibi- tion at the National Gallery of Victoria, put together to show the royal visitors the com- plete history of Aus- tralian art. Every Urns an exhibition like this occurs it alters Australian art. Painters that nobody saw or heard of a few years ago get resurrected, former favor- ites quickly disappear. Two general alterations are the inclusion of our first 100 years. and the in- clusion of decorative arts. Not so long ngo the first 100 years of Australian art were almost completely neglected. Only Conrad Martens from the 1840s, S. T. Gill from the 18503 and Louis Euvelot from were really known and admired. Aus- tralian art, so we were told didn't begin till the 1880s, when Streeton and Roberts first learned how to paint sunlight and gumtrees. The Melbourne exhibi- tion still does nothing much for the period before Martens - a Newcastle painting by James Wallis. an Illawarra bivouac by Augustus Earl(- when there should certainly be some natural history and botany drawings, and topo- graphical views. You can argue about the artists who accompanied the principle voyages of exploration. Cook scarcely visited Australia, he liked Tahiti and New Zealand much better, so there aren't any paintings of Australia by Hodges or Webber But Flinders' artist, William Westall, produced major paintings ; of Australian subjects and I would include these if I had the chance. The Melbourne exhibi- tion, however, does allow us to see that at least two painters in this early period are much better than Mar- tens - John Glover and leogene von Guerard. ART with Daniel Thomas ALTERING HISTORY Glover is more conserva- tive and dignified, ybn Guerard is more German and mystical, but bath 'are more profound in their romanticism, and both are capable of much lager. grander canvases than Martens ever did. Other artists get intro- duced for the first time. A statuette of 1854 gold dig- gers is by E. Todt, never known before this. A land- scape by Thomas Clark brings to life a name in the hiatory books whose paintings we'd never seen, and he is very sweetly Vic- torian indeed. What's missing from this section is a proper account of colonial portraiture. Wainwright was in the catalogue but I didn't see him on the walls, nor par traits by Earle, Read, Bock or Claxton. Besides the innovation of taking our first 100 years seriously there is also the first, attempt ever to relate decorative arts to paintings and sculptures. Australian decorative aria have been totally Un- studied. Only in Use paat few months has the first book on Victorian silver appeared. Another, on colonial furniture, is not far off. There has, of course, been a lot of in- terest in contemporary Pottery. Melbourne has Nitta - . real costumes with tter(in Roberts portrait Paintings, tree -fern silver centrepieces with land- scapes by Chevalier, cwt - iron balcony panels with Julian Ashton, cockatoo I headlights with Sydney Long's art nouveau, erric Boyd pots with Arthur Boyd paintings, Rrimper funviture with Drysdale paintings, Larsertand Low- ers silver with -a Colin Lancelet' construction. It's a good reminder that there isn't a very firm boundary between fine arts and decorative arts. They're often made by the same toe through the eucalypts. person: John Perceval has Approaching the present, a painting in the exhibi- the exhibition seems over - Lion, but he also makes loaded with parochial Mel - pottery bowls; Janet Daw- bourne paintings. The Alan son has a stunning red- Warren though surpris- and-orange plastic table, ingly good for him, has 1963, but the is best known little significance. And if as an abstract painter. Constance Stokes is in and And some ti m es the Jean Bellette and Justin decorative arts are better O'Brien, why not David than the fine arts of their Strachan, much the best their time, and always they "Charm School" painter? illuminate them. Prom Roberts and Mc- Cubbin onward the paint- ings are usually plain sail- ing in these exhibitions, but our sculpture history hasn't yet been sorted out. Mackennal is In, as he should, but Rayner Hoff is not, and, in fact, there's no sculpture in the '20th century-till we reach Per- ' ceval's ceramics in the 'fifties and Redpath'a bronze in the 'sixties. In painting there's a slight tendency to reinstate art nouveau and Edwardian fairyland. Jo 'n Ford Pater - son's enormo LS 1900 Bush Symphony of forms, irides- cent as butterfly wings, has recently emerged from the gallery's storage, together with Altsona Golden Age nudes (rollicking among fruit blossoin. And one of grim leaves, the few paintings Mel- . LECTURE: On Thursday bourne had to borrow was evening, 8 p.m., State Brisbane's Sydney Long Office Block, a lecture by "The Sprit of the in Hugh Cobbe. of the British 1897, a nymph with pan- Museum, on Captain Cook's pipes, leading brolgas tip- artists. For the 1960s It's good to see Peter Upward's action painting at. the be- ginning, Lanceley in then middle, James 13oolin, Ti Parks, John Peart and a Mike Brown Sculpture at the end. But except for Dcoltn, whatever became of hard-edge ,which we thought had entered the scene since 1965? The National Gallery of Victoria also showed the Queen 62 landscape Boyd, a paint- ings by Arthur rid no less than 1320 small paintings by Sidney Nolan. It's a pretty good show and if royal visits induce exhibitions like these, let's have more. Actually, Nolan's show is for Captain Cool: and my Bay, too. It is 1320 Meal studies, mostly sea