Daniel Thomas : Newspaper writings

:54 'SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, JULIE 3, 1962 The Week in Art by Daniel Thomas AT the Art Gallery of New Sou th Wales there are nine photo- graphic exhibits of overseas architecture, and one German industrial design. Another, of Amerl- and prisms or iron spikes. can chairs manufac- tured by ljerman Mil- ler from designs by Charles Eames and ot her s, is of real c hal rs, not photo- graphs. These must (and can) be sat in to be appreciated; a couple of them have every chance of represent- ing mid-twentieth century design in the Art museums of the future. Now in its laid week, this assembly of exhibitions was organised by the Royal Australian Institute of Architects to coincide with its annual convention. "Visionary Architecture" Is the largest and moat im- portant of the exhibits, though even so it is only a selected and reduced ver- Mon, for travelling, of the original show held at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, None of the 45 schemes illustrated has been built. Many are impractical, but some may very well be realised, for after all, the glass towers built every- where in recent years were only a .. dream for the early twentieth century. Leonardo- da Vinci has a practical -looking scheme for a city with multi-level circulation. From past centuries there are also Filarete and Piranesi, but the rest date from 1916 to the present. The creators of the ex- hibition state three main themes: buildings as mountains, buildings as precious objects, and buildings as roads. The last incorporate housing, factories and offices into one continuous building over roads and railways. Fantastic Le Corbusier proposed one for Algiers and seemed quite happy (or the Indi- vidual houses facing out of each giant concrete compartment, to be built in whatever fancy dress style the client wished- Moorish domes or inter- national style. Most of the projects have a great concern for man, for his physical and spirit- ual needs. Some empha- sise new structural possi- bilities, such as the very beautiful folded bridge. One, by William Rata- volos, does no more than suggest the possibility of a "chemical architecture," of buildings growing by some as yet undiscovered chemical process. The most fantastic of the "precious object" ideas is Arum) Taut's vision of the &Swiss Alps improved by man, the mountain tops faceted and sculptured, crowned with glass domes The most moving are the buildings as mountains. Frank Lloyd Wright's Mile High City is not one of these: it is another solu- tion of the light and air problem for a great city. But his scheme for Pitts- burgh is a magic moun- tain, housing glittering re- wards for those who make the journey; or so the ex- hibition presents it. Indeed the symbolic mountain, the consummation of many legendary and mythologi- cal Journeys, is one of the exhibition's most fruitful ideas. Hans, Poelzig's project for a Festival Hall at Salz- burg is one of the loveli- est. It is Interesting that a good proportion of the schemes show similar or- ganic flowing forms. Fred- erick Keisler's "endless houses" do not have cubic interiors, nor any angles at all: instead the floors, wails, and ceilings all flow in continuous curves. There is no doubt of the beauty of such an archi- tecture (Sydney Opera House will be a notable example), but one does not relish the prospect of it becoming popular, or it being used by every run- of-the-mill architect. The Bauhaus Archive in Germany has provided a remarkably thorough and informative exhibit on Walter Gropius. He and his school have been ex- traordinarily influential. and have a large part in making the 19205 such a great turning point in the history of architecture and design. One of the key concepts at the Bauhaus was making good design as widely available as pos Bible. It had to 'be teachable, and repeatable, and cheap. The attitude was idealist and democratic, and it was the Bauhaus which thought up repeatable. mechanised, but original paintings - geometric ab- stracts ordered and "paint- ed" from telephoned in- structions. [If such a recent move- ment as the Bauhaus has its Archive this is a re- minder that an Archive of Australian Art is long overdue.] Architecture in N.S.W. MUCH of the over- seas architecture on view at the Art Gallery of N.S.W. is accessible in books. It Is more difficult to discover what is happening right here in Sydney, and for this reason the exhibi- tion at Farmers which fin - What's on? Today, 2-1.30, and nest week: Art Gallery of N.S.W. temporary exhibitions: "Visionary Architec- ture," "Walter Groplus" and other photographic architectural exhibits. Herman Miller Chairs. LAST WEEK. Clueing Thursday: David Jones: Interior Decorators' Ten Best Dressed Rooms. All Next Week: Wales House: Wake- lin retrospective. Clune: Elizabeth Dur- ack, paintings. Kornon: Subterran- can Imitation Realists. Barry Stern: Seven Wollongong artists. Macquarie: Stan de Teliga, paintings. Frances Jones Studio, 7 James Street, Wool- lahra : L y ni burner paintings. Opening Thursday: Art Gallery of N.S.W. Le Gay Brereton Prize. This Weekend: The Sydney Film Festival, phone 68-4728, includes several Aus- tralian Art films (Do - bell paintings, Mead-, more sculpture, etc.). and a French one on Delacroix. Thursday Lecture: National Trust, The Historic Rocks Area. 2UW Theatre 7.45 p.m. !shed yesterday was, in some ways a more useful contribution. It is true that new build- ings are illustrated in the newspapers and in the local architectural jour- nals, but there is never any separation of good from bad. Nor is there any in- dication for the layman of which are good or bad, for architects are apparently permitted only to describe buildings, not to criticise them, Since the new buildings which one actually sees when driving around Syd- ney are often cynical and deliberately assertive, this carefully selected exhibi- tion was especially valu- able, It successfully cor- rected the general impres- sion of jazziness, Reyner Barman) the English architectural critic and historian who opened the exhibition, paid tribute to the excellence of our re- cognised leading architect. Obviously this means Harry Seidler, and probab- ly he would also have meant McConnel. Smith and Johnson, whose recent vPROJECT lot Arts Centre, Paddington --Farmer's Blaxlond Gallery. ten on office buildings have been crisp and elegant. However, he was par- ticularly impressed by the strong supporting team. Perhaps this referred to those architects represent- ed in the exhibition, not by large buildings, but by houses, for these were cer- tainly of very high quality. Ancher, Mortlock and Murray; Allen and Jack; Bowe and Burrows: R. 0. Fitzhardinge: Clarke, Gar- zard and Jeornans were notable. Max Collard, Guy Clarke and Philip Jackson Im- pressed with other types of buildings, and H. F. Hely and Noel Bell had some de- lightful housing for the old, intimate and English look- ing. They also showed a mode: of the proposals for a civic square between St. Andrew's Cathedral and the Town Hall, which could make an excellent townscape, and give the city a more useful and more dignified ceremonial heart than Martin Place is at present. The only mildly visionary project was W. E. Lucas' proposed Arts Centre for a site in Paddington. The models show cosy beehives for busy craftworkers and artists, and a feelie.g of cheerful togetherness en- tirely appropriate, to this area where the beat of Sydney's famous terrace houses are found. One hopes it will eventu- ally be built. Books THE excellent pho- tographs by David Moore' and Max Dupain in this exhibi- tion and the earlier National Trust one could make first-rate picture books. ' Meanwhile the current issue of Building Ideas, published by C.S.R. Build- ng Materials, lists about 300 of Sydney's best build- ings, and illustrates many of them, both old and new. It was compiled by Tom Heath, and deserves to be widely distributed, Ten interiors RCHITECTS often carry out In- terior designs, and perhaps if the integ- rity of their architec- ture is to be preserved, they must. The 10 Sydney interior decorators whose work is on view at David Jones look as if they would over- whelm any architectural conception with their own strong personalities. and no doubt their talents are best employed on conver- sions and remodellings. Each interior has been erected for a diflerent well- known public figure. There is, for example, a town house sitting room for Antic Baxter, a bed- room for Goode Withers, a study for Sir Garfield Barwick. Only the men have been allowed modern designs, though I ant sure Anne Baxter, a granddaughter of Frank Lloyd Wright, would like something more up to date than the rather thirtyish (Vogue Regency?) interior in grey velvet. Only Morris West has been given books that look as if they me read: except PROJECT for a Festival Hall -Art Gallery for the light fitting, this e room by Stuart-Laww was one I could have used with pleasure. Moat of the interiors have paintings, William Drew. Andrew Sibley, Ross Morrow and Judy Cassab are used. Marion Best's "Breakfast with Gordon Andrews" communicated the person- ality of the "client' more strongly than the rest, probably because the ob- jects were all by Mr. An- drewa himself. This interior also showed an awareness of the difference between exhibition interiors and actual jobs; It had less in it. the colors were clear and sharp. The general standard in- dicates that Sydney can do this sort of thing as well as anywhere. Though I wish that when genuine period furniture is unoba tamable, good modern de- signs could be used in- stead of the imaginary bits of painted and gilded non- sense that have been thought 'up. The exhibition is being held to raise money for . the Royal Blind Society of N.S.W. Round the galleries THE Barry Stern Gallery has a' group of six painters and one sculptor from Wollongong. The only other country area that could produce similar exhibition le the Newcastle - Muswellbrook region. Neither could have done it until very recently and their activity merits real praise. The most interesting' is Frank Elliott, a 28 -year-old Jazz musician from Amer- ica, who has been in Aus- tralia for a year. His non- figurative paintings have some subtlety. Ron Lam- bert supports him well. Stan De Telles The Macquarie Galleries one-man show of paintings and drawings by Stan de Teliga. I think his first since some years' absence from Sydney. is broader in form and softer in color than it used to be. All the pictures retain figurative imagery within a coloristic cubist style reminiscent of Villon. Some take their subjects front ancient Crete -- The- seus or Icarus-some from surfing, and darker in tone from jazz. The subjects have in common a concern with sea, sky and air (Daedalus and Icarus fly- ing high over "T)te Black Sail"). The paintings mostly have an engaging quality of sunny healthi- ness. Frances Jones' Studio has opened its new pre- mises at 7 James Street, Woollahra, with some early paintings by Francis Lym- burner. They date mostly from the 1940s, before the artistleft for England. and are. expectedly charming. of New South Wales.