Daniel Thomas : Newspaper writings

to "TELEGRAPH" Sydney, N.S.W. The Week in Art by Daniel Thomas BLACKET: LIKEABLE ARCHITECT "EDMUND BLACKET was the greatest architect Australia has produced." So says the blurb on the dustjacket of Morton Herman's new book on this architect and his firm. It is rather an exaggera- t,on; and it seems that not even the author himself subscribes to this belief. Certainly Blacket has always been known as Sydney's most likeable architect in the Gothic Re- vival style of the mid - nineteenth century. Parish churches like St. Mark's. Darling Point, and many others here revealed for the first time as Black- et's are a very lyrical ex- pression of a widespread English style. Indeed, the parish churches of the Victorian period are perhaps its most satisfying arch itectural achievement. Informal, picturesque massing, elab- orate decoration, cosiness and prettiness, these favor- ite Victorian qualities can all be happily blended in such buildings. Gothic grace was under- stood by then: it no longer seemed barbaric or exotic. as it had to previous gen- erations. Almost invariably Blacket uses 'Middle Pointed" or "Decorated" English Gothic of the four- teenth century; not Early English, not Perpendicular. and never any continental sources except in the occa- sional later Romanesque churches. But they, it seems, might be partly due to Horbury Hunt, briefly working In his office, and the few references to Hunt make one hope that Mr. Herman is at work un hint for his next book. The main building at Sydney University, includ- ing the Great Hall, is a justly acknowledged major work. Here Blacket uses Tudor Gothic, and again. this is the "correct" style for a university building. that Ls the style with the largest body of precedent behind it. And further, this book shows for the first time that Blacke( designed many banks and commercial buildings in the correct style for urban Victorian dignity, that is in Barry's Italianate manner, beat called Renaissance Revival (not "Georgian"). Ptah- lents Hotel is an example. It is a pleasant surprise. too, to discover that he was the author of the Water Police Office which now stands between Macquarie Street and the AMP; this was almost the only sig- nificant building from his brief term as Government Architect 11849-54). He also produced a fashionable I t a 11 a nate mansion. Retford Hall, at Darling Point. Thus we now see the full range of his work, from arrival in 1842 till death in 1889, including some rather nasty shops and houses from Isis last years. From the beginning the work is scattered widely through New South Wales, and there are no fewer than three cathedrals. in Sydney, Goulburn and Perth. If his choice of style shows him always follow- ing the most correct Eng- lish precedent (evidently from books and maga- zines), albeit with consid- erable grace, the cathe- drals are. I think, beaten in the same style and per- iod by William Wardell, the architect of the Roman Catholic cathedrals in Melbourne and Sydney. Moreover Greenway's architecture (in the Re- gency period), and above all Walter Burley Griffin's (early 20th century), would be much stronger contend- ers than Wardell and Blacket for the title of Australia's greatest. If we remember that blurb -writer's statement. "greatest [list Australia has produced," then Black- et's response to his Austra- lian conditions is scarcely comparable with Green - way's. If Australian birth is re- quired we must disqualify everybody mentioned so far and give the prize to Annear, or, however re- luctantly, Roy Grounds, But although the book (Angus & Robertson, 84'), does not explain nor place him in his con- text, it describes him and his work almost perfectly. It is warmed by sympa- thetic writing and inti- mate knowledge of the buildings themselves. When a few more studies like this can be added to the other recent books on Verge and John Lee Arch- er, it will be possible to attempt a history of Aus- tralian architecture with- out perpetuating the errors and the guesswork of exist- ing surveys. Greenway's St. Matthew's Another blurb. this time on a leaflet appealing for money to restore Green - way's St. Matthew's Church at Windsor, on the Hawkesbury, near Syd- Buddha head from Thailand, Sukotha i period. At David Jones' Fine Arts Gallery nay: "This building is (or rather, was once' the finest existing historical ante- ' 're in N.S.W." The writer here does not exaggerate. Instead he under -estimates. St. Matthew's is sure- ly the finest building In Australia, not just in N.S.W., and the present appeal for f60.000 should be supported on a nation- wide basis. Tax deductible donations are payable to the National Trust, St. Matthew's Wind- sor Appeal. at Church House, George Street, Syd- ney. The building, of 1817-22. Is not only Greenway's masterpiece; it is also his least altered, and the one which has retained its set- ting unspoiled. In it we see more clearly than anywhere else how this former pupil of John Nash was inspired by the challenge of equipping Macquarie's newly self-re- specting colony with its first major buildings. Instead of Nash's Re- gency flimsiness. Greenway goes back in spirit to the earlier erandeurs of Chris- topher Wren and Gibbs. It is, in fact, a Georg - WHAT'S ON.. TODAY AND NEXT WEEK Art Gallery .1 N.S.W.-Serc,e1 e.hoblt.on; Helene Rubinstein Travel. Otto Art Stfioitott,p. FINAL WEEK. R ***** An PrItc-Gyrowtion Nall. Barden Strut. Arstillte FINAL OAY. ALL NEXT WEEK Hungry Hersa.-Carl Plate, smell paIntInge. Terry thaws-Flee Women Painter', DornInlen.-Anniversary Show. figura painting sittet Tonu Roberta Wales Hew..-Put and O'Connell S toff. Tributa le Thee Proctor V.. ttttt -Newcastle: Group show, major S ttttt Pain Cratit.-WoliontonE Four Wellongong painters. Sydney UnIserelly.-SRC AH Exhibti.on. P rooneens.-May Neal. B eard Weleen.-11. Tauber .nn Kenneth Cook. Rudy Kneen.-San. Byrne David Jente..-W G. and H 0 Wills Art Compet,t,en David Janee..-F no Atte Deportment, Fawkes Street Store. Scuipture and Gown.. et Yna..atd. OPINING WEDNESDAY Illatsteseic -1.6 Forsoselher Whew ,...t ilserkine. THURSDAY LECTURES Art Gallon N.S.W -Public lecture: "Sews 5.11.nt ,:nereClerlItiO et Japenet Protestor Teru Mori, g p MEW WSW. Seksel.-AspEtt al Moolorn Art Style, 6 P.m. ian building of great dis- tinction, and much super- ior to American colonial architecture of the same period. At present the beautiful tower is dismantled. The beams had rotted, and brickwork had deteriorat- ed from thoughtless patch- ing with modern cement mortar. Thai art At David Jones' Fine Arts Gallery the sculp- tures from Thailand will probably be completely un- familiar to most visitors. They are nearly all Buddha images and were all collected recently In Bangkok. They have been selected and displayed so cunningly that one leaves the exhi- bition with some under- standing of this exquis- itely refined art. Earliest are the 8th-lith century Dvaravati sculp- tures in stone or stucco. They are rather wilder and more expressionist than those t,f the subse- quent empires. Then the Khmers or Cambodians dominated Thailand until the 13th century. Their carvings are heavy. tranquil Buddhas, almost torpidly plump. The Sukothal Kingdom. 13th-I5th century, was the first, Thal race, and its art is the most highly prized in Thailand today. The Buddha images are now bronze. not stone: they have a slim nervous grace, pitched to an unbeliev- able refinement. There are no dark gods in Thailand, it seems. If ever untroubled happiness has become a major phil- osophy, it has done so here. The Ayuthya kingdom continued at a necessarily diminished level of inten- sity until the 18th century. Some characteristic That ceramics are included, also a few Chinese. Prices range front 6 to 520 guineas.