Daniel Thomas : Newspaper writings

76 SUNDAY TEk.EGRAPN, JANUARY 19; 1964 DETAIL from Clifton Pugh's portrait of the Governor-General, ord De L'Isle. "TELEGRAPH" Sydney, N.S.W. The Week in art by Daniel Thomas DETAIL from Sali Herman's effective "Argyle Place." DETAIL from Jon Molvig's portrait ,1 Brisbane artist Joy Roggenkamp. THE ARCHIBALD: A SAD COMPETITION AUSTRALIA'S oldest art annuals are here again. At the Art Gallery of New South Wales the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman competitions for 1963 are providing Sydney with its usual summer holiday art entertain- ment. Simply became it is the holiday season vast crowds always come. Special ex- hibitions are hard to find at this time of year in Die oilier States and here in Sydney most of the dealers are still sensibly resting too. But since for so many of the visitors this is their only art excursion of the Year it is sa that the very nature ofthe exhibi- tion prevents It ever be- ing outstandingly good. For one thing open com- petitions are never ent- ered at all by some lead- ing artists. For another the set categories are not al- ways the ones in which the leading artists work. (Portraiture for the Ar- chibald, Australian land- scape or figure sculpture for the Wynne, subject sainting.) this year for the So one hopes these only. once-a -year folk might look at the Gallery's per- manent collection while they're in the building. There they will find proper standards for por- traiture in, say, William Hogarth from the 18th century, Modlitilant from the 20111 or Dobell's "Dame Mary Gilmore"; for figure sculpture there is Rodin or Epstein of the ancient Romans or the CIDLlac Europeans; for subject painting Medea Brown's "Chaucer" (or a Rem- brandt etching of a New Testament subject) or the Australians, Tom Roberts, Arthur Boyd and Sidney Nolan; and for Australian landscape, which is always the strongest section, comparisons can be made with Roberta again, or Streeton or Conder or Rus- sell Drysdale. What does it offer? Apart from tile simple but genuine pleasure of recognising some well- known men and women - Lord De L'Isle, Rada Penfold - Russell, Ronan Hughes, James McAuley, Sir Lorimer Dods - does this year's Archibald offer anything that can give us as amen artistic pleasure as the portraits mentioned from the perniattesit col - leetion? There is at least one. Jon Molvtt's "Joy Itottactl- tamp," like most portraits that are also good works of art, Is not of someone especially famous. When there Ls an encounter on equal terms between a' great painter and a great Once -o -year folk miss out man, a great picture can sometimes be sparked oil: Titian and the Emperor Charles V in the 10th century is an example and on a different level the process has worked with Dobell and Dame Mary Gilmore. But most great portraits, that is those that pene- trate human character deeply, have required long intimacy and understand- ing between artist and sitter. They will be self- portraits, portraits of the artist's family and friends (tile Gallery's Hogarth is of a close friend), or of fellow -artists (like the Modigliarti in the Gal- lery). Molvig's portrait has this same advantage, for Joy Roggenkamp is one of his artist -colleagues In Bris- bane. It also expresses a direct. warm response to the righti ne chalightarm; it trace of has just sexiness. It has panache, both in the confident dashing brushwork and in tile mad special -occasion hat which doe, exactly the same Jul) as the stylish ing hats in Chillishorough a p,irtral,s it has exception- ally lovely singing color, tender green and bitugs of red tile hat fit a wicked black. A delicious picture; a present-day Ottinsbor- ough. There is also Cartngton Smith with his first win silo, like Molvig, must have often come very close to winning in previous years. This time he has two professors from tile University of Hobart, both well patterned, both with agreeably relaxed paint - handling, both good like- nesses, but neither making an interesting character of the sitter nor a very ani- mated one, Portraits of interest John Rigby's success with the perennially difficult problem of scarlet academic robes should be noted, For tonal unity he keys up the whole background with hot tans in his Townsville pro- fessor, And Clifton Pugh's "Gov- ernor-General Viscount De L'Isle," like last year's Archbishop Mannix, has beautifully sensitive face and hands, but as usual fails to organise the pic- ture with any spatial co- herence. No body Is sensed be- neath the garments, the hands float independently In casual and unlikely re- lation with the head. There are no trying emblems to litter tile background as last year, but there Is an enormous vividly bright. hyper -realistic badge set into the nearsabstmett. decorative pattern into which the robes are ar- very best slcoet,,capes and ranged. Pugh has virtues with two kinds of abstract of direct. almost photo- landscape from Elwyn graphic observation, and Lynn and Guy warren. much delicacy. One wishes The winner, Sam Full - he might concentrate on brook, had something less these, and give up corn- familiar, a flat -patterned position. decorative picture, quiet Other interesting por- and in a uniformly high traits are by Andrew Sib- key appropriate to the ley. Kevin Connor and bone -bleached "Sandhills Judy Cassab. on the Darling". But for communicating an intense and genuine response to so central a theme as out- back landscape, Fred Wil- liams still wins and with- out any element of the de- corative. Naturally his watercolor which was presumably painted on the motif, in the open air of some blonde Victorian. mountain top, has this bnmedlacy and spontaneity of experience to a greater degree than the oil. The prize after all is for Australian landscape. and there has been little so mythically Australian in years as Williams' fresh vision of the cutback. The watercolor by Eva Kubbos which won the Trustees' Watercolor Prize is bold and handsome and delicate as well, but less specifically Australian. Another exciting but non -Australian vision, of sydney as a swirling Koko- schka panorama from the sky the curvature of the quiet post-impressionism, earth fully visible, was pro - with one of Sall Herman's vided by Kevin Connor. Trad men in Wynne In this competition the general level is as usual quite good, and many of the familiar competitors are a little better than usual. Douglas Pratt for example, and Franklin Bennett among the trad men, Lesley Pockley and Ilse Tauber among the mods. It is morbidly interest- ing to see two little-known Adelaide artists. Brian Sei- del and David Dridan, who represented Australia at the Paris Blennale des Jeunes last year, and who must have been a sorry let down after the previous entry (of Whiteley, Daws and Blackman). The real pleasures come with Edith Holmes's bit of -...'WHAT'S ON MIN00.1.0.11.4 TODAY AND NEST WE'D( Art GOlory Wynne and Sauna,. gripe compeOtions for VW. C145114 WOO oittendod to to p.m. on Sitar. d'Pe.:c.I'vSirtil; Art CiallirrT-41..O DO110, SorlOt.O, ALL 11557 WEEK PAactortrio. is 81155 DeMionOn, In Cootlerragh Stroilt.-CononoroAry Chinese paleOlops. Former', 111.10.0 OtOlory.--Internallonal C11114 Art (UNESCO). frPONIND WIIONISDAY it PatIttinglon.--Polos 0.110,01, paicsANtmos; Anton inot. OtYlOhlrel. A Moor.. lisaaisfia The single piece of figure sculpture on view only in- dicates how little Interest there is in this depart- ment. It is now 30 years since a sculpture received the Wynne Prize. Surprise in Sulman 'rile Sulman is not very interesting either, and this too reflects a situation where artists are not very interested in figure com- positions of elevated themes (which is what would have been originally intended by the category of subject -painting). How- ever the development of abstraction has included elevated or symbolic con- tent and ft completely ab- stract subject painting is perfectly cone e l v a ble. Leonas Urbones' "On the Threshold" Is one. And the winning "Spring Walk" by Roy Fluke is also com- pletely abstract. This judgment might seem eccentric, and It is certainly not the sort of picture that a committee Of judges would ever arrive at. But since the Sidman always bus a single Judge (John Henaliaw tills year), one can expect these sur- prises. Obviously it touch- ed some special chord in the judge, and one begins to appreciate its intentions of creating a Paul Klee - like image of sparkling fertility of trees and flowers in bloom. There wits anyway little else to consider besides Mary Troy's Christian sub- ject, or Thora Ungar and Kevin Connor whose en- tries were more genre titan subject painting.