Daniel Thomas : Newspaper writings

"TELEGRAPH" [12 APR 1964 Sydney, N.S.W. SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, APRIL 12, 1964 The Week in Art by Daniel Thomas This gallery is a ALTHOUGH the works Jones' newly remodelled exhibited in David showplece Art Gallery are splendid h Mr. Robert enoug , Haines' remodelling itself is the week's major re- velation. It is In fact a land- mark. Sydney (Indeed Australia) has never be- fore had a gallery I lie this, though Paris F nd London have many. The impression Is of complete luxury, discreet a n d welcoming. A visitor suddenly feels Very pleased to b there, and begins to realise the absence or style tluough- out the normal Australian environment. The main alteration it to open up the side win- dows for extra nature light. This Is e8peclall) helpful for the sculpturt (and the other three- dimensional objects such as furniture t which Mr Haines probably feels more missionary about that painting. But also it Is psychologically better for the visitor to have win- dows than to be trapped In the bottom of an aqua- rium lit for the benefit of paintings only, not for people. Secondly David Jones has installed a lower false ceiling, and has subdivided the floor space into smaller bays; and again the result is good for the visitor, the scale becomes domestic in- stead of palatial, and it becomes much easier to Imagine the offered objects in one's own home. To be fair the Hungry Horse is another gallery that has domestic scale, that is always spotlessly clean, and which generally has style. However it deals chiefly in the excitements of contemporary art while the David Jones exhibition deals strictly in established reputation - except. and most unwisely, (or Laura Padoa's paintings of marsh- mallow boys and girls. Old masters The only Ausi ralian painters in this collection are Fairweather, with an early Chinese subject, and Dobell with the Woolen's Weekly prizewinning "Hel- ena Rubinstein.- which in the passage of only seven years is convewd to an old master, and in its 18th century frame looks very much like Sir Joshua Rey- nolds' work. Of the dozen paintings , exhibited Vuillard's woman seated in an Interior Is , the Important, and less familiar excitement. Fresh and sketchy, every single bruslunark establishes a significant. relations It I p, sets up the picture's in- ternal rhythms and ten- sions. Vuillard is an old master of indmism and charm. yet there is a slight, and valuable disruption here. for the woman is edgy, Claustrophobic, per- haps on the point of dash- ing into the fresh air. Mixed show 79 1 halel"a- ILI>l'iTed"sVowt-O'fileAriliV paintings, mostly 19th caei trail:in prints, dniwings beyond their time limit Wry. though a few go well for example an Ileysen's watercolor rut Then Proctor's dr:twine, Even the brilliantlysA ing Turnereue Melbourn dock scene by McCub and the pale sunny01 sketch for Tom Robert "Threshing Machine" , long to these artists' ola age in the twentienth cell. tury. . isWOROWS09.0.9s09.0%. WHAT'S OIN TODAY AND NUT HOEK APT GALLERY OF N.S.W.-span N S.W.G L mint Travelling Art Schelnnip, Cereelete etchings I VNi °node. ALL NUT REEK DAVID JONIES.-F, and Deterathre Art. MAGI:MANIC-Polar Kahn, Paleness. MARRY STS411.-Paler internam, tanning.: Erik Stedman, silver DVAIIH.rtel -Australian paint ds, drawleds, Welt IOW tees. [DU GATIOP4 DEPAI.ThilINT'"G , Wide Street -A, s hi. Pretend Students' Werk. VON MERTOUCH, Nevicasup -Ulan Obieline r, LLLLLL le,s, OPENING TUESDAY RUDY KOMON.-Jiiily GRA N A. Weilliendeeni-AgiNtgelignintral4tes. FARMIRS -C young tonlenidenrlin AN Prism GLUNE.-13Onald Friend.. sculpture, Mille HUNGIMHORSE.-Plollen Grieve. OPINING FRIDAY VON LLLLL UCH, Nortasiir -St Lee Like everything In David Jones' catalogues the Vuil- lard reveals Its price. which Is 19,750 guineas. The dozen or so sculp- tures include an Epstein head, a small Rodin figure for the Burghers of Calais, two antique Roman marble leads, a superb Khmer uddhn head from Thal- nd and some wild West African wood carvinas. In the decorative arts there is a lot of glass and some pottery (prices as low as two guineas), but. the whole exhibition Is dominated by the furni- ture. Last year's European col- lecting by Mr. Haines Produced a grotto of plain chunky cheats of drawers from 17th century Italy which made almost any- thing else seem flimsy. un- structual and weak, espe- cially 18th century deco- rative sots. This year there Is no such new lesson, unless it is to demonstrate the special beauty of paint- ed furniture, for example a 16th century Spanish cupboard covered In arab- esques, and an 18th century French folding screen with leaf scrolls and birds. In both cases the regular all- over repetition of the deco- ration allows it successful ly to integrate with the form of the objects. not to interfere. It is strange to find Such homage to American art in Paris, which is where Kaiser lives and paints. One can only point out the constant decorative 'excel- lence of this artists un- committed painting; the old ink texturologles are fine with antiques; the new simplicities with pro- gressive modern. But the direct American statement has been muted in some cases by letting the overlap trans-, parently, and too prettily, instead of acting on their own: in others the colors are just there, static. do- , ing nothing, Peter FreenTan. at Barry Stern's, is a young Eng- lish painter recently settl- ed in Melbourne and now holding his first one-man show. The 25 paintings include a few heads, ft couple of swelling seas, but mostly they arc urban landscapes - streets, parks, First solo funny exhibition. Und standably Montefloie wo The Gallery also has I complete collection of V Ostacle etchings on vie This 17th century Dote axonal. chevron, concen- artist Is next in Impor La tric. There is even a gg horn -asses to Rembrandt as age to Albers' "Homage to etcher.. and a protasis pallddll the Square," called "Pinky" realist and not at all bad. - - backyards. The linter- toned ones can be describ- ed as like Sicken; the more brightly colored as like Brangwyn. That is, he paints decoratively in the sense of making In- ventive patterns and ar- rangements which respect One completely Isolated the rectangularitur y of the piece of furnture, a media- picture frame and the flat - He evai wrought -iron chair a nice occasion nes, of the not h e o made in Franc.; in the 14th century, was an incredibly rosphorescent. color. HIS handling is confident and beautiful manifestation of spontaneous. Gothic grace. The N.S.W. Govemmen Travelling Art Scholarshi New style entries are now at the Ar Gallery of N.S.W. Elg young artists, rangin Peter Kaiser, at the from Firth-Smith an Macquarie, hns found a Van Wieiingen, wild an new style this year. Six raw and worse than use paintings are still large through Ross Davis' , grey Inks on paper likesm. Wendy Paramone last year's. though the Whiteleyism to Monte, Paper is less teased about., flo'e's post impression - and the ink is allowed to 00 East Sydney style, spread into large circular anti Paul Delprat's Acaci. images like giant botanical mile realist Julian or biological sections. But ton style. All the recto Ash - the other seven thinly ed nudes made It a ve stained vivid oils on can- t as pay the American post-abst rac t -expressionist, Kenneth Ndland, the honor of imitation. There are stripes, vertical, di-