Daniel Thomas : Newspaper writings

SUNDAY TELEGRAPH JULY 1, MS The Week in Art by Daniel Thomas Rapotec's exhibition A HIGH propor- tion of the paint- ing handled by Syd- ney dealers is inevit- 'ably trivial decora- tion. At times also one feels there are almost too many opportuni- ties for the very young And for ama- teurs, L. 'xhlblt their work (S-Itipture and pi g are com- paratively neglected). By all means let them paint, and even, In secret. sell their paintings; but undiscriminating exhibition of such stuff can only con- fuse standards for the gen- eral public. A positive statement by a mature artist is there - 'fore a welcome event, and it has been provided this week by Stanislaus Rapo- tec's one-man show at the Clime Galleries. Rapotec's art is a quite pure brand of abstract ex- pressionism. A strong emo- tionalism is communicated by the very urgency of the brush marks them- selves.. Although the cata- logue calls the new pic- tures studies, they are probably not meant to have any specific connec- with other pictures In this kind of painting, spontane- ity is all. Endless self-critical prac- tise, as with oriental cal- ligraphy, brings each of these rapid outbursts closer to perfection and they are only sketches in Rapotec's language by virtue of their small size t 3 ft. x 4ft. masonite panels; and very reason- ably priced) compared with his major works. For some years his pic- tures have been titled Ten- sion Bursting. Now they are Experiences-In Wit- cannia, in Cobar, Nyngan, Nevertire or By Sea, or In Rain. The last two sets are blue, the inland ones are often on a red -brown ground. and the Experi- ences In Broken Hill are black. Even If these titles were only affectionate nick- names one would be grate- ful, for problems of iden- tification can be serious with such abstract paint- ings. But itapotee did ac- tually visit Western New South Wales late last year, and was greatly excited by the landscapes. Two of the pictures have straight lines across them. adumbrating a horizon (one is the only large painting. "Experience in the Far West') and we can speculate whether he might indeed be on the point of using his abstract expres- sionist methods, as others have, for figurative land- scape. The paintings al- ready seem intended to say something about the outback; the titles are surely not only identifying nicknames. Stern's fair THE Barry Stern "Gal- leries' "Art Dealer's Fair" Is a very large ex- hibition with contributions from several interstate dealers. It gives an in- teresting and wide-ranging view of Australian art In time (at least for 20 years back) and plate. Primitive act fs also shown, mostly frinii 'New'Guinea, and "Experience in Nevertire" some Indian paintings by Jamini Roy. From Perth there is John Lunghi, included in the Whitechapel exhibi- tion, and virtually un- known in Sydney. Adelaide sends a new painting by Charles Reddington, an artist who great impressed at the Festival of Arta earlier this year with a rather less abrupt style than is seen here. From Brisbane a 1956 Molvig, a fierce expressionist "Cat" compares well with Ills new exhibition now showing at the Komon Gallery, and 'frightens Clifton Pugh's adjoining "Owl" into life- lessness, There Is a nicely surreal Blackman from his Alice in Wonderland series, and a new David Boyd that looks like a Blackman A good Orben of "Nutre Dame, Paris" dated 1926 would still be cheerfully claimed by the artist and Is exposed at the thigh, and two large horned animals remain in the foreground. It once be- longed to Mrs. Gwen Mor- ton Spencer. Pottery shows t1OLLIE DOUGLAS is one of the dozen or so first-rank artist potters Like many of them, her work openly acknoviedges the influence of Chinese and Japanese ceramics, and of Bernard Leach, the great living the!poteter whose an work bridges Japese and English traditions. The present exhiblton is entirely of stoneware and all are useful domestic ob- jects, not ornamental fancies. Her glazes are pre- dominantly subtle pale greys. whites and celadons; the forms simple and the workmanship marvellously What's o TODAY, 2-1.30 ,4ND NEXT WEEK Art Gallery of New South Wales Special Ex- hibitions: Russian Graphic Art, Ancient Chinese Rubbings, An- tique English Silver. CLOSING MONDAY, 1 P.M. Macquarie: Mollie Douglas Pottery. ALL NEXT WEEK Anthony Horderns: Gallery Society Younger Group. Members' Paint- ings. Komon: Jon Molvig, Adam and Eve. Chine: Stan Rnpotec. Barry Stern: Art Dealers Fair. so would the 1947 picture by Jeff Smart, but Dicker- son and Hessing might not be so happy about their early works unearthed for public view. A higher standard is found in the Drysdale drawings, Nolan's strange "Ayer's Rock" and In the tiny oil sketches by Pass - more. The one outstanding pic- ture is Dobell's sketch for "Saddle-My-Nag." Smaller and darker than the final version recently given to the Art Gallery of N.S.W., and more confused in com- position. It Is still a beauti- ful hit of painting, and strong in feeling. There 'Is considernbla 'energy 1ti the active figures, more flesh n: Wales (louse: Brack- enreg Collection. Commonwealth Sev- Inge Bank, Martin Place: The Rocks rede- velopment, architectural models. Qantas House: George Finey's History of Music. Beard Watsons: Aus- tralian Pottery. OPENING WEDNES- DAY Farmers: Survey 2, of Sydney avant-garde. Macquarie: Key in Connor. FREE ART FILMS "Dobell" and "Drys- dale," Qantas House, Monday, Thursday, and Friday, 10-6. precise. There is a pleasant feeling of feminine efficiency. At Beard Watson's an exhibition by some less well-known potters, plus the Englunds and Wanda Garnsey, is less clear in its aims. The usual Eastern tradition is here too, and Charles Swain follows rough Japanese earthen- ware precedents for large vases and garden pieces, though without the full Japanese sensitivity. Others become at times rather too experimental in their forms and in their glazes, and traditional stoneware forms do not always seem happy In earthenware.. The Min al terriatiVe tnifiltion, of English mem, aeval slipware, is agree- ably exemplified by Gillian Grigg, and Nell McCredie's earthenfare has a nice clean modesty, On pottery "1 KYITERY IN AUS- TRALIA" (5/), a peri- odical intended to dissem- inate information among potters, has just appeared. It is published by the Potters' Society of N.S.W and is edited by Mrs. Garn- sey, 30 Turramurra Ave.. Turramurra. The Illustra- tions include Mr. Godfrey Miller's beautiful Tzu Chou Jar seen at the National Art School's recent pottery exhibition. The only other published source of informaton on Australian pottery is, of course, Kenneth Hood's ex- cellent booklet in "The Arts in Australia" series published by Longman, at only 6/ each. New books " "` USTRALIAN CIVIL- `IZATION" (35/), a symposium edited by Peter Coleman, has a chapter by the poet James McAuley on "Literature and the Arts" in which he touches briefly on current trends in painting and disapproves of them, either figurative or non-figurative, for "ir- rationality," as if painting were meant to function as literature. He also says "in sculpture I find the deep- est and richest artistic talent, the most significant personality at work in Aus- tralian art today, Tom Bass." The succeeding chapter, by Robert Hughes, is on "Painting." but there is paragraph on sculpture where we find that "the slickest Australian sculptor at present Is Tom Bass : his work is almost totally uninventive . ." The short but interesting account gives weight to Melbourne painting in the 'forties, also undocu- mented period. in which Mr. Hughes has done ori- ginal research; and to Syd- ney since the middle fifties. It is marred by one or two factual errors: the Burdett -Murdoch exhibi- tion was held In 1939, Pass - more was abroad in the"" 'forties, the Governor- General cannot remove Trustees from the Art Gal- lery, etc., but except for the fine " they Srarcely affect his argument. *MO g n -AMR Ak_