Wieneke Archive Book 3 : Moreton Galleries 1960-61 Presscuttings

'- -r; :14 214612h-". Outback scene in paintings MELVILLE IlAYSOM. The Moreton Galleries, A.M.P. Build. ing. Edward Street. are presenting an exhibition of oil paintings by Max Haglesa, } an Australian painter of note. For some years Mr. of the interior, he has ',Ragless has devoted him- succeeded very well in self to depicting as far portraying the searing as possible within the dryness, offset, sometimes, limitations of pigment, by the suggestion of cool the brilliant and some- limpid pools. Even the times harsh glare of sun- stark and the sordid take light, with its subtle on a new look by means conditioning of the strong of his treatment. coloration to be found The intelligent use of both in coastal and hin- impasto under top light- terland districts of our ing brings about an al- continent. most uncanny feeling of realism in such Items as Loading Barley a n d Flowers in the Desert. His attempts at cap- turing the illusion of mirage are successful in such works as Mirage to WIndora, Sandhi!' in Mirage and Mirage near Innaminka. Here are the titles of paintings which show the artist at the height of his Power: Bedourie, Birdsville Hotel, The J. C. Canterbury, Pools In the Diamantina, Mungeran- Me Creek, Anthill Coun- try. Mount Warning Flowers in the Desert,' Australian Summer, Car- penters Rocks, On Mora - lane Creek, Morning in the Ranges, and Loading 4'4 Barley. In retrospect, the story of his search is clearly revealed when one regls- ters the varying tech- , niques he has employed from time to time. In this show. he ap- pears to have found a very satisfactory solution to his problem. Craftsmanship excellent His craftsmanship Is excellent. Rarely has he to add another stroke of the brush to qualify a nrevtous one. In his interpretations Director of the Moreton Gallery, Mr. Jim Wieneke, looks at a painting by Tasmanian artist J. Carrington -Smith of Sir Edmund Hil- lary - an Archi- bald Prize entry - in the showing of Archibald and Wynne Prize entries which opened at the gal- lery today. This pub- lic display is to give art students an op- portunity to view high class paintings. ART REVIEW Moreton Galleries maintains its high stan- dard in the present ex- hibition of recent paint- ings by eminent artist Max Ragless. Outstanding qualities are the beautiful hand- ling of the skies throughout and wonder- ful feeling for the vast spaces of ou, outback. Mirage to Windorah and Mirage near Innaminka are a pleasant departure from the usual and merit Attention. A glow of satisfaction follows Flowers in the Desert and note the col- our perspective in Mount Warning which empha- sises the craftsmanship of this very fine artist. Loading Barley and Ter- apinna waterhole shows what can be done with re- flections: the first named being quite a pleasant painting indeed. Others for close atten- tion are Birdsvllle Hotel, Preserve' lon Creek, Mil- parinka, Mungerannie Creek, Carpenters Rocks and Coolibahs on the Creek though not in any particular order. The ex- hibition is a thoroughly delightful experience. The showing is on view to the public until 26th May. tr? N.A.S. 0 Li ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO AN EXHIBITION OF RECENT PAINTINGS BY MAX RAGLUS Artist, out West, has vivid look By FREDERIC ROGERS Adelaide artist Max Bogies, Is confused. He thought he had painted "up North," but he finds in Brisbane that ho was "out West." Max, who has a show opening Tleirlies atct IvilOretdaY1, Moreton Gal i of his subjects on a trip (his second) out round the Birdsville track. "Don't let anybody tell t you that It Is monoton- ous country out there," he told me. After seeing his Impressions of what the place Is like, I won't. Leave out Ayres Rock and the Namatilm pieces and there is scarcely an authoritative painting of the inland country to be found. "Atmosphere" Ragless has made good the omission and has made it good in a way that brings the back country right into the heart of the city. There is real atmos- phere in every painting. There Is not one pic- ture In the whole show that would be hard to live with. The desolate air about the old bush pub in "The J. C. Canterbury," the iso- lation and aridity of ogirdsvilie Hotel" (surely the first time this far- famed hostelry has been painted by an artist of re- pute): the heat of "Mirag to Windorah" or the corn parative coolness of "Ter rapinna Waterhole" al make an instant appeal. Max Ragless is a con vincing painter. He pain what he sees, not photo- graphically, but with an air of a man vividly telling a' tr, listener all about it. ART REVIEW by Dr. Gertrude LANGER Paintings of MAX RAGLESS AT one stage the paintings of Max Ragless had a rugged k;t; look but they gave one the feeling of a painter "involved." Then came a phase of calming down, and greater elegance of handling with a tendency towards the decorative. At this point one expected greater things to ' follow. But ever since, Ragless has been calming down so much that his paintings have be- come increasingly monoto- nous and "pretty.' Outback The paintings in his cur- rent show at the Moreton Galleries-all of landscape, with a large proportion of "Back of Beyond"-are light without being luminous. They are painted with a dry opaque paste that sits much on the surface. With pastel tones of much prevailing pink, sky blue whitened inutCcis and white, he runs no risks and achieves easy harmonies. Aridity and clear light, which seems to be Ragless' main fascination, are stressed. Ragless eliminates detail, concentrates on large masses, simplifies, and paints with a broad sweep. But all this does not serve a particularly enlightened artistic vision. No symbol? In other words, the point is not reached where an artist breaks off front reality while keeping In touch with it-where a painting starts to glow with Its own life of form and colourand becomes a significant symbol. The paintings that have the most resonance here. are: "Mirage to Windorah," "The Diamantina at Birds - Me." and "Mungemnnie Creek."