VISUAL ARTS

Press, Volume LXXXII, Issue 24911, 26 June 1946, Page 2

VISUAL ARTS

British Inquiry And Report

EXTENSION OF STATE PATRONAGE URGED

(From Our Own Correspondent) LONDON, May 12. The first report of the Arts Inquiry, which is sponsored by the Dartington Trustees, deals with the visual arts. Music, drama, and the factual film will follow later. The series is designed to give some account of the place of these arts in the national life, their economic and administrative background, social importance, and their value in education. “The visual arts,” says the preface to the report, “are one of the manifestations of quality by which’ the nation is judged, and no society can afford to dispense with their humanising influence. The value of art production cannot be assessed in terms of money, scale, or volume; nor can the influence of art on a community be measured by attendances at public galleries and exhibitions.

“It is true that if a great artistic tradition is to be formed the existing body of patronage must be greatly extended, which will in turn make possible a greater quantity of art production. Painters and sculptors have constantly formed themselves into societies to further and protect their professional interests. “But few exhibiting societies now fulfil their aesthetic ' function, and membership, even of the Royal Academy, no longer carries weight with the discriminating buyer.” State patronage has found expression almost exclusively in preserving the art of the past. “It is essential for the well-being of painting and sculpture in this country,” says the report, “that Government patronage of living art in all its forms should be continued and extended. It is necessary that private patronage should be encouraged, and that in local galleries and by travelling exhibitions the public should be able to enjoy and buy contemporary art. The Government should also support painters and sculptors by buying their work for the national collections and by commissioning them for specific purposes. Industry “Generally Indifferent” Design in industry is subject to limitations such as those imposed by the nature of the materials. In spite of these, there would be great scope for the free-lance artist in collaboration with the factory designer, if industry were not generally indifferent the the importance of good design. Man-- attempts to improve design have achieved little.

“Sufficient research was carried out by the Council of Art and Industry to isolate the problems and to show that they could be solved only with a new neasure of collaboration between Government, industry, and designer. Government policy, so far, has been hesitating, unco-ordinated, and inconsistent, and even in its own purchases it does not set a good example.” Too often art school training is isolated from other types of education in the locality, and in some places antagonism exists between the art school and the technical school. The report recommends the establishment of two authoritative bodies: a design council to take the place of the Council of Ai;t and Industry, and an arts council to take over and develop the work of the Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts.

Since the report was prepared for publication the Council of Industrial I sign has been appointed by the President of the Board of Trade. It is also announced that the Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts has been reconstructed on a permanent basis as the Arts Council of Great Britain. The report recommended that if State assistance to the visual arts is to be effective the organisations concerned must have greater authority than in the past, their work must be more closely co-ordinated, and there should be three responsible authorities: the Ministry of Education, an arts council, and a design council. The responsible Minister should be the Minister of Education. The arts council shbuld haVe a director-general, who would need to be a person of high calibre, with an understanding of the arts and considerable administrative experience. The design council should encourage each industry to co-operate in all matters of design.