ART AND THE CITY.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1550, 20 September 1912, Page 5

ART AND THE CITY.

»— -HIS EXCELLENCY'S POINT OF. VIEW. During an interval in tho programme fit-the Arts Club entertainment in tho Town Hall (last evening, liis Excellency tho (Lord Islington) discussed, ili a short speech appropriate to tlw occasion',..the potential influence of such an institution as an Arts Club upon tho community in general. It encouraged ar- « fcistic endeavour amongst young people who had a latent talent in one direction or another; and to those who. were less favoured in that respect, there was accorded nn opportunity of-jimbibing an appreciation of art to the end that their support was enlisted. It was characteristic of art thai: thoso who adventureu in its i fields .in tho hope of achieving distinction had to. struggle, and his Excellency quoted tho caso of Botticelli, whoso work was a daily struggle with poverty, and whose pictures to-day could only be bought by millionaires or nations. The metier of sucTT an institution as the Wellington Arts Club, continued his Excellency, should be not merely to confer certain estimable benefits upon its members, but to elovato the artistic sense of the community around. I.ectuiys and discussions could be devoted t> tojjics concerned with the "City Beautiful." (Applause.) With architects and surveyors included in the personnel cf the club, and . contributing to such discussions, and assisting to, guide public opinion in tho laving out of the city without, end beautifying of the houso within, I lie club would have an intimate _and stimulating connection with the aesthetic development nf the city. (Applause.)