FOR BLIND POILUS

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 303, 11 September 1918, Page 6

FOR BLIND POILUS

FRENCH ART ON EXHIBITION

A SPLENDID COLLECTION ■\ ; "■ In France money is badly needed for tho treatment and training of French soldiers whv havo been blinded in battle or as the result of enemy action. There are 55,000 of them in France, and at present there is only one hospital for tho special treatment of the sightless, a small place : at Lyons, where perhaps 200 may bo treated at the one time. Franco is far, too busy, far too short of money to pay to these poor fellows tho attention they deserve. The nation ha-s to be saved before any special attention can be given to the groat mass of the blind. But the French Government is not thoughtless or {inactive- in this connection. Speaking to a Dominion reporter, M. Willy Rogers, a Parisian art critic (who is accompanied by M. Raoul Bigazzi), says that they are both retired wounded soldiers, who are touring tho world with an art collection in aid of the blind French soldiers. '■ "You understand." said M. Ebgers, "that everyone in Franco is ,a soldier, unless he is dead or half-dead. So—all the artists are soldiers. Many have died lighting for France. Some have fought and have _ been , wounded or become ,s;ck, so thoy say we will paint for France. So they paint beautiful pictures for tho French Government—fine war pictures, strong dramatic pictures. You will sec—fine!" . That, in brief, is what Jl.Ttogers has to say. The two visitors came accredited to the New Zealand Government and the Consular Agent (Mr. James Macintosh). They left Paris fourteen months ago, and hayo visited the various countries in South and Central America, Cuba, and the Pacific Slope, including Los Angeles and San Francisco. From the latter port they came to Wellington in the Moana, bringing with them 40 large cases of paintings and sculpture (the work of Italian soldier-sculptors, the like of which lias nover before been seen ; in New Zealand). Indeed; the exhibition is expected to prove a rare artistic treat, from whatever point it is viewed. An exhibition of oil paintings, water colours, sketches, black and white work, etchings, copies of old masters (nearly as old as tho originals), and prints of famous pictures, with the beautiful collection of 'statuary, is an event in New Zealand, as it would be almost anywhere. The . modem pictures . all touch upon the war. There is ono splendid canvas—the rich interior of an old French chateau, with an aristocratic old man at the window, and a beautiful girl standing fearfully at the back of the room. In the foreground reclines the figure'of a drunken German officer, who lias gone to sleep. As tho man sleeps tho French re-attack, and the old man can hear them coming, ,and the fear that the German brute will wake in time to escape is vividly pictured. There are also some wonderful war cartoons, including actual originals by RLaemaekers, which have l never yet been published. R&emaekers, j. _ Dutchman', is the outstanding caricaturist of the war. His. cartoons, absolutely anti-Hun from the beginning, have so much sting in them that thore is a price of 50,000 marks on his head. There are also .works in the collection by such artists'as Lucien Jonas, Stonlein, Foraiii, Renouard, Laurent, Gsell, De Grove, Leandre, Berne-Bellecourt, Dauphin, Chaincux, Poulbot, Scott, Hansi,'and a few celebrated American artists who have been painting in France. With paintings. by such artists, no art lover will be able to resist inspecting,'if not purchasing, these treasures from tho artist-soldiers- of oiir gallant ally. All tho works—paintings, etchings, prints, and statuary— will be for sale at reasonable prices, and there will be pictures to suit all tastes and pockets, i In the 'Sculpture section will also be shown some wonderfully artistic earthenware, primitive paintings, and carved,woodwork, for which the Italians are famed. The exhibition will bo undor the patronago of the Minister of Internal Affairs (Hon. G. ,W. Riissell), the Mayor (Mr. J. P. Luke), and the Consular Agent (Mr. Macintosh), and the. New .Zealand Academy of Fine Arts. Per favour of the last-mentioned body, the pictures, statuary, etc., will be shown in the Academy. The exhibition will be-opened on Saturday afternoon next. r * MM. RLogers and Bigazzi have also some 40,000 feet of special war films, takon at the instance of the French Government, which they propose to exhibit in New Zealand. Those include some wonderful pictures of French submarines, interior as well as exterior; views of an actual fight/between French and German submarines, and other pictures of the Navy and Army of vivid interest. M. Willy Rogerswill, in connection with the display of these pictures at the King's Theatre here, deliver lectures about tho war.