ART EXHIBITION

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 201, 23 May 1944, Page 3

ART EXHIBITION

Work At Autumn Show

In pride of place on the line of oils at the autumn show of the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arte are three life-size portraits. One is a bold, well-modelled three-quarter length painting in uniform o£ Lieutenant-General E. Puttick. I“ lh portrait is the sound work of I - »• Lilia, of the Wellington Technical College art staff, who has secured an excellent like ness by straightforward legitimate means. The two other portraits are by the oncoming W. A. Sutton, Christchurch. Oue is of his father, in shirt sleeves, the arm and hand perhaps a little forestrengtheaed, smooth in finish, good flesh tones, hands (always difficult to paint) weil modelled, face placid in expression, witnout dominance in facial feature, lhe other is an attractive study of a woman in saxe blue, naturally seated, fabrics admirably nainted. The first-mentioned of the Sutton portraits has been purchased by the committee of the New Zealand Academy for the National Gallery. lu the vicinity of the portraits there are two others on the line —are pleasant and, in places, arresting paintings froiu the Kellys (Cedric and Elizabeth), Sydney Thompson, Archibald Nicoll, Cedric Savage, Marcus King, Ivy Fife, Roland Hipkins, and others. Elizabeth Kelly has gone back to her beloved Avon bridges, which she always manages to invest witn artistic appeal- and delicacy of form and colour. Cecil Kelly’s paintings of the mud flats at Heathcote River and the yachting bay at Redcliffs are pleasantly characteristic of this artist’s natural bent. One of the strongest paintings “on the line' is “Native Bush, Heretaunga,” possibly as good as anything Marcus King uas done in recent years. The foreground of patchwork of rushes, leading to the darkling wood, and the high white light of the distant sky is good art. Ivy Fife’s portrait of ti boy is worth a second glance. Violet Whiteman’s “Dog Study” and “Hillside Ploughing” are not up to her best form, but Rata Lovell Smith has two good pictures in “Back Ranges” and “Between Storms.” Cedrie Savage, whose work in this show raises his standard, is shown to best advantage in his “Picnic Bay, Titahi,’’ a sunny glimpse of the broken coastjiae near the bay. Sydney Thompson has several canvases in inadequate frames. His stark snow scenes, “A Fresh in the TCowai” and “Looking Across the Waimak, from Bcaley,” are immeasurable depths of temperature awav from his red sans in the sunset, but distinctly arresting. He also has another crowded canvas of the Wellington wharves, a jumble of steamer funnels and sheds in an evening glow. S. M. Maclennan might have called his “Summer Afternoon’’ “Harvest Design,” so decorative are his rhythmic oatsheaves. Archibald Nicoll has some slightish paintings of South Canterbury, one rather nice one of Timaru. Savage ! s “Shade,” “Nelson Landscape,” and “The Poplar Tree” will be admired for their form, colour sense, and clear brush work. Angus Gray, with the forces in the South Pacific, has forwarded five attractive impressions of the Noumean scene, with its

riot of sub-tropical foliage, and quam. memorials. . Among the water-colours the place ot honour is held by T. A. McCormack s translucent paintings, so delicately-limned in those washy highlights, yet so rhythmic in design. His “River in Flood,” “Summer Landscape,” and “Lake Tekapo”— all South Island subjects—are good McCormacks, which is saying something. Nugent Welch has four landscapes and three flower and fruit studies. The clean, buoyant, freshness of style and line that characterizes this artist’s work will no doubt find eager acceptance. Cedric Savage shows exceptional strength in watercolour toning in his< admirable “Takaka River” (which has been bought for the ■National Gallery). There is also presentable sincere work from Basil Honour Gwynneth Richardson. W. S. Wauchop, Robin Kay (scenes from the Middle East), Esther Hope, Carl Laugeson, CM. Paterson (sketches of Mandi Camp, Egypt), 'Webster Nash, Sydney Higgs, J. L. Palethorpe (Auckland), R. J. Waghorn, K. A. Vane, and C. Tole. Special attention is directed to the seabird designs (exhibited on a pillar), of Joan Edgar, the fine sense of decor showiF in “The Hollow Tree.” by E. Mervyn Taylor, and the artistic book-binding (in tooled leather) and cover designs of S. B. McLennan (whose artistic capacity is rather amazing). Those beautifully-en-shrined volumes of Edgar Allan Poe’s work and the Beethoven score are worthy of close inspection and admiration. Mary Hannam has two sets of hand-made silver rings with ear-rings to match, both happily designed.

MANY PAINTINGS SOLD Judging by the many sales made at the autumn show of the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts, there is still the liveliest demand for works of art in Mel lington. This exhibition, which opened privately on Friday night, looks like putting up a fresh record for sales, as within 48 hours of the opening no fewer. than 40 works of art were sold. The list is as follows: — “The Artist’s Father” (W. A. Sutton), portrait in oils, bought for the National Gallery; “Takaka River,” water-colour by Cedric Savage, bought for National Gallery: “Temuka River,” water-colour, by T. A. McCormack; “Nelson Landscape,” oil, by Cedric Savage; “Kempton’s Corner. Greytown,” by K. W. Hassell; “Wellington Weather,” by Nugent Welch; “The Poplar Tree,” oil. by Ced ric Savage: “Lunn’s Lane,” drawing, by Archibald Nicoll, bought for National Gallery; “Ozone,” oil by Archibald Nicoll ; “Summer. Takaka,” and “Picnic Bay. Titahi.” oils, by Cedric Savage; “Island Bay Blooms,” water-colour, by Nugent Welch; “Back Ranges.” oil, by Rata Lovell- Smith; “The Road to the Sea,” oil, by Dorothy Fisher; “Summer Afternoon,” oil, by S. B'. Maclennan; “White Sails, Paremata.” water-colour, by Loiss Henderson; “Waimakariri,” "Summer 'Storm, Pilia.” “Piha Estuary,” oils, by W. Basil Honour; “Landscape, Hawke’s Bay.” oil, by F. A. Price; “Placid Waters,” oil, by R. J. Waghorn; “Gannets,’ oil, by Joan K. Edgar; “Summer Gold.” and “Prunes and Prisms,” water-colours, by Nugent Welch; “Zinnias,” water-col-our, by Alice Avery; "Manuka Valley,”

lino ent, by K. W. Hassell; ‘’Mermaid Roses,” water-colour, by Thane Field; “Native Grace,” drawing, by Eric LeeJohnson; “Egyptian Youth,” by John Ritchie; “Worser Bay,” pencil sketch, by W. L. Palmer; “Shade,” oil. by Cedric Savage; and “Sea Breeze, Titaln,” oil. by Marcus King. , In addition to the above, both of the pieces of pottery by -Elizabeth Matheson were sold. '