SKETCH EXHIBITION

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIV, Issue 10272, 6 May 1919, Page 6

SKETCH EXHIBITION

academy of find arts. : The sketch exhibition ■which was successfully started at the Art Gallery on Friday evening last emphasises the fact that a strong art movement is under way in New Zealand, particularly in the city of Wellington. Time was, and not so very long ago either, that the practice of the arts of sketching and painting was considered by many- aa a kind of irresponsible vagabondage, An artist was thought an idle, feckless sort of chap, “just a wee bit daft,” whom it would be well to keep an eye on, or at best he was a irihing dreamer whose i.fcmporament had unfitted him for any serious occupation. That the practice of drawing, painting, and sculpture requires as close ' study and application aa is given to his profession by a doctor of divinity or > medicine, or law, was the last thing thought of. To-day, fortunately, art is recognised as a potent factor in industrial and national life. To-day it is acknowledged that the love of beauty and its appreciation is a precious asset in the make-up of a cultured man 01 woman, and an important factor in the, happiness, and in the economic and ' social value of the individual. In the reconstruction and testing days ahead it is reasonable to think that a more important place will bo given to art than has been allotted to it before in the life of this nation. Art is a potent factor in civilisation. It adds to the beauty of tho world and to the joy of living and working. It came as a precious heritage from the past, and it ! passed on as a priceless gift to the unborn future. Tho examples of art that are on view at the Art Gallery to-day represent a service to mankind aa real and as vital m its relation to national welfare as

the conservation of water supply or forests, care of the sick, or the repatriation of soldier*. The person who looks upon them will find a stimulus, not only to his love of beauty in the home ' and in the city, but to an increase of knowledge of the beauty there is in the aspect of things as seen by the trained eye of the artist.