The Artists’ Corner

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 97, 15 July 1927, Page 12

The Artists’ Corner

Four Thousand View Loan Collection

JAPANESE PRINTS SHOW The loan etchings exhibition in Auckland which will close on Sunday, has set a definite record for New Zealand, as far as a show of this kind is concerned. By the end of the week no fewer than 4,000 will have viewed the valuable works displayed through the generosity of Auckland artlovers. is a record which Sydney or Melbourne would find some difficulty in eclipsing. As far as I am aware the Sydney Gallery has held no show of this description within recent years. The success of the exhibition again emphasises the necessity for a permanent prints room at our gallery. The nucleus for a particularly interesting collection is already there. An ade-quately-lighted room with proper facilities for display would, of course, be available for all future shows of this nature. The support accorded the etchings show likewise augurs well for the October exhibition. The director, Mr. John Barr, is already at work preparing for this display of Japanese and other wood-block prints in colour. These, I understand, will be principally drawn from two Auckland collections. PERMANENT PRINTS ROOM It is interesting to note that another room will be available on this occasion. Better lighting facilities will be provided, and it is just possible that the show will be open at night. This is undoubtedly a step in the right direction. There will be full opportunity for those daily workers who were unable to view the present exhibition to see the Japanese prints show. Auckland, by opening the show at night, will follow an established custom at a good many of the European galleries. It is hardly possible that the exhibition of New Zealand and Australian etchings will be held before June or July of next year. It is practically certain that our cousins from across the Tasman will be grouped with the New Zealanders for this occasion. This will greatly strengthen the show. Australians are genuinely interested in this project. It is by no means unlikely It has been pleasing to observe that the etchings now displayed have been studied time and again by the same people. To see this show has not been merely a duty. Art lovers have returned, catalogue in hand, again and again. Many of them were, of course, students. During the first week of the exhibition it was visited by 1,236 citizens. The second week the attendance had increased to 1,337. The number for the third week was 1,242. This says much for a genuine interest in Auckland of the things that matter. The engravings in possession of the City Council will take the place of the etchings in this room when the show closes on Sunday. These engravings include the three recently presented bv Mr. A. S. Bankart. A recent gift to the library, by the way, is a set of Robert Burns, which Mr. Henry Shaw, of Wellington, has expanded (by the collection of nearly 700 apt illustrations) from six volumes to eight. Many of these illustrations are of great beauty and considerable value. It will be recalled that when Mr. Alan Wilkie saw the library’s Edin-burgh-printed Polio of Shakespeare, which v/as extended in a similar manner by about 2,000 illustrations, he at once demanded its price. Such a volume to the Shakespearian producer, he explained, by reason alone of its informative bearing on costume, wa.s of the highest importance and value. Needless to say the folio was not sold. —ERIC RAMSDEN.