Untitled

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 459, 14 September 1928, Page 14

affair, is the only gathering of its kind in Sydney’s art wor(d. Naturally, it is an eagerly anticipated event. New Zealanders who have attended it will assure you that it is not the ordinary boresome smoke night the majority of us would willingly escape. The conversazione. Students revel on the last night of the exhibition. Visits from club members and organisations interested in . art. Chats by leading artists to students. There is something continuously taking place in the gallery to stimulate Interest in the show. Consequently, there is frequent mention of it in the newspapers. Every possible publicity channel is used.

Auckland might very well take a few hints from the Royal Art Society. It would be impossible, I know, to accomplish the whole of this programme. But a beginning might be made; If art is to take its proper place in the lives of the people, and there is no reason why it should not, there must be a change. Frank Hutchens, of the State Con-seri-atorium, and a good New Zealander, to boot, was asked to take charge of the musical arrangements for the Sydney show just closed. His programmes were a delight. Modern works, too, had their share. They were of genuine interest to music lovers, and not the stereotyped selections that one might possibly expect. The secret of the Royal Art Society’s success was skilled organisation. This is not easily achieved. It means hard, and, often disappointing work. But the result justifies the labour. I send this information in the hope that it may be of some service to.art in Auckland. When sales decrease year after year, and a city of her size and importance cannot offer her painters inducement to proffer their creative work, something is radically wrong. Artists, after all like other folk, must live. ' —ERIC RAMSDEN. Sydney, September 1.