WOMEN ARTISTS

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 964, 6 May 1930, Page 14

WOMEN ARTISTS

EXHIBITION OF WORK OILS AND WATERCOLOURS Women evidently carry the banner of art in Auckland. Without the encouragement they so honestly deserve they work in the fulfilment of a high tradition, producing much that is 'beautiful and interesting. Some indication of what is being done by the women artists of Auckland can be gleaned from a visit to an exhibition of their work now being held in rooms at 240 Queen Street under the auspices of the Cretia Art Craft. It is a collection, for the most part, of admirable work, though one or two of the painters have not the freedom so essential to good watercolours.

Ida Eise has several beautiful oil studies, particularly one or “Kowhais in Bloom.” Her work is fresh and free, excellent in design, and has a lovely atmospheric quality. One of E. Fenton’s most charming pictures is a boat harbour in which colour has been handled very delicately. Lucretia Johnson delights in flower and garden studies. She revels in bold colour. There are two splendid studies—one of the corner of an Auckland garden and another of the University tower from Albert Park. Ethel Jones makes good use of bold colour and in “From Titirangi” has contrived to give the effect of the quaint decorative quality of rolling hills. Her work is strong in colour, particularly in one beach scene. Olive Lloyd uses her watercolour with exquisite subtlety. No. 50 is a lovely little study. There is a nice wet feeling about Ivy Perry’s watercolour. She works with a broad brush and obtains some fine effects. A view from Mount Eden is excellently balanced and an interior has fine quality and balance. Ella Spicer is at her best in "Among the Hills” and “Primrose Garden,” two fine examples of painting. Connie Lloyd’s lino-cuts are very fine. Her etchings, too, will repay an inspection. Minnie White delights in sunshine and atmospheric effects. She has several Australian scenes on exhibition, all of them clear and fresh and full of colour. Alice Whyte is not afraid to use colour vigorously, either water or oil. There is a pleasant freedom about all her work. Hilda Wiseman’s “Pastoral” is full of charm and the “Hayrick” study is excellently treated. D. V. Young has Imprisoned some of the glamour of the tropics in studies of Samoa. European and New Zealand scenes are also given individual treatment. Olive Tonkin, E. Ryburn and F. Fletcher are also represented at the exhibition.