DRESDEN ART

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 987, 2 June 1930, Page 13

DRESDEN ART

Fine Display of China Completed

CHEVALIER’S PAINTINGS

Lace one was tempted to touch, only to find it fashioned from porcelain; elegant gentlemen of the

eighteenth century escorting their ladies; rustic figures—and all col-

oured with the utmost delicacy. After three weeks, possibly the fi nest exhibition of Dresden china ever held in New Zealand has just concluded at the Sarjeant Art Gallery, Wanganui. To visitors from outside and larger centres, there must have been a sense ot regret that the display could not be repeated in Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington or Dunedin. A representative of The Sun was informed of a point arising from the exhibition—the value placed on art in New Zealand—by the director of the Sarjeant Gallery. Mr. M. Newrick. Some of the pieces valued by the owners at not more than eight guineas would, he said, certainly bring above 40 guineas at Christie’s. Mr. Newrick is known for his ability in restoring painting-s. Throughout liis association with art, he has studied the science of restoring paintings, and has had many notable successes in this work. He was with George' Rowney’s, London, for 30 years, and Winsor and Newton’s for seven years. The Dresden pieces' are part of the family collection of Mr. and Mrs. James, who have recently come to New Zealand from Yorkshire. There were nearly 50 pieces, some seven or eight inclies high, and all exquisite specimens of the artistry of the masters of Meissen and Dresden. One extraordinarily striking figure was that of a dancer, with the idea of abandoned grace beautifully suggested. Most of the pieces were stately figures, speaking eloquently of the dignity of the times in which they were fashioned. Real artistry was revealed in the representation of lace, fashioned by the hands of the masters into delicate folds and droopings. The Copenhagen ware of the present time, with the figures made in moulds, cannot approach in atmosphere the excellent productions of Meissen and Dresden. SECRET OF DRESDEN Bottger discovered the secret of making Dresden china in 1709, and the first ware was made in the. Royal factory at Dresden. That was why the name was retained even when the manufacture was transeferred to Meissen in 1710. After the first colourings of blues and whites, with underglaze paintings of flowers and figures, canary yellow, apple green, maroon and pale mauve grounds were employed. In 1731, Handler began to model groups, busts and animals. Chimney pieces, ; candelabra, tables, cabinet panels and mural decorations were made later.

The dresden mark is two crossed swords and a crown.

At the time of the Dresden exhibition, the Sarjeant Gallery had another attraction in a complete gallery devoted to sketches and water colours of New Zealand scenery, the work of Nicholas Chevalier, artist to the Duke of Edinburgh, who toured New Zealand in 1866. The 149 works of the collection are owned by the Government and their value lies considerably in the impressions they give of a country rising above the first struggles of colonisation. Chevalier has given the Dominion a record of scenes which have been despoiled by civilisation’s march and, again, of old New Zealand Maori types.

Some of Chevalier’s works have been restored by Mr. Newrick.

The Sarjeant Gallery is earning a name as a progressive institution of art and the enthusiasts who have managed to secure some notable displays of New Zealand work include Mr. Louis Cohen and Mr. C. Hay Campbell, a Slade scholar and an exhibitor at the Royal Academy and the Society of Portrait painters. The paintings on loan from Lord Leverhulme are in themselves sufficient to attract the keenest attention. Fred Roe’s painting, “The Toast is Britain,” showing Lord Nelson at a banquet, is known throughout the British Empire. "The Fountain of Youth,” by Sir Edward Burnes-Jones, and Vicat Cole's “Angry Clouds” are two possessions of importance, and Von Blaas’s piquant study, “Curiosity,” showing two maids venturing to look over a wall into forbidden property, is only one of many excellent works in the collection.