ARTISTS ORGANISE TO AID WAR EFFORT

New Zealand Listener, Volume 4, Issue 100, 23 May 1941, Page 12

ARTISTS ORGANISE TO AID WAR EFFORT

tured as long-haired, escapist fellows, immersed in aesthetics, and painting away in their studios when the ceiling is falling. But, however little evidence of world turmoil their work may present, New Zealand artists are at least not unconscious that there is a war on. Practical evidence of their eagerness to help in the humanitarian side of the war effort is their donation to the National Patriotic Fund Board of a collection of A are frequently carica-

nearly 150 paintings, which will be shown at art galleries throughout New Zealand, and afterwards auctioned, all proceeds going to patriotic funds. Sponsored by the New Zealand Society of Artists, a newlyformed group which includes a majority of the working artists of the Dominion, the collection had its first showing at Nelson on May 1, and will stay approximately a fdrtnight in each centre. The value placed on the pictures is clearly indicated, and they can be bought while the exhibition is on tour. Naturally, the Patriotic Board will not be disappointed if only a small number of pictures completes the tour. The collection is a good __ representative show of New Zealand

art, the average value being round about £10 a picture. Since the main idea is to sell pictures, and the public’s taste is fairly conservative, it includes few examples of modern trends in aft. All Working Artists The New Zealand Society of Artists was founded 18 months ago in an endeavour to set up a body apart from the Academy and the Art Societies which would look after artists’ interests and act on their behalf. The members are (Continued on next page)

ane NEW ZEALAND ARTISTS (Continued from previous page)

all working artists, and the welcome it received is obvious from the fact that it now has 140 members, including approximately 40 in Auckland, and 60 in Wellington. South Island artists have joined up in good numbers and more are expected to join when the society has time to organise meetings in the south. President is Sydney L. Thompson, one of New Zealand’s leading oil painters; vice-presidents are R. O. Gross, R. N. Field, Ida H. Carey, H. Linley Richardson, R. Hipkins:and W. H. Allen; the secretary is W. Basil Honour; and the council comprises Marcus King, F. V. Ellis, Mrs. T. E. Y. Seddon, Russell Clark, Harry H. Tombs and R. J. Waghorn. These names are all well known in New Zealand art, and there is no preponderance of followers of any artistic cult or idea. Nearly eight years ago an attempt was made to form a similar body in Christchurch, but it failed, principally on account of the too ambitious undertak-

--~ ing of exhibitions. These are costly luxuries for New Zealand art societies. On top of rent for a gallery, which may come to two or three guineas a day, the distance between New Zealand centres makes freight on pictures an unusually heavy charge. One of the first ways in which the Society of Artists was able to be of practical assistance to its members was in the procuring of artists’ materials. A questionnaire filled in by members last December indicated that 68 per cent. were unable to obtain their necessary supplies of materials. The society thereupon made representations to the Government, with the result that artists can now obtain materials direct from the society. Official War Artist _ Another matter in which the society has interested itself has been the ap--pointment of an official war artist. The majority of members have expressed themselves in favour of this, and also in favour of the appointment of Russell Clark, The Listener’s artist. Russell Clark’s claims were subsequently endorsed officially by the society.

Other questions on which the society has endeavoured to canvass opinions are the representation of local artists’ work in the art galleries; the general standard of art galleries in this country; the value of a: loan collection of contemporary New Zealand work continuously on view and for sale in all art galleries; and the restriction of free importation of overseas work. Declaration of Rights The tolerance of the society toward all forms of artistic expression is shown in a "declaration of artistic rights" passed at a recent meeting. The society declared itself "unequivocally for the right of the artist to express himself in any chosen manner, for the general recognition of this right, for the tolerance of all individual differences, for the right of the artist to exhibit all work of integrity of emotion and/or conception, and for the unbiased study of the artist’s purpose." In a country where the public has had little opportunity of studying and appreciating the more modern movements in art, this declaration is not as elementary as it might at first appear.