ART
THE ARTS IN NEW ZEALAND: FEB-RUARY-MARCH and APRIL-MAY, 1945. Harry H. Tombs, Wellington. T is interesting to note that the serial numbers of these two issues are 66 and 67, and the volume number 17. That represents more than 16 years of service to art without any reward but the satisfaction it has brought to the founder of the publication and, occasionally, to those who have helped him with contributions. But three numbers back Art singular became The Arts plural, the
quarto became an octavo, colour reproductions disappeared, and with Howard Wadman as assistant-director, and a more popular price, a drive began for a wider measure of public interest. A reviewer has no means of knowing what the public think; he must in fact not even ask such questions of himself; but it is his job to ask why they should be coming round if there are plain signs that they are, and in this case the answer is easy. The publication has come to life. It is better printed and better dressed (within its narrower limits), has received a better average run of contributors, and is encouraging them to be critical as well as appreciative. In these two numbers, for example, we have Professor Sewell asking whether New Zealand’s dramatic activity is "all as impressive as it sounds"; a comment on the Auckland School of Art by Dr. C. E. Beeby; a long poem by Allen Curnow; a view of aesthetic education by A. R. D. Fairburn; and two really luminous pieces of appreciation-one of Owen R. Lee, by Francis A. Shurrock, and the other of John Weeks, by Jess Whitworth. Although all the art work exhibited is in black-and-white, the reproductions are in general so bold and clear that the loss of colour is not, nearly so painful as might have been expected. If this standard can be maintained, success ought to be certain. If it can’t be, the reason will probably be that the field is limited and has already been well ploughed; and in that case the good will be the destroyer of the better-the patient work of 16 years will aye left too little to be done.
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 13, Issue 315, 6 July 1945, Page 11
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363ART New Zealand Listener, Volume 13, Issue 315, 6 July 1945, Page 11
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Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
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