NATIONAL ART TREASURES WERE SAFE AT HASTINGS

New Zealand Listener, Volume 14, Issue 358, 3 May 1946, Page 7

NATIONAL ART TREASURES WERE

SAFE AT HASTINGS

the people of Hastings (Hawke’s Bay) had known during the war.what we can now tell them through The Listener, their friendly rivalry with their sister town, Napier, might have made them crow lustily. For they were, in a sense, guardians of £25,000 worth of art works-the cream of, the National Art Gallery collection. And that figure is more or less arbitrary, for money values in works of art can be only nominal. The secret was shared by very few people. We discovered in a talk with E; D. Gore, secretary of the National Art Gallery, that, when the Japanese entered the war, and the armed forces took over a large part of the Dominion Museum and Art Gallery, the gallery authorities had to find a safe storage place for their exhibits. They selected 400 paintings, drawings and etchings for removal from Wellington, and the main considerations in choosing a safe refuge for them were a dry and reasonably cool building with, of course, an absolute minimum of publicity. The Fire Brigade Knew "Our troubles started with our search for premises, and ended," Mr. Gore told us, "when, through the courtesy of the Public Trustee, Wellington, a suitable room belonging to the Hastings branch of his office was lent to us." This was an ordinary room in a concrete building. It was decided not to roll the canvases, but to take them out of their

frames (leaving them on their stretchers) and pack them flat. Sixteen cases were used; the frames and glass were left in Wellington. "You managed to keep the whole thing secret?" "Oh yes," said Mr. Gore. "We were pretty careful and very few people knew anything about it." "Was there a guard, armed or otherwise?" "No continuous guard, but the building was occupied all the time. One set of keys was kept by the fire brigade and another by a firm of accountants in Hastings." "Were the works inspected regularly?" "Very frequently, and I made periodic inspections myself." "Where are the pictures now?" "They were returned to Buckle Street at the end of November last and are still there in storage," said Mr. Gore. He said he had no idea when they would be on view again. Anyhow, they could not be re-framed until their home was returned to them. A small proportion of the collection was placed on display in a temporary art gallery in the D.LC. Building, Wellington. Some of the Treasures We asked Mr. Gore the names of some of the works sent to Hastings for safety. They included, he said, wellknown paintings such as: "Interior of a Stable," by George Morland; "Self-Por-trait," by Dame Laura Knight; "By

Summer Seas," by Charles Sims; "Santa Maria della Salute," by Sir Frank Brangwyn; "Haymakers," by G. Clauser, and "The Waterfall,’ by P. Wilson Steer. Works of some of the earlier New Zealand artists also went to Hastings. These included many water-colours by John Gully, and the collection of J.C. Richmond’s, James Nairn’s, N. Chevalier’s, and William Swainson’s works. Pictures by Margaret O. Stoddart, Francis Hodgkins, T. A. McCormack, A. F, Nicoll, N. Welch and other contemporary artists also took a trip to Hawke’s Bay for their health’s sake. "And now," said Mr. Gore, "a great amount of work remains to be done before we can show them to the public again,"