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Art

One Hundred Years

Jan Walker

1969 marks the centennial of the birth of Frances Hodgkins, New Zealand's only painter of international acclaim. The Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council has marked the occasion by two exhibitions. The first, "The Origins of Frances Hodgkins", is an excellent introduction to early New Zealand painting and the exhibition of Miss Hodgkins' own work is large and representative of her long career. Such a collection is a notable feat of organisation and the exhibition should receive the attention and support of all persons interested in the cultural development of New Zealand.

Frances Hodgkins' pictures, even her most early ones, have a grace and competence which set them far above paintings of a similar subject-matter painted in New Zealand even today. She chose particularly to work in still-life and landscape, but had she chosen abstract or some other style it is almost as certain she would have succeeded.

Her low-key colours and the intelligent subtlety of her work makes it particularly distinctive. Her colour becomes not merely part of the beauty of her pictures but their structure and their life.

The influences of the French impressionists, notably Matisse and Cezanne, added inspiration to her painting. She adopted the post-impressionist paraphernalia; eggs, gourds, figs, farms, but never lost her own distinctive tastefulness. Her later abandoning of the objects of still-life meant her landscapes were clean and alive; marvellous agglomerations of colour and shape, with no parentage, no past and no direction.

Enough has already been written and spoken elsewhere about the style and quality of Frances Hodgkins' work to evaluate her in historical perspective, She has a position in painting comparable only to Katherine Mansfield in literature and their mutual need to go overseas to become established and recognised, later showing little influence of New Zealand in their work, does to some extent question the right to call them New Zealand artists. An excellent catalogue dealing with Miss Hodgkins' life and individual exhibits is available at the exhibition at present on display at the National Art Gallery.

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Another exhibition dealing with New Zealand history although by a contemporary artist is the Trevor Moffit exhibition being held at the Belt-Duncan Gallery. There are paintings from his "Gold Miner Series" and from his "MacKenzie Series", both of which might have, I imagine, been pretty well flogged to death in previous exhibitions.

I understand Mr Moffit is at present holding an exhibition of a new "Fisherman Series" in Dunedin and it would seem that a touch of something new might not have gone amiss in Wellington. For all that, Trevor Moffit has a fluent, attractive style of painting which renders a friendly feeling to the viewer.

It is only where his figures become too much of a caricature and too little an individual that it appears Moffit is becoming almost commercially stylistic.

"MacKenzie Stealing the Sheep" and "MacKenzie with his Bullock" both have an openness and fluid simplicity which make them appear full of freedom and adventure. The ochre colours of the tussocky MacKenzie country give a camouflage nature to MacKenzie's activities. It is inevitable the pictures demand comparison with Nolan's "Ned Kelly Series", but allowing for Moffit's more limited horizons, I feel he aquits himself adequately.

The "Miner Series" has a number of well-executed pictures, notably the larger ones such as "Sergeant Herlihy" and "Miners Fighting No. 2". In these, where action is given more rein, the subject matter becomes more important and the painting more alive.

Trevor Moffit is using the historical and the more pictorial aspects of New Zealand life for his artistic endeavours. It is a useful and generally successful approach he has adopted.