Exhibitions
Impressionist Drawings (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, till 20
April)
Sixteen Studios
(Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, till 29 March)
Away day
Giles Auty
fter a hard winter, the first really
A
warm day stirs up, among other feelings, a desire for pleasant excursions. For those who live, as I do, on the western periphery of London, the completion of the M25 now makes Oxford as quick to get to by car as Islington. Even if the journey involved were several times as long, the present showing of Impressionist drawings at the Ashmolean would justify the trip. The exhibition is an example of Arts Council activities at their best but unfortunately will not be coming to London. After Oxford it travels on only to Manchester and Glasgow. Many now see love of Impressionism as a Prime example of middlebrow taste and as the kind of thing the truly sophisticated grow out of. To the neo-Camden mind all evidence of innocence or happiness is suspect. In our current ignorant com- placency we imagine that any who pro- duced life-affirming art can have had no knowledge of adversity. Since the time of the first world war, the predominant char- acter of 20th-century art has been gloomy and introspective. Historians see this pro- cess as inevitable and thus presumably line UP with those many millions who would absolve humanity at large from responsibil- ity for the carnage of the 1914-18 war, Preferring to see in this the handiwork of the Almighty. However, the example of the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71 sug- gests that despair is not by any means the inevitable outcome of hardship; the work of the artists of the defeated side shows us tdhat they were far from disheartened or lost Camille Pissarro, we know, !,?,st much of his work as a result of the German occupation of Paris. He was forced into exile in London at Sydenham --- a less daunting fate at that time, .admittedly, than it might be today. For the loser, the Franco-Prussian war was cruel, humiliating and costly, yet the future Im- pressionists who saw military service were soon back at work producing paintings and drawings full of extraordinary charm and optimism. Pissarro's beautiful 'Apple- picking' drawing dates from this period and is one of a number of works on show which establish the excellence of his draughts- manship. A later pastel drawing, 'Peasant Women Planting Pea Sticks in the Ground', also showed how Pissarro revel- led in everyday aspects of peasant life as well as in the changing seasons. The day he sets before us is full of high, bright prom- ise; trees are already in blossom and there is anticipation of summer in the air. The drawing glorifies human existence amid the subtle sights, smells and sounds of the countryside. Never to experience these is to be seriously deprived. Among the 80-odd drawings on show, I also recommend especially a lovely Monet seascape and a pastel study of hydrangeas by Ernest-Ange Duez. The latter provides an object lesson for young artists in subtle use of pale blues to create light and space. The delicate, mauvish blue of the flowers contrasts tellingly with the greener blues of the sea and sky beyond them. Duez's sky not only grows paler but also tends to turquoise as it approaches the horizon — a simple optical fact which may be observed by artists and non-artists alike countless times per year — but one which rather oddly seems to have escaped the notice of many contemporary landscape painters. The current exhibition reminds us, if reminder were needed, that artists such as Renoir, Pissarro and Cezanne, no less than Degas, drew beautifully. In former times such ability was looked on as a vital part of any serious artist's make-up. Yet in how many establishments can students learn crucial drawing skills today? The Museum of Modern Art (30 Pem- broke Street, Oxford) is one of a network of Arts Council-funded galleries which are scattered through our provinces. Inter- spersed among the shows these galleries organise for themselves there has generally been a residue of exhibitions put together by the Arts Council of Great Britain or by the regional councils. In theory, Britain's funded galleries choose, pay for and dis- play such exhibitions voluntarily as part of their apparent aim to promote the spread of London-based culture to the heathen regions. In practice they have little choice and in consequence much less autonomy than they would care to suppose. Their own particular Big Brother, the Arts Council of Great Britain, has been watch- ing and often effectively controlling them and is thus at least partly responsible for the plight of those regional galleries now faced with closure. The Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, is not one of these and is embarked on a programme of expansion. Yet the criticism I recently made of Modern collections in general, when writing about the current Tate Gallery exhibition CRetiring Mod- ernist', 1March), applies equally to Modern Art museums: who is to say or define what Modern Art is? The conceptions of those in control tend to be far too narrow and exclusive. If, in practice, the description `Modern Art' excludes so much excellent professional work which is currently being made, then perhaps we should consider setting up state-aided museums of so- called, non-Modern, contemporary art? Our current state institutions were founded to promote contemporary artistic excel- lence rather than Modernist innovation only — for the two concepts are by no means synonymous. If this intention is not truly the case then we are no less guilty of cultural meddling than countries such as the USSR. Trying to encourage a particu- lar and relatively exclusive view of art, via state institutions, can have dangerous and lasting consequences. This said, the current exhibition of the work of 16 Oxford-based artists and photo- graphs has points to commend it. Some of the photographs by Paddy Summerfield, Franta Provaznik and Elizabeth Williams appeared excellent but I must deplore the latter's habit of writing and exhibiting long commentaries about her own work. Much of the painting and sculpture struck me as muddled in thought and execution. Geof- frey Olsen's paintings seem prompted by genuine feeling for the countryside but too much of the other work simply reflects the sad manner in which the artists concerned were taught. Visits to the Ashmolean during the coming month could help set such other- wise promising and talented artists on a sounder and more personally fulfilling road.
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