Page 15 - Studio International - August 1965

Editorial

Recently a storm in une tasse du the has blown up over Marzotto Prize winners, as was Corneille and Wilfredo
the refusal of the Musee National d'Art Mod'erne in Lam, do not and in fact cannot flourish purely on the
Paris to house the exhibition of entries for the Marzotto local fame that attaches to him as an artist of one
European Community Prize for Painting, an exhibition country. He has an active New York dealer and in this
which had already been seen at Valdagno. Italy, where it is possible that some of the French rancour is seated.
the prizes were awarded, then at the Staatliche Time was when the streets on the Left Bank in Paris
Kunsthalle. Baden-Baden, the Whitechapel Art Gallery, echoed to the twanging voices of Middle Western
London. the Louisiana Museum. Copenhagen. and the collectors searching Europe for modern masterpieces.
Stedelijk Museum. Amsterdam. Apparently Mr. Jean Then French dealers such as Rosenberg, Matisse,
Cassou, who was a member of the jury awarding the Wildenstein, decided it was not good enough to await
Marzotto Prize and is also Director of the Musee the visitors; they opened establishments in New York
National d'Art Moderne in Paris. had agreed to the and the export business was done on the spot. That it
dates of the exhibition but following the award of the was logically successful can be proved by the case of
prizes wrote to the organisers saying that the exhibition. Martial Raysse. a French artist, showing with Alexandre
since it did not include the work of any prize winners lolas. His New York exhibition was such a sell-out that
who were of French nationality or of the School of the gallery's Paris branch was worried that the
Paris. would constitute a rebuff to France and he had exhibition advertised to follow there would not be
been instructed by the Minister of State for Cultural possible without carrying only loaned works.
Affairs (Mr. Andre Malraux) not to present the The international art exhibition has become an
exhibition. Despite representations to the Minister by established feature of the present day scene and while
the Marzotto Prize Organisation, the decision was not one can take exception to the operation of juries. by
rescinded. although the show did go on-at the Galerie and large the hanging together of the works by artists of
Raymond Creuze. Paris. most nations provides a possibility of comparison
While one may sympathise with Mr. Cassou on the which. after all, is the keystone of taste. The biennial
embarrassment caused to him by the decision of the exhibitions at Venice, Sao Paulo and Paris are now
Minister. it is worth while considering if the decision secure in their support from the contributing countries;
has produced any valid result beyond proving that the the organisation is based on the internationality
French are becoming unduly sensitive to any reflection mentioned above. The dangers and the faults of jury
that all is not well in Paris as an artistic nursery in which votes are or should be accepted by everyone involved.
genius in painting, sculpture and the allied arts must Nothing is perfect in the decisions of majorities that
thrive and succeed. This sensitivity has in fact drawn must by such decisions create minorities. Corporate
attention to itself in a particularly petty fashion such as verdicts are no more than the luck of the draw that
the mounting of the exhibition itself as originally decides how many will be more of one way of thought
agreed would not have done. despite the excuses of the than the other. Patriotism is not enough, as was said
authorities. in a more tragic context, and the balancing vote should
France. after all, is the second home of all artists as has be cast to quality.
been said frequently but as a second home it does not Count Paolo Marzotto, President of the European
as of right confer nationality on the artist living and Community Prize that bears his name, has thought it
working there. Picasso, to take the arch-example, is right to circulate the facts regarding the refusal of the
none the less Spanish for all the years he has spent in French authorities to honour an agreement to show the
France-and given a change of political regime in his paintings at the Musee National d'Art Moderne. This is
native country he would as likely as not make his in fact the second occasion when the French authorities
home there once again, for the bull fights, if for nothing have refused to house the exhibition in a national
else. Recent events have also proved that Paris is losing museum after previously agreeing to do so. The first
some of its attraction for artists to live and work in vis occasion was in 1963 when they requested the removal
a vis the increasing facilities and more sympathetic of a painting by Matta from the exhibition as a con­
atmosphere that are growing in other countries. dition of housing it. Since Matta was the Grand Prize
England and particularly London is proving that the old winner, the organisers could not accept the condition
attitude of non-sympathy with the artist is passing and and certainly no one can blame them.
that a painter can live and work as cheaply in England As was said before, it was a storm in a tea cup. Looking
as in Paris and, what is more encouraging can have the at the leaves in a cup some people profess themselves
possibility of an exhibition at one of the hundred or so capable of telling fortunes. We could not claim to do
galleries now open. so but a prediction could be fairly safely made. The
For better and worse, the war and the Nazi pogrom Marzotto Prize will continue; for the hungry eyes of the
brought to England a number of very talented and gallery-going public it will be welcome; the jury will
cultivated people. But from their suffering the British continue-to be condemned by the unsuccessful and
artistic community benefited. Galleries were opened­ blessed by the fortunate. Art will continue, such as it is
the Marlborough, Roland, Browse and Delbanco. -and. if we cannot see it, how good or how bad can
Gimpel Fils, the Hanover, the Molton are the chief ones we say it is? Or how wrong the judgment of the jury
-where a European background established a yard­ can be, even if it does not give the palm to a French
stick for the promotion and selling of work by British painter? ■
artists on an international scale. Since the end of the
war. if one thing has been made manifestly clear it is
that art exists in an internationality never known before,
a condition upon which it depends for its survival and
to which it contributes its own value of freedom and
Studio International
Volume CLXX No. 868 equalisation of exchange.
August, 1965 Artists such as Pol Bury, for example. one of the
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