Page 56 - Studio International - July/August 1967

LONDON the student's creative imagination ... Perception, own. They are fascinating to look at, and to this
objects produced do have a real vitality of their
looking and seeing, is developed together with the
commentary by ability to express and translate the visible world extent the course must be held to succeed.
through study in various media and from various
Edward Lucie-Smith
viewpoints.' One might retort to this that this is But, like everyone else, I worry about the future
the point of a more conventional academic training of all the young artists that our various art colleges
also, and that the rebellious young Monet, in are busy turning out. The three hopefuls recently
Matisse lithographs at Lumley Cazalet; Gleyre's Paris studio in the middle of the nineteenth at the GRABOWSKI GALLERY, for example: what
Manchester College of Art and Design century, was being asked to develop the same will happen to them? Michael John Davidson,
at R.W.S. Galleries; Michael John
qualities by the traditional method of studying the Frank Dolphin and Christine Smith are all work-
Davidson, Frank Dolphin and Christine nude model before him. What happens in the ing in varieties of the Pop idiom, and it emerges
Smith at Grabowski; Paolozzi at
course at Manchester, however, seems rather to be from a study of their work how exhausted this has
Hanover; Michael Kidner at Axiom; a codification of Dada and Surrealist procedures, become. Davidson's manikins, half-way between
Robyn Denny at Kasmin; Peter Ibbetson and this is of deep significance for the light it dolls and true sculpture, have the vitality of cari-
at Circle; Roy Ascott at Hamilton
throws on current attitudes towards art. And the cature. We all know that the Foreign Secretary

It's just at this time of the year that the exhibition Matisse Nude sitting with raised arms 1925 original lithograph, signed in pencil, edition
of 10 numbered impressions
season starts to crumble and the critic to lose all
morale. Some shows foreshadow the barren season
to come, when 'gallery artists' adorn the walls,
and none but tourists come to look at them. Some,
on the other hand, are worthy of serious notice.
Perhaps on the principle of giving precedence to
new corners, it seems best to begin with the show
of Matisse prints at the LUMLEY CAZALET GALLERY
in Davies Street. Not that Matisse himself is pre-
cisely a newcomer, but this particular gallery is
having its first show. It makes an auspicious debut.
The gallery's purpose is to specialize in prints by
modern masters. Of all the great 'moderns' Matisse
is the easiest to absorb. The prints on show illus-
trate his agreeable hedonism—ballet dancers,
exotic nudes, a few female portraits. The range is
restricted, in mood and subject alike, but the effect
is one of superb professionalism. Matisse is very
much the heir of Delacroix and Renoir. In his
choice of subject he is also the heir of Degas, and
here the comparison is not wholly advantageous to
him. Matisse's dancers belong to the twenties, that
is to the second generation of Diaghilev's Ballets
Russes. The period is that of Nijinska's Les Biches.
To judge from the photographs taken at the time,
Matisse has caught the 'type' very well. But though
they are more elegant, these dancers are less alive
than the muscular little creatures which Degas
shows us. It's significant, for instance, that Matisse
invariably chooses the moment of repose, while
Degas often picks the instant of strain. And, in any
case, a Degas dancer relaxing is very different
from one by Matisse who is doing the same thing.
Matisse's dancers are self-conscious, and always
aware of their audience. The draughtsmanship
lacks edge. This, I confess, is said in defence of my
feeling that Matisse is not really as important an
artist as he is now cracked up to be.
To pass from him to what is frankly a student
show may seem, nevertheless, to be too violent a
transition. Yet the show recently staged by the
Manchester College of Art and Design at the
R.W.S. GALLERIES in Conduit Street was full of
interest. The exhibition was designed to illustrate
the Foundation Studies Course at the College, and
artists' names were not given. As the catalogue-
preface put it: 'The course has several functions,
perhaps the most important is the development of
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