Page 21 - Studio International - November 1967

knowledge and sensitiveness and imagination. In The Empty Canvas, the hack painter of nudes is should give himself in his work. Only those who have
It is again Proust, with his perception of artistic seen as a justification for the total cessation of paint- tried know how difficult it is.
necessity, who sums up whatthe painter has achieved ing. Better not to paint at all than paint like this. There Each of us works for different ends under different
when he has as it were met himself in his painting, is a certain triumph about indicting someone's work pressures...without these differences we could never
when he has realized himself: when one has had the good taste to withhold oneself accept the difference in achievement. The only thing we
The facts of life have no meaning for the artist, they are from the canvas. But ultimately even a poor painting share is the magnitude of the difficulty we face; the
to him merely an opportunity for exposing the naked is more interesting than an empty canvas and it is technical difficulty...it is the difficulty that unites us-
blaze of his genius. One feels unmistakeably when one the myriad mediocrities who create the climate for the difficulty of making the intangible tangible, of
sees side by side ten portraits of different people painted the master. creating a cold form to contain our fervent content.
by Elstir, that they are first and foremost Elstirs. What one asks of painter and writer alike is that he (John Berger: A Painter of our Time)

Conservation Correspondence Meegeren. If he does so I am convinced that he will
wonder why on earth anyone, even an uncritical
Gallery Closures enthusiast, ever thought they might have been
Craftsmanship is under a constant assault from light, painted by Vermeer.
humidity, temperature and air pollution. Unique Dear Sir, The answer to Mr Fry's paragraph is that admiration
works of art have been subject to these predators As one connected with dealing in modern painting is not enough. Critical and informal admiration is
since their inception. Is it possible that their life span and sculpture (and I trust that for this reason you not likely to be deceived by forgeries, nor to accept
can be increased? This has been the problem argued will allow me to use the pseudonym at the foot of my them for anything but the artistically negligible pro-
and discussed by more than three hundred conser- letter) I am disturbed at the excitable reports in the ductions they are. That a forgery has, at some stage
vators at the recent London Conference of the Inter- Press about gallery closures in London. These make in its career, been accepted by those whose enthusi-
national Institute for Conservation of Historic and 'good stories', but I believe they do an injustice to asm has outrun their judgement does not alter this
Artistic Works. gallery owners here and suggest quite erroneously a fact.
Uncontrolled illumination is one of the greatest falling-off of interest in art, a reluctance to collect, etc. Yours faithfully,
single enemies; the presence of ultra-violet rays can Galleries, like hotels, theatres, furniture-makers, car George Savage
cause serious fading, and when combined with high manufacturers and everyone else, have suffered London, W.2
relative humidity can wreak disaster with fabrics and from the 'squeeze and the uncertainties caused by
sensitive materials. Not only must the museum and the Arab-Israel conflict. They have suffered in Los
gallery planners of tomorrow plan for ultra-violet ray Angeles and New York, Paris and Milan, just as they The spelling of names
filtration and also maintain a correct level of light have in London. Yet anyone looking carefully at the Dear Sir,
that will remove risk; at the same time they must scene would have to admit that financial irresponsi- When Mr E. Lucie-Smith lists the Paris avant-garde
allow for the maximum in visual appreciation. bility and family differences over policy have paid a as consisting of 'Manoury and Lourdes Castro', full-
With a constant flow of exhibitions between coun- big role in gallery closures-and, in one case, that stop (Studio International, Oct. 1967, page 164), does
tries, the transport of the priceless and rare becomes of the go-ahead and much-regretted McRoberts and he refer to Armand Arsène Mannoury, a painter of
an urgent problem for the conservator. It is a long Tunnard Gallery, great misfortune in the untimely sickly landscapes in the 1890-ies, or to Jacques
time since the first director of the National Gallery, death of the financial partner. In general, however, Monory, inventor of azure flesh ?
Sir Charles Eastlake, in the nineteenth century was financial considerations have not been the chief One is entitled to a little bit of precision from
faced with the loss of a Fra Angelico at sea; a happen- ones. Moreover, against closures one must set the English critics...even when they deal with the
ing which today should be unlikely. But the sending fact that several new galleries have opened, on Cork French scene, as glimpsed from Cuba. It is, believe
of objects winging round the world by jet has brought Street and elsewhere, and that one or two lively me, Sir, small consolation to find Mr Lucie-Smith mis-
further dangers. High vibration and pressure change galleries have done well enough to expand into large spelling many of his Cuban names as well.
can threaten damage to fragile objects and grounds. West End premises. Yours,
There can also be a possibility of mould growth What is also overlooked is that too often there has Gerald Bonnefoy
when susceptible materials are taken through cli- been an element of amateurishness about some Issy-les-Moulineux, France
matic zones-if unsuitably packed. gallery managements, in both financial and general
Much has been put out in recent years on air pollu- business arrangements, and that such galleries [Edward Lucie-Smith, writing of the Salon de Mai at
tion, but perhaps not so much has been realized about inevitably pay the price. Havana, wrote: 'There were also representatives of
the potent effect of air pollution on paint films, patina, Yours, etc., the younger Paris avant-garde, such as Manoury and
textiles, and other sensitive materials. In one of the Robert Upton Lourdes Castro.' He informs us that the spelling of
papers the horrific total of 12,000 tons of pollutant on London, W.1 Manory's name was taken from the Havana cata-
Los Angeles County per day was quoted. The result logue, and that the spelling of Cuban names was
for the curator is that for anything like complete taken from captions attached to photographs sent
protection he must instal filtration and air condition- 'Bad' and 'good' forgeries by the Cuban cultural authorities.]
ing. Dear Sir,
Under certain conditions the visitor may be the In my experience no forgery is good enough to with-
cause of the attack. In 1960 the paintings at Lascaux stand unbiassed examination which is sufficiently In other publications
sprouted green obliterating algae. Part of the cause expert, and the fact that some paintings in well
was the increase in carbon dioxide' concentration known private and public collections appear to be Cimaise
from the public. Bacterial growths were also noticed accepted does not mean that they are unquestioned No. 80-81 is a special issue dealing with Canada,
and attributed to organic traces from the same source. -merely that doubts have not yet been expressed covering painting, drama, architecture, music and
Today the situation is nearly stabilized after treat- publicly. Canadian writers. It is well illustrated and the text,
ments with antibiotics and formaldehyde sprays, and Apart from certain categories of modern painting in French and English, gives fresh information, in
by the control of relative humidity, temperature and where normal methods of examination are impossible particular on the activities of French-Canadian
carbon dioxide concentration level. I am convinced that no forgery is 'good' enough to artists, writers, etc. No. 82 has an article by Jacques
The savagery of Florence and the slow sodden pass muster if it is properly investigated. The diffi- Lassaigne on the arts at Expo 67.
torture of Venice are pointers to destruction that culty, all too often, is to make such an investigation.
should awaken the dullest sense. Not so obvious per- The sale-room is usually the place where paintings Fylkingen Bulletin 2
haps are the slow and insidious depredations caused achieve their correct level, although, even here, for- The international edition, English language section,
John FitzMaurice Mills
by time and elements. geries of minor artists sometimes slip through un- contains an article on 'Experiments with Electronic
(The International Institute for Conservation of questioned because not enough is at stake. Pictures' by Nam June Paik, 'Music for Solo
Historic and Artistic Works was founded in 1950 to Your correspondent, writing from Amsterdam, is in Performer', by Alvin Lucier, and 'Algorithms and
foster the care and future of works of art and antiquities). a good position to examine the forgeries of Van Art' by Gunnar Hellström.