Page 86 - Studio International - July August 1970

when we read how he boasted about his will ever come back from America. Trans-
technique in getting them for a few thousand atlantic jibes about the 'school of British
dollars less than the asking price. lightweights' began to seem justified.
A failed artist—like Hitler and Van Meeg- The big Pop Art show at the Hayward under-
eren —obsessed by the irrationality and lined the Anglo-American contrast. All our
apparent injustices of the economics of art, de reservations about Warhol disappeared.
Hory is a not unattractive figure though it is Wesselman and Rosenquist appeared majestic
difficult entirely to see him merely as the dupe and Dine exquisite, delicacy with muscle
of his two more active partners as Mr Irving added. Oldenburg's bedroom was obviously
does. 'There's something wonderful about a the finest Pop-style environment yet created.
man like that', remarked one of his victims, Beside these, Richard Hamilton's just What Is
and his own comment on the sight of a group It That Makes Today's Homes... completely lost
of experts ponderously approving the authen- the status chronological history had conferred
ticity of one of his own concoctions, 'It's on it; it looked like the first design for a spec-
amusing, yes. But it's also sad. What is the ial issue postage stamp. Gloomily jabbing the
result of it? What is the moral of it?' pro- juke-box (whose appalling selection—what a
pounds more problems than it solves. q chance was lost there—was not attributed in
BERNARD DENVIR the catalogue), I also gloomed over that whole
wall given up to Kitaj's fatuous book-jackets.
Their random rag-bag of titles seemed only
Depression over England to reveal the total intellectual uncertainty of
Art in Britain 1969-70 by Edward Lucie-Smith his painting, he who's supposed to be the wise
and Patricia White. 164pp. 200 black-and- philosophising father-figure to all our young
white illus. and 36 pp. of colour illustrations. heroes from the RCA; it seemed like one
J. M. Dent. £6. more instance, in some ways perhaps the
source, of the scrap book, family photo-album
This is a good, useful book which chronicles nature of English Pop.
a somewhat depressing year. Its idea is to The RCA Pop stars had a quieter year (and
provide a kind of critical documentation of Peter Blake's retrospective in Bristol is not
all important exhibitions during a twelve- mentioned in this book). Perhaps they were
month period, and to see what the trends painting rather than exhibiting—a possible
were. The authors do this remarkably well, interpretation of artistic life that's necessarily
with longish commentaries on ten major under-emphasised in a survey of this sort. In
shows, and shorter pieces on others. I thought any case, last year quite clearly marked the
they were extremely judicious, which I end of the English Pop scene. We had an icon
suppose was their intention. In all, about a of its demise in Richard Hamilton's Swingeing
hundred artists are mentioned, and there are London; Fraser and Jagger reminded one of
lots of pictures. nothing so much as Masaccio's weeping
What was the year like? It was the year, first expulsees from Eden. And so we English
of all, when London stopped swinging, when returned to our toys, and at the ICA's Play
the flimsy buoyancy that had sustained so Orbit show were allowed and even encour-
much of the smarty English art scene was aged to play with them. Some got smashed,
punctured, cut down to size. There were two some got stolen, and tempers were frayed in
hard lessons in self-knowledge that depressed that all-yellow, boot-scuffed room. Was this
the esteem in which English painting had our Greenbergian 'area of competence' ?
recently been held. 'The Art of the Real', as Towards Christmas the art scene had turned
the authors rightly insist, was a show that very sour, as if we had been sucking pennies.
gave us a jolt, despite the high proportion of Apart from such big public occasions, some
footling works. It demonstrated two things: things remained unchanged. Some painters
that English artists are largely without a sense had good luck, and others, like Ken Kiff (of
of scale, and that contemporary painting here an older generation) and Michael Ginsburg
is naïve—innocent of both the polemics that (of a younger) had bad luck. The Royal
surround American Minimalism and its sense Academy was the same, and so was the London
of intellectual commitment. The significance Group. There was not the slightest whisper of
of the Tate show will probably take some disaffection in the Courtauld Institute, where
time to sink in, and the authors are perhaps talk goes on in whispers anyway, and little of
right in saying that few English artists will specifically artistic interest happened in any
follow this particular line. Large-scale Mini- other university art department. Other things
malism appeared in England, of course, but changed slightly, but only in that we felt a
it seemed as if it were done by boys. It was, distant rumbling from the future; futurist
sometimes. With the exception of Brendan art, disappointingly represented at the Gros-
Nieland's painting, about which everyone venor Galleries in their Severini exhibi-
agreed to be impressed but to reserve judge- tion, should reappear with a major exhibition
ment, the 'Large Paintings for Public Places' by 1973, when we shall perhaps be clearer
exhibition at the RA was disappointing, and about Art Deco, which was a fad last year,
the somewhat similar 'Six at the Hayward' and now awaits the examination of (I hope)
show simply made one wonder if John Walker the best modern art historian/critic to emerge
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