CSA: The Radical, the Reactionary and the Canterbury Society of Arts 1880-1996, the work of arts commentator and art historian Dr Warren Feeney, has set out to rehabilitate the reputation of New Zealand’s art societies.
Dr Feeney said that from the 1950s onwards, art societies had been considered conservative and reactionary institutions that failed to nurture the work of younger and supposedly more radical artists.
However, through a study of the history of the Canterbury Society of Arts (CSA) from its foundation in 1880, Dr Feeney has revealed that the institution played a prominent and significant role in supporting and advocating for the arts for more than 100 years.
Artists who benefited from the CSA’s support included Margaret Stoddart, Frances Hodgkins, Bill Sutton, Petrus van der Velden and Colin McCahon.
“It is still assumed in most histories of the arts in New Zealand that the Canterbury Society of Arts, alongside other art societies, hindered the growth of the arts in this country. This book seeks to correct that impression.”
Dr Feeney, who completed an MA in art history at the University of Canterbury in 1996, was director of the Centre of Contemporary Art (COCA Gallery), formerly the Canterbury Society of Arts, from 1999 to 2010. He has researched and written about New Zealand art in academic and popular publications since the late 1980s. CSA: The Radical, the Reactionary and the Canterbury Society of Arts 1880-1996 grew out of his PhD thesis, which he completed through the University of Otago in 2009.
CSA: The Radical, the Reactionary and the Canterbury Society of Arts 1880-1996, by Warren Feeney, published by Canterbury University Press, October 2011, RRP$49.95, hardback, 224pp, ISBN 978-1-877257-94-0
Below a selection of images from the profusely illustrated book:
Top to bottom:
Page 128 image:
From the late 1970s T.L. Rodney Wilson established new levels of professionalism in the arts in Christchurch. As Senior Lecturer in Art History at the University of Canterbury in 1976 he wrote to the CSA, proposing that the gallery collaborate in developing a touring exhibition of artists such as Milan Mrkusich, Ralph Hotere and Don Peebles. Wilson suggested: “If the CSA Council is able to guarantee (1) assistance with the sponsorship search; (2) the provision of a skilled carpenter…able to prepare mounts, exhibition installation material and packing cases to my designs; and (3) an initial research fund to allow students and myself to travel, select works, collect material…for illustration in the book, I would be happy to approach Reeds and the Arts Council with a proposal for a national formalist book and exhibition initiated by the CSA in conjunction with the Art History department of the University of Canterbury.” His request was declined, as the project was beyond the gallery’s limited resources. Art New Zealand, No. 19 Autumn 1981, p.53.
Page 142 image:
Jim Barr, photographed at the Dowse in 1979, became the gallery’s director after David Millar’s resignation in July 1976. A graduate of the University of Canterbury School of Fine Arts, Barr had worked as a television floor manager and art director for publishers A.H. & A.W. Reed. Alongside Luit Bieringa, Ken Gorby , Bill Milbank and Ron O’Reilly, he represented a new generation of ambitious arts professionals keen to engage and challenge new audiences with contemporary art. Hutt News, 3 February 1981, p.4.
In 1930, when it was purchased, Russell Clark’s The Island Trader (1929, watercolour, 495 x 553mm) was an impressive work by a young contemporary Canterbury artist. It was also one of two paintings – the other was Dorothy Richmond’s Mt Sefton – purchased by the CSA from its 50th annual exhibition with the Christchurch City Council grant. The society paid £15 15s for Clark’s work. Courtesy of the Estate of Russell Clark, Christchurch Art Gallery Trust Collection.
Page 178 image:
The opening of the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu on 10 May 2003. Courtesy of Brendan Lee. Robert and Barbara Stewart Library and Archives, CAG.
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