Title

Melbourne Prints 1960' stimulating.

Author

Canberra Times

Source

Canberra Times. Canberra, 1926 - ongoing.

Details

28 May 1960, page 2, column 1

Publication date

28 May 1960

Type

Exhibition review

Language

English

Country of context

Australia

Full text

"MELBOURNE PRINTS 1960" STIMULATING
Thirteen talented Victorian artists have formed a group which calls itself "Melbourne Prints 1960." This exhibition of lithographs, lino prints, etchings and silk screen prints at the Canberra Art Club was opened last night by Professor Fitzgerald, of the Australian National University. Prof. Fitzgerald, in a most interesting talk, commented on how printing processes developed for a purely utilitarian purpose by Buddhist monks for the making of tracts had developed into a pure, art form.

Of the 51 prints, only a few are uninteresting, most of them being stimulating and inventive.

Mary MacQueen in a lithographic "Mother and Child" uses sensitive ochre lines which suggest form with a minimum of detail. Her "Crater Country," a litho graph in grey, khaki and spotty black is arresting. Economy of means is illustrated in Robert Grieve's lithographic "Around the Harbour." Tense criss-crossing lines in grey and black make angular shapes which suggest movement and airiness.

"The Postman," by Edith Wall, has a vitality and humour which is assisted by washes of delicate colour and the inventive use of line. The softness of lithographic line is in strong contrast to the solid blacks and scintillating whites of Noel Counihan's line cut "An Old Man."

Barbara Brash illustrates the use of overprinting in lino cut on rice paper, using many strong, transparent colours. The Peacock" is a radiating composition with pattern and line assisting the glowing colours to make it most decorative. Lesbia Thorpe uses the same technique in a more illustrative but no less cheerful way in "Summer Procession."

The strong matt-colours of the silk screen prints are eye-catching, but one misses the surface quality of oil paint and finds the colour too flat. "Cliffs and Sea," by R. Bisley, is well constructed and has some feeling of. space. An interesting feature of the exhibition is the display of prints in the making and the blocks used to print them, clearly illustrating the various printing techniques.

The pictures are for sale unframed.

The pictures will be on view at No. 8 Riverside at lunch time and in the evenings from 7.30 p.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and on Saturdays and Sundays, from 2.30 to 5 p.m. until June 5.

[Canberra Times, 28 May 1960, page 2].

Web address

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/103080859

Last Updated

10 Jan 2025