Drawings from the Collection
by Twentieth Century Artists

27 June - 30 August 1998

For centuries drawing has been fundamental to the making of art. Often the production of the finished drawing is an end in itself, but more frequently the artist’ s drawing skills are used as a vehicle to carry ideas from one medium to another.

Today, as in the past, the ability to draw is crucial and synonymous with the claim to be an artist. In this exhibition all the participants, whether they work chiefly as painters or printmakers, demonstrate in their drawings that there is no doubt as to their claim to be labelled 'artist'

Eighteen major Canterbury artists are represented in Drawings From the Collection from circa 1905 to 1995. From the early years of the twentieth century, Leonard Booth, James Cook and Russell Clark demonstrate conventional styles and the use of the traditional drawing media of pencil and ink. Drawings by the painters, Evelyn Page, Olivia Spencer Bower and William Sutton date from the 1950s to 70s. The drawings of Alan Pearson, Barry Cleavin, Tony Fomison and Jeffery Harris demonstrate the expansion of traditional approaches during the 1970s.

The most contemporary artists, Jason Greig, Joanna Braithwaite, Bianca van Rangelrooy, Bill Hammond and William Dunning clearly take drawing techniques beyond the bounds of the real towards the unreal. Yet one factor ties all these works together. It is that all these artists still hold to the traditional drawing values as they advance the works in their own unique way.

This exhibition was held at the Robert McDougall Art Gallery in the Botanic Gardens.