Editorial

It is impossible to over-estimate the role an individual can play in nurturing and sustaining the arts - especially in this country, with its geographical isolation and size. One such man was Frederick Page who died last December. Although his main area was that of music, both in his years teaching at Victoria University and, more recently, as a lively columnist for the New Zealand Listener - Page was also a perceptive writer on and supporter of the visual arts. In 1976 we asked him to contribute a piece on Rita Angus in our commemorative issue. His comments on his friend were as incisive as they were evocative.

One phrase registered vividly - 'What integrity was shown there, what clarity of statement'. It's a description that could apply equally well to the writer as to the subject. My most vivid memory of Page came from a musicological conference at Auckland University in 1979. The room was stuffy and we'd had a spate of particularly 'academic' addresses. When it was Page's turn he got up, complete with a bold purple tie, and proceeded to discourse on everything from Stockhausen and Darmstadt to the Mozart Clarinet Concerto with wit, perception and evident concern for the entertainment of his audience.

When told that the alotted time was up, he asked for no extension; nor did he launch into a laboured five-minute summation. He simply rounded off his sentence and it was all over. Few would have doubted he could have continued in the same vein for many hours.

Frederick Page will be long remembered as a fervent spokesman for what he believed in, with a deep concern for the quality of our cultural and spiritual life.

The present issue features a number of major articles which bring other side issues into focus. Ross Fraser's piece on Gabrielle Hope and Avenal McKinnon's on Leo Bensemann highlight artists who have still to gain full recognition for their work. Gordon H. Brown's address on the occasion of the Conformity and Dissension exhibition in Auckland looks at some of the same issues in a broader context with a discussion of the pursuit of 'modernism' in New Zealand art of this period.

Leonard Bell, in writing on the paintings of Commander R. A. Oliver, takes account of the sometimes conflicting issues of aesthetic and historic worth, and Russell Stone's piece on John Logan Campbell sheds light on a little-known friendship in the long life of one of Auckland's founding fathers.

The poet lan Wedde writes on the work of Glenn Jowitt; and an interview with film-maker Vincent Ward, made during the editing of his new film Vigil, gives hope that the young director who gave us A State of Siege and In Spring One Plants Alone may create a major breakthrough for New Zealand cinema with his first feature film.

Contemporary painting is represented by Michael Dunn's study of Glenda Randerson's most recent paintings; and in articles covering some of the admirable Artist-in-Focus exhibitions mounted by the Auckland City Art Gallery - those by Gillian Chaplin and Barbara Tuck, Chris Booth and Bronwynne Cornish.

William Dart