PostMedia Network Buries David Milne Exhibition

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David Milne, “Red Pool, Temagami,” 1929

oil on canvas (private collection, Toronto; photo by Michael Cullen)

A recent review of the current David Milne exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery (“A few bright spots doesn’t save disappointing David Milne exhibition” by Kevin Griffin, August 17, 2018 in the online Art Seen blog in both the Vancouver Sun and The Province) was, to parrot the writer’s words, disappointing, underwhelming and a dud. Moreover, it gives art writing a bad name.

It’s hardly a revelation to learn that people harbour personal preferences. Particularly when it comes to art, many laypersons are apt to strenuously express their individual opinions. However, for a major media outlet to publish such an ill-formed assessment was unfortunate.

Was the Milne show a disappointment? The operative questions should have been: If you wish to see Milne’s work, was this exhibition helpful? Did it gather significant or representative examples from the artist’s career? Did it overlook important aspects of his art? Did it skew the sampling in some detrimental way? Was the publication informative? Within these bounds, individual preferences can be usefully expressed.

No one who has seen the Milne exhibition could plausibly comment that it does not accurately present the heart of the artist’s aesthetic obsessions, subjects and achievements. It cannot be a “disappointing” Milne exhibition if it appropriately gives the public an opportunity to objectively view his key accomplishments.

Full public disclosure: Milne is not among my most favourite artists of the period. That aspect needs be placed aside, since my own likes simply don’t matter. This exhibition is a gathering of exemplary works by an artist of acknowledged contribution to the cultural life of this nation. For decades, his works have enthralled viewers in exhibitions, public collections and countless monographs. He has justly entered into the historical record as a giant. We haven’t had a chance to see a compendium of his work in many decades. Just maybe, some of us, including me, will gain a revised perspective through this exhibition.

So thank you to the Vancouver Art Gallery and the other museum venues that have provided this opportunity to experience Milne’s art firsthand.

The writer obfuscates the defence of his disdain for Milne’s art without logic. He looks for affirmation of his views by quoting as a confrère the ramblings of British writer Jonathan Jones, the hapless arch-conservative dullard of Dulwich about whom I’ve commented at length in Galleries West. He could have chosen from among other commendable commentaries published over many decades by leading, credible, informed and qualified observers.

The writer attempts to demonstrate his ‘art cred’. He decries that Milne heads to the wilderness to the detriment of his art. In his judgment, Milne makes paintings that are cramped and physically small: about 20” by 24”. He rhetorically asks where are the bold gestures of Tom Thomson? (Spoiler alert: some 90 per cent of Thomson’s works are 8” by 10”).

In fairness, when it comes to art, this writer is possibly a victim of the inexorable cost cutting at the PostMedia Network and is tasked with writing on unfamiliar subjects. Most people know little that is of any value to publicly share about art. The essential difference is that this person was provided with a pulpit to spread irrelevant musings and detrimental disinformation to dissuade the public from attending the exhibition.

If you are intrigued by art, Canadian art, the art of the Canadian wilderness or art by a quiet, introspective, transcendental spirit, then just go. The show closes Sept. 6.