4 ~- Wednesday, February 22, 1989 - North Shore News BoB HUNTER e strictly personal @ AS I was getting ready to leave in the morning for Ottawa, my 10-year-old son, Willy, begged me to take him with me. It was decided that I would hus- tle my butt the first day in Ottawa and try to get all my research done so that we would have the second day free, and I would take him to the National Art Gallery and in- troduce him to Great Art. The new National Art Gallery, by the way, is physically a national treasure itself! As you enter you are heading up a gentle ramp into the echoing maw of a cathedral as large as any I’ve seen in Europe, including the mighty Cathedral of Cologne. OR oe ... we circled back and followed the Canadian section to its conclusion. In the last couple of galleries, as the artwork got more and more modern, Willy’s expression, which had been radiant with discovery, siowly darkened.” OC Yet thanks to a marvellous use of glass in mock-gothic shapes, you seem to be ascending into the heavens. When you reach the foyer at the top, you can see the Houses of Parliament on the bluff across the Oitawa River, as though in a time-warped window. The stark granite walls of the gallery are all shaded, somchew, so that it is as though you had re- ally entered a castle. The place is the embodiment of antiquity, while at the same time the embodiment of modernity. Very nice! Willy wanted to know how much the place cost (o build, and | couldn't guess. So he asked the first guard, who smiled and said: “One hundred and sixty million — so far."’ Willy and I both went: **Wow!"’ Probably for different reasons. We headed straight for the Ca- nadian section since, at heart, | am as nationalistic as anybody. So, there we were, starting with painters from the 1800s, who depicted the struggling new im- migrant civilization, with a few good glimpses of the native world as it was then, against the over- whelming background of ncarly the vastest land in the world. Beautiful? Fabulous? Willy and I took our time in the early 1800s section, dumbfounded by the skill and craftsmanship and eye of those early Canadian painters. Due to Willy's insistence, we cut across a high-ceiling courtyard with a pool to get to the Group of Seven section quicker than you would otherwise. Willy had heard me raving about Tom Thomson, and was eager to see the originals of the two prints we have at home. (I mean, Canuck or what?) He knew that the masterpiece was going to be The Jack Pine, Thomson’s effervescent post- impressionist dawn over Georgian Bay, with the ice still in the shadows in the forest across the water, and you can feel the cold in the air 2s well as have your eyeballs knocked out by the icy morning light. Willy was suitably impressed. After that, we circled back and followed the Canadian section to its conclusion. In the last couple of galleries, as the artwork got more and more modern, Willy’s expres- sion, which had been radiant with discovery, slowly darkened. He started shaking his head, looking around at the stuff displayed on the walls with some- thing approaching anger. “‘What's this junk, Dad?"' I tried to explain that con- sciousness is a function of your cultural mind-set, and that as the artistic awareness expanded through the ages into new dimen- sions, common perception was transformed en masse, and that was the purpose of Great Art. “This is a rip-off, Dad,’’ my son said, curled fists planted on his hips. He was quite annoyed. The early stuff has been so good! The Group of Seven stuff had been in- credible, albeit different, less real- istic. But the modern stuff? i took Willy to the Robert Bateman section afterwards to show him that there were good modern artists, before the boy got too convinced we were merely liv- ing in a wasted age long after the masters had come and gone. Wouldn't do for him to think we were mere artistic scumbags com- pared to the old geniuses, would it? We tried the international sec- tion after that, and I was pleased to discover that Canada owned a Renoir, a Van Gogh (neither one of them being great samples, mind you), a Monet, a Turner, and even, thrilt of thrills, a little wee perfectly bizarre Bosch. The paintings from the 14th cen- tury were fantastic. The stuff from the 20th, in- cluding P. asso? Well, Willy’s take on it wasn’t much different than Dad’s, actual- ly: **} see better stuff in comics all the time.” Right, kid. Welcome to the world of Great Art® Shipyards get assistance TWO NORTH Vancouver ship- yards have been awarded just over $450,000 in federal government funds to help them modernize their Operations. Vancouver Shipyards Co. Ltd. will receive $262,345 for engineer- ing studies and acquisition and in- stallation of new computer equip- ment at the shipyard. Meanwhile, Versatile Pacific Shipyards Inc. was awarded $191,340 to acquire and install two MicroVac Ii computers and ac- companying software to help the company improve productivity. Both shipyards were awarded the money under the federal Ship- building Industry Assistance Pro- gram, which helps Canadian ship- Duilders improve their facilities. The announcements were made by North Vancouver MP Chuck Cook. Acting school superintendent named in NV NORTH VANCOUVER'S School District 44 board has appointed Pat Bell as acting school superin- tendent until the end of the current school ;year. The appointment of Bell, an assistant superintendent with the district, was made following the Jan. 24 death of Dr. Leo Marshall, the district's superintendent since June 1984. Until the superintendent's posi- tion is filled permanently, Bell’s regular duties will be redistributed among other District 44 manage- ment staff, including assistant school superintendents Dr. Robin Brayne and Ed Collins. Brayne and Collins will also be assisted by current director of in- struction Dr. Ray Williams, who has been named as acting assistant superintendent. District 44 board chairman Don Bell said the superintendent's posi- tion will be advertised across Canada. He estimated the search to find a new superintendent would take approximately two months. Y ie 20% on LOW COST FINANCING AVAILABLE sagt Skylights & Solariums You'd be surprised how little the cost FROPICA MA . Industries Ltd. . 103 Riverside Dr. Nan. | MUCH BETTER! WIN! A TRIP FOR TWO or The Okanagan Retails at Fabricland te "| BUTTERICK VERTISED SPECIALS REY". ABBOTSFORD. —