-,,~COUNCIL =;1 V + r 'Sir Kenneth Clark, K .C .B., LL .D . . F .B .A . (Chairman ) *Wyn Griffith, O .B.E ., D .Litt . Wise-Chrrirrnan l The Countess of Albemarle Captain Sir Cecil Graves, K .C .M .G ., M .C . Richard Capell, 0-B .E ., M .M- Benn Levy . M .S .E . *Professor William Coldstream, C .B .E. Captain Sir John McEwen, Bt ., D . L ., J .P . 'Joseph Compton, C.B .E . Professor Anthony Lewis, Mus . B . •Edric Cundell, C .B.F . George T . McGlashan, C .B.E ., J .P . B. Ifor Evans, D .Lit ., F .R .S .L . John Newso m The Lady Fermoy, O .B .E . Lady Ogitvi c • Member gfL.xeturive CanimWee

SCOTTISH CONt!~fiTTE E George T . McG€ashan . C .B .L ., J .P . (Chairorari ) D . K . BaKandu€€ Robert Kemp Mrs. Rona May or Colin Chandler Captain Sir John McEwen . Bt . . John Nobl e Ian Finlay D, L ., J .P . J. R . Peddic, C .B .E ., D .Litt . Captain Sir Cecil Graves, The Rev . George F . MacLeod, Miss Isabel L . Sinclai r K .C_M .G ., M .C . M .C ., D .D . William Wilson, R .S .A . J . A . Henderson Hugh Marshal l

WELSH CONUMITTE E Wyn Griffith, O .B .E ., D .Litt . IChairman l The Marquess of Anglesey David Dilwyn John, T .D ., Manse] Thomas, B .Mus. , Mrs . Irene Edwards D . Sc ., F.M .A . F .R .A . M . T . L Ellis Professor Gwyn Jones Sir Wynn Wheldon . K .B .E . , C. E . Gitlins Saunders Lewis D .S,O ., LL .D . County Alderman Llewellyn D . H . I . Powell D . F . Parry Williams . D .Mus . , Heycock, J .P . Miss Frances Roes, O .B.E . B .Sc . Ceri Richards The Very Rev . C. Wilton-Davics

ART PANE L Professor William Coldstream, C .B .F . (Chairman ) Sir Leigh Ashton, F.S .A . Lynlon Lamb Mrs . Somervill e Howard Bliss Professor Rodrigo Moynihan . John Summcrson, C.B_E . , Oliver Brown C .B .E ., A .R.A . F .S .A . . A .R .I .B .A . S . D . Cleveland, F .M .A . John Piper Professor Ellis K . Waterhouse . Jacob Epstein, LL .D . Sir Herbert Read, D .S .O . . M .C ., M .B .E . Brins]ey Ford D .Litt . Carel Weight, R .B .A . Professor Lawrence Gowing, Gordon Russell, C .B .E ., M .C ., Charles Wheeler, C.B .E ., R .A . , C .B.E . R .D .F . . F .S .LA . F .R .B .S . Basil Gray Robert 1 . Sainsbury, A .C .A . DRALIA PANE L Wyn Griffith . O .B .F. . D .Litt . (C'huirmun ) Miss Peggy Ashcroft, C .B .F. Sir John Giclgud, LL . D . Sir Ralph Richardso n Michael Benthall Hugh Hunt Miss Flora Robson, C,B .F . Ivor Brown, LL .D ., F .R .S .L . . Laurence Irving, U, B .E ., R .D .1 . Ronald Russel l D .Litt . T. C . Kemp Derek Salber g John Clements Charles Landstone, O .B .E . Glen Byam Sha w Aice Clunes Henn Levy, M .H .F Stephen Thoma s Robert Digby Michael MaCOwan Peter Ustino v MUSIC PANE L Uric Lundell, C .B .E . (Chairman t Herbert Bardgell, U.B.F ., B .Mus . Miss Astra Desmond, C .B .E . Professor Anthony Lewis . Mus .B. T . E, Bean Alan Frank Denis Matthews Mervyn Bruxner Peter Racine Fricker Dr. Edmund Rubbra, D .Mus . Sir Ernest Bullock, C' .V,O ., Ambrose Gauntlet[ Professor W . K . Stanton . D .Mus. Mus .D . Frank Howes Miss Seymour Whinyates, 0,B-E . POETRY PANE L Joseph Compton, C .B .L . (Chairtnan ) Richard Church Christopher Hassall C . Day Lewis . C' .B .E. . F .R .S .L . G . S . Fraser John Hayward, C .B.E . W . R . Rodgers Sir George Rosircvor Hamilton John Lehmann L . A . G . Strong, F .R .S .L. Pcec(4 (J ~-' Co p y

T H E A R T S C O U N C I L OF G R E A T B R I TAI N

EIGHT H ANNUAL REPORT 1952-195 3

ARTS COUNCIL OF GREAT BRITAIN

REFERENCE ONLY

DO NOT REMOVE . FROM THE LIBRARY

4 S T . J A M E S ' S S Q U A R E L O N D O N S . W . 1

CONTENTS Page 1 . A PATTERN FOR PATRONAGE 3 2. NOTES OF THE YEAR 14 3. ART 30 4. MUSIC 36 5. DRAMA 40 6. OPERA AND BALLET 43 7. POETRY 46 8. SCOTLAND 48 9. WALES 51

APPENDICES : A Note on the Accounts 57 Appendix A The Arts Council of Great Britain : Audited Accounts 58 Appendix B The Arts Council's Committee in Scotland : Audited Accounts 70 Appendix C Selected Instances of Action taken in connection with the Arts by Local Authorities under the Local Government Act, 1948 74 Appendix D Arts Council Exhibitions held in Great Britain during th e period April 1952-March 1953 83

THE COLOUR DIAGRAMS IN THIS REPORT HAVE BEEN SPECIALLY DESIGNED BY MISS G. DRUMMOND MCEERROW 1

A PATTERN FOR PATRONAGE

RIVATE patrons of the arts are not extinct in modern society, bu t they become scarcer every year . They are diminishing not only in numbers but also in their capacity to subscribe more than toke n support to art collections, orchestral societies or theatre projects . If the arts are to survive somebody must pay for them, and if the burden of subsidy, purchase or guarantee has become too heavy P for the private patron it must be shouldered by the public . The new pattern of patronage is, in fact, determined by the general design fo r living which modern democracies have elected to adopt . The health, th e education, the social welfare, the national defence of the people have al l become the collective responsibility of the people, and no taxpayer or rate- payer can contract out of the obligation to contribute to the upkeep of th e necessities and amenities of the Welfare State . The preservation of the fine arts is another of these collective responsibilities ; not a brand-new one, by any means, but one which has only in recent years won conscious accept- ance by our national and municipal legislators . The principle of collective patronage, like many other principles of British behaviour, has become accepted in a piece-meal, almost absent - minded, fashion. There have been milestones, of course, in its development : such as the creation of the Arts Council, by Royal Charter, in 1946, and th e inclusion in the Local Government Act of 1948 of a brief but significan t clause empowering local authorities to devote up to a 6d . rate* on enter- tainment and the arts . But the notion of public responsibility for the arts has been growing a long time in this country, like the grain of mustard seed. For many decades, for example, some municipalities have made bye-laws to the advantage (though not invariably so) of art galleries o r orchestras; voluntary bodies, such as the National Art-Collections Fun d and the Contemporary Art Society, have proclaimed and practised the virtues of collective responsibility for the arts. Although the British, * 41d. in Scotland . unlike the French, the Italians and the Germans, are not born with this principle in their bones, they are learning it, as they do so many of thei r other lessons, by the force of example and experience .

VARIETIES OF PATRONAG E If public patronage has come not only to stay but to grow, how shoul d it be manifested and organised? In several countries the problem has been entrusted to a Ministry of Fine Arts . But as our national lack of logic is more than balanced by our native good sense we are seeking a more empirical solution in Britain . In this country public patronage of the arts is vested in many bodies, and thereby assumes that diversity of interest and style with which the private patrons, in their time, were able to endow th e arts. Unless public patronage can be as catholic and resilient as its privat e predecessors were, it will impoverish, and finally destroy, the arts b y reducing them to a mere official pattern. We can fairly claim that there is little sign of such regimentation in the publicly-supported arts of Britain . The City Councils of Birmingham or Bristol do not prescribe what plays shall be performed in the theatres they subsidise . The L.C.C. imposes no artistic sanctions upon the Open-Air Sculpture Exhibitions it organises in Battersea Park, or upon the concerts it presents in the Royal Festival Hall. The four `Counties of Cities' which contribute so handsomely to the Scottish National Orchestra exert no influence on the artistic policy of that body. The same principle is apparent, at many levels, in the attitude of th e scores of Local Authorities which assist, in cash or in kind, the provisio n of concerts, plays and art exhibitions in their territories . This principle of free trade in the arts is fostered, too, by the numerou s voluntary bodies which have been created to diffuse and improve th e practice of music or drama in the professional or amateur fields : the National Federation of Music Societies, the British Drama League, the English Folk Dance and Song Society, the National Eisteddfod of Wales, the Rural Music Schools Association, the various Philharmonic Societie s -to name but a few. By the modest subscriptions of their members - aided, sometimes, by grants from the Arts Council-such bodies as thes e have built up a substantial patronage for the arts at many levels . But valuable and essential as such bodies are, they are pigmies compare d with that Colossus of collective consumption, the B .B.C., which represents yet another kind of modern patronage . A City Council, as we have seen , can exercise patronage simply by making a grant to its symphony orchestr a or civic theatre, without specifying what works shall be performed. The 4 B.B.C. must, evidently, choose what is to be offered on the air, but it can and does offer as liberal a choice as any municipal-sponsored orchestra or theatre. Although unique in function and management the B .B.C. con- forms to the principles of collective patronage in its acceptance of `fre e trade' in the arts . The B.B.C. is obviously the major `consumer' of music and drama in Britain to-day ; and when television can match the technica l resources of sound radio it may, similarly, become the biggest `consumer ' of the visual arts. As a patron of the arts, in this sense, the B .B.C. offers a wide range of choice on its numerous wavelengths and, especially, in th e differentiations it makes between its Light Programme and its Third . So far the scope of its patronage has been limited, in the main, through n o fault of its own, to hiring music and drama and poetry which were primaril y composed for other media-for the theatre, the concert hall, the printed book. But the B.B.C. has already disclosed a willingness to commissio n the arts, as far as its financial means allow ; and if it were able, as many foreign broadcasting systems are, to earn and retain a higher revenue, i t might well become the most potent of all public patrons . It is surely appropriate that the greatest of all our agencies of diffusion should also have the means to enlarge those domains of the arts which it can radiate t o every home ; that it should be able to commission on an ample scale , composers and poets and playwrights and sculptors to produce work fo r broadcasting in sound and vision. The catholicity of its programmes, these many years, leaves no doubt that, if it had the sinews to do so, the-B.B.C. could be trusted to practise the new patronage to the common good . As a diffusor of the arts, the B .B.C. is already an exemplary patron; if it were able to supplement that role by creative patronage of far wider scope than it can afford at present, the arts might enjoy an epoch of prosperity unparalleled in our history. The rate at which the B .B.C. `consumes' music and drama and literature demands a corresponding increase of supplies a t the producing-end . If the B.B.C. is to diffuse the arts day by day to an audience of millions it should be doing far more than it is at present abl e to do to multiply its field of selection . Otherwise it will blunt by shee r repetition those very appetites it seeks to sharpen and cultivate . There is a new Aesop's Fable to be written on the unthriftiness which permits th e wireless to devour the arts without replenishing the supply ! The argumen t so far, then, runs in these terms :-the individual patrons of the arts, to whos e taste and devotion we owe so much of our cultural inheritance, are a dyin g species. Their functions are being assumed in the modern world by various kinds of collective or public patronage. In Britain, at any rate, collective patronage discloses a healthy diversity of patterns . The voluntary bodies are active and well supported in the different kinds of provision they make. Both local and central government seem able to assist the arts withou t propagating L'Art Officiel; and the B.B.C., in spite of being a monopoly, practises a wide and benevolent patronage.

SELF-GOVERNMENT IN THE ART S Nevertheless, public patronage, both in principle and in practice, i s liable to certain obvious weaknesses, and constant vigilance must b e exercised if these risks are to be avoided . The most `official' form of public patronage in Britain at present is the Arts Council, and some scrutiny of it s policy and methods may throw light upon the general outlook of the ne w patronage. One criticism of State patronage is that it puts too much powe r into too few hands and thus discourages the variety and competition o f styles which the individual patrons used to foster . If State patronage were dominated by a small permanent Sanhedrin the dangers of officialdom would, indeed, be acute. But the number of person s who have participated in moulding the Arts Council's policies since it wa s created in 1946 adds up to several hundred ; and the number engaged in the present year alone in determining its actions is as large as 115, for th e Council is reinforced by separate Committees for Scotland and Wales an d by specialist panels for each of the separate arts . By observing the system of retirement by rotation the Council further seeks to widen its counse l and experience. It is doubtful whether any of the illustrious privat e patrons of the past sought such a volume and variety of advice in plannin g their benefactions ! But real safety in this matter is not to be found in numbers . It is not by its network of Committees and panels that the Arts Council is restraine d from acting like a cultural oligarchy. The fundamental check is th e Council's own conscious determination not to dictate policies or impos e fashions in the arts it tries to assist . So far as it enjoys a monopoly o f State patronage it is, no doubt, theoretically capable of restrictive practice s in the arts. But it steadfastly avoids such practices . One illustration of this is to be found in its grant-policy. Parliament annually votes a block grant to the Arts Council, and thereafter leaves the Council unfettered discretion to expend the money to the best advantage of the arts. The Arts Council, in turn, makes grants of various sums to organisations, large and small , engaged in demonstrating the different arts at various levels-and, while doing so, does not interfere in any way with the policies of the bodies it assists. A Ministry of Fine Arts would impose a chain of command fro m top to bottom ; the method in this country, on the other hand, is to recognise a chain of responsibility all along the line, from Parliament t o the Little Nessing Music Club . The Arts Council's business is to assess th e objects, the prospects and the needs of every body it decides to assist an d to satisfy itself that the claimants manage their affairs efficiently . It does not decide the repertory of Covent Garden or Sadler's Wells or the Old Vic ; nor does it vet or endorse the annual programme of the Leek Art s Club. Every organisation it assists, large or small, has its own governin g body and its self-determined policy. This respect for self-government in the arts is the main bulwark against L'.4rt Officiel. Under this kind of State patronage no restrictions are put upon the individual artist. If Sir John Barbirolli were for any reason dissatisfie d with working for the Halle Orchestra-which he is not-he could transfer himself to Covent Garden, despite the fact that the Arts Council is, so t o speak, the principal `shareholder' in both bodies. He could do it, in fact, just as easily as one of his forebears, dissatisfied with Lorenzo in Florence , might move to Ludovico in Milan . If, on the other hand, he were employe d by a Ministry of Fine Arts he would be `directed' to his post. This policy of artistic freedom is, and must remain, paramount . The health of the art s depends on their being governed by numerous different groups which, i n turn, are free to select the individual composers, conductors, soloists , dramatists and actors of their own choice . It is not the business of the State, working through the Arts Council, to furnish a matrix of artistic performances for a receptive and captive audience . The arts flourish best when they are self-governing, and self-government is not incompatible wit h the acceptance of State subsidies . Our entire educational system is a majo r vindication of that principle, and the administration of the Arts Council is a lesser instance of the same democratic axiom .* One example of the Arts Council's belief in private enterprise in the arts is to be found in it s progressive retirement from the direct provision and management of music and drama. In its primitive period, when it was the war-time Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts, it had perforce to set about the job of sending plays and concerts to the communities displaced by the war , and for some time afterwards it persevered in some of these ventures. It has now withdrawn from the direct management of all but one of it s theatre projects, leaving them to be developed, when they can survive, by

* The methods whereby the University Grants Committee administers State aid to the Universitie s provide an interesting parallel with the methods of the Arts Council . 7 local governing bodies which it continues to assist financially. The co-ordination of most of the musical activities it used to promote in th e smaller places is now in the safekeeping of the National Federation of Music Societies, and the Arts Council limits its direct activities, in the main, to supplying concerts to areas which have not yet established Musi c Clubs, or similar machinery, of their own .

THE COUNCIL AND THE VISUAL ART S There is one major exception to the Arts Council's policy of withdrawin g from direct provision. The exception is its Art Department, which mount s virtually all the exhibitions the Council shows in London and the Provinces . The reasons why the Arts Council practises this self-sufficiency in pro- viding the visual arts are mainly historical, for in its CEMA period it created a comprehensive and economical machinery of art-circulation throughout the country. No other non-profit-making body has yet emerged capable of performing a task of such magnitude at such a modes t cost, and so the Arts Council continues the service . It is, therefore, in it s patronage of the visual arts that the Council is, theoretically most liable t o L'Art Officiel. It is conscious of the hazards, and applies many safeguards against them. Its Art Panel is, for one thing, exceptionally large in number and diverse in its preferences and addictions, and consequently every proposal for an exhibition passes through a very fine net of considera - tion. Moreover, the Council seeks to ring the changes by inviting a serie s of individuals to select the materials for many of the exhibitions it decide s to mount. The evidence of the Council's good faith in serving a wide variety of interests is to be found in the diversity of the work it has exhibited and circulated in recent years. The older traditions of painting and sculpture have always been no less abundantly represented in th e Council's exhibitions than the newer developments-but of course they ar e infinitely less likely to `make news' or to provoke convulsions in the sub - conscious mind of many beholders . Yet in every lively and inventive generation there is a domain of art on which judgment must be suspended . Judgment can only be suspended, however, if the work in question has been actually seen or heard; and one part of the duty of the public patron , as it was the pleasure of the private patron, is to give innovation an d experiment the chance to be seen and heard . The test of Arts Counci l doctrine in this field is one which any regular visitor to its major exhibitions has been able to apply in the last three years . Even in the heyday o f private patronage there could hardly have been a wider range than is revealed in this selection : Turner, Ravenna Mosaics, Hogarth, British Watercolours, French Drawings, Gainsborough, 19th-century French Paintings, Blake, Rembrandt Etchings, Chinese Ceramics, Degas, Epstein , Fernand Leger, British Paintings, Edvard Munch, Henry Moore, Toulouse Lautrec, Ethel Walker, Gwen John, Frances Hodgkins, Sculpture b y Matisse, Picasso in Provence, Graham Sutherland, Mexican Art, Fuseli , Rowlandson, Hiroshige, William Dobson, Berthe Morisot, 20th-centur y Masterpieces, Modern Italian Art, and selections from the Royal Academy Summer Exhibitions.

POSITIVE PATRONAG E Arts Council policy is emerging from its empirical stage. It has already learned much by the salutary processes of trial and error and still has much to learn about fostering the arts . An instrument of patronage, whether it be a private Trust or a public authority like the Arts Council , must identify needs rather than passively accept their reputed existence . It can spend a fortune dishing out small subsidies to supplicants and ye t not build anything of enduring value . If it surrenders the initiative, as some of the great American charitable trusts did early in this century, i t becomes a mere debt-paying indulgent maiden aunt. Dr. Abraham Flexner, doyen of American trust-administrators, has revealed the dir e consequences of the `shot-gun' subsidies indiscriminately paid out by som e of his colleagues: i.e., trifling doles for causes which had neither pride of ancestry nor hope of posterity . The Arts Council's Royal Charter of Incorporation enjoins it (a) t o elevate standards of performance in the arts, and (b) to spread the appre- ciation of the arts. Should there be a priority in these objectives, or ca n they be simultaneously pursued? In the visual arts the answer is relativel y easy. It is possible to improve the quality of art exhibitions and, at the same time, diffuse them widely at a comparatively small cost* to any plac e which can house an exhibition . The diffusion of drama, on the other hand , is much more difficult . Plays should be performed in playhouses if th e mystique of the theatre is to be fully communicated, and a Town Hall or a Village Institute seldom offers a hope of that revelation which a good play aims to disclose . How far, then, should diffusion go? This notion o f diffusion is liable, in a democracy like ours, to get mixed up with the political axiom of `fair shares .' When this happens it leads to the argumen t that, since taxpayers in Caithness or Cardigan contribute to the funds vote d

* Average cost per showing of 478 showings in the provinces in 1952-53 was f29 . to the Arts Council, they should have their `share' of the cornucopia of pro- vision. But the economic consequences of this supposition are dauntin g and conclusive . The Arts Council continues to send out a touring - company for several weeks a year to play one-night stands in the theatre - less areas of Wales and North-East England. Even with full houses in an improvised hall such a tour can consume a subsidy of £300 a week ; one company alone, covering a mere segment of the country .

HOW MUCH DIFFUSION ? The really relevant question to ask about diffusion is : `How much?' Of ' course the arts must be diffused, and the Arts Council, up to a point, is a proper and effective instrument of diffusion . Much of its present income and effort is being expended upon diffusion and it has no intention o f lessening its present scale of distributing the arts . Nevertheless, the Council has reached a position in which it must reconsider whether it should postpone further expansion until it has consolidated the groun d already won. There are many factors, apart from the basic budgetary one , which prompt such a revision of purposes . One of them is the question of quality. Diffusion can reach the stage when it becomes dilution, for ther e is not an abundant supply of able practitioners in some of the arts. The diffusion of quality depends, above all, upon the existence in London an d in several provincial centres of power-houses of the arts . In music these strong points are already being maintained, with substantial Arts Counci l assistance, by the L.P.O., the London Symphony Orchestra, the Halle, th e Liverpool Philharmonic, the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the Scottish National ; while Leeds and other cities maintain, so far withou t aid from national funds, the celebrated Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra . Bournemouth does the same for its well-known symphony orchestra . Drama outside London is not yet so well fortified with strongholds ; but if the achievement of the Bristol Old Vic and the Birmingham Repertory could be matched in ten or a dozen other British towns the prospects of th e theatre would be brighter and the diffusion of quality would be enlarged . Another factor which bears closely on this problem of diffusion is the important role played by the organised amateur movements in music an d drama. One well-tried way to understand and enjoy the arts is by the effor t to practise them. Participation in a village choir is, of course, a differen t experience from attending a symphony concert once a week. But it is a salutary one, and the nearest that the average villager can get to `live ' music. He can no more get the other thing than his urban kinsman ca n 10 expect to be provided with bird-watching facilities . The amateur orches- tras, choirs and theatricals may be short of high professional competenc e -although bodies like the British Drama League now give them con- siderable guidance in various ways-but they can certainly foster an interes t in the arts and, within their accepted limits, they are a powerful auxiliary of diffusion. In many parts of the land they will continue, except for the wireless, to provide the only possible kind of irrigation .

THE FUNCTION OF REPLENISHMENT No policy of diffusion can be sufficient in itself. Collective patronage must not only diffuse what does exist ; it must also stimulate the creatio n of new expressions in the arts. Here again, on its lesser scale, the Art s Council has responsibilities comparable to those of the B .B.C. Mere diffusion is not enough . There must be replenishment, experiment, new soundings. Patronage cannot live on the past if it is to have a future . There are many ways of encouraging new expression in the arts, and th e Council has still to discover many of these . Its present endeavours to stimulate new music, new painting, new plays, new poetry, are tentative ; to some people they may seem, also, insufficient and timid. But the aware- ness of this function of replenishment and stimulus is, at least, an assuranc e that the Council is not content to settle for mere diffusion. Even if the Arts Council had more money to spend it would need t o ponder several other questions before deciding upon extended diffusion . There are many towns which have consistently failed to reveal an interes t in `live' plays or concerts and which have allowed their local repertor y theatre to collapse . Is public money to be used in the long and expensiv e business of coaxing the cultural appetites of such places? Are seats to b e subsidised whether they are full or empty? Economic factors bear sharpl y on this question of further diffusion . It costs far less to put audiences on wheels than to put theatres on wheels ; and the policy of subsidising bus excursions from little places into a well-equipped neighbouring town is a way of making public money go further in diffusing the arts . For the major tasks of diffusion there are agencies of far greater aptitud e and power than the Arts Council . The most devoted and successful o f them, so far, we repeat, is the B.B.C., which can give Toscanini to Tony- pandy and may eventually televise the National Gallery in full size an d colour to a homestead in the Hebrides . There are other actual and potential diffusors as well . The great advertising networks may not always realise their responsibilities in this matter ; but their hoardinggo are the 11

picture galleries of the man in the street, and their power to challenge or appease his visual .taste is immense. Schools, public libraries, cinemas, have a potential opportunity for the diffusing of the arts which they hav e scarcely begun to assert. Public patronage, whatever form it takes, must select its roles and objectives with precision-and that is one of the lesson s the Arts Council is beginning to learn. It lacks the means to pursue diffusion on a massive scale and, since there exist methods more apt fo r diffusion than those it can command or afford, it seems wiser that the Arts Council should now concentrate its limited resources on the maintenance and enhancement of standards . If an emphasis must be placed somewhere in that motto of `Raise and Spread' it seems wiser and more realistic t o concentrate on Raise . If the Council should settle for such an emphasis, as it now seems disposed to do, there is no reason to conclude that it wil l diminish its present scale of diffusion. But faced with the problem of choice, and a limited budget, the Arts Council must seek to consolidate

LONDON AND THE REST--(see opposite) 1. The figures provided are to the nearest £500 . 2. In making this division, grants and guarantees have been placed in two categories : (A) National (i.e . Covent Garden, Sadler's Wells and the Old Vic), and (B) Local . In the case of national companies a proportion of money has been settled on London for the buildings and the division o f the rest has been determined by the number of touring performances and those given in London . 3. Certain overhead expenses have been taken out of the administration and operational expense s and have been allocated to music, drama and art : viz. the following percentages of regional salaries- Music 45 per cent ., Drama 15 per cent., Art 15 per cent .-all to Outside London expenditure ; an d the whole of specialist department salaries have been divided between London and Outside Londo n expenditure as follows : Music 40 per cent . London 60 per cent . Outside Londo n Drama 30 per cent . London 70 per cent . Outside Londo n Art 50 per cent . London 50 per cent . Outside Londo n The balance of salaries left to administration and operational expenses, other than the unallocated 25 per cent. Regional Salaries which has all been charged to Outside London expenditure, had been divided in the following proportions : - 60 per cent. London 40 per cent . Outside London 4. The figures for the year 1951/52 exclude all Festival of Britain expenditure . 5. The apportionment for the year 1953/54 is based on projected expenditure, i.e. the budget for the year . 6. In the years 1951/52 and 1952/53 there were no separate grants to the Welsh Committee ; bu t expenditure in Wales was included in the Council's Outside London expenditure for Englan d and Wales . 12

Division of Expenditure between LONDON AND THE REST £416,500

1951 ;52 1952 53 1953 Sa Opera do $alter. . ®Drun~uGeneral Art Activities ©Grant to Scotland ~ ~~ Administration & "Music lLl -art ®®Operational Expenses ®Grant to Wales rather than enlarge its own particular responsibilities to the arts in Britain. It can do so, moreover, in the solid confidence that municipal patronage is taking a large and increasing share of the cost of providing the arts to those communities which express an articulate desire to enjoy them . If local authorities will continue at the present rate to carry some of th e load of diffusion there will still be an inevitable dearth of the arts, but there will be no famine. But unless high standards can be maintained in selected strongholds diffusion will be a fruitless and improvident effort .

2

NOTES OF THE YEA R

Money Matters The year which ended last March was an anxious one for many of the bodies with which the Arts Council is associated . The cost of producing the arts continues to mount, and several wages awards had to be met b y the Symphony Orchestras and the Grand Opera and Ballet Companies . Half-way through that year too, there was a lamentable-though, happily , not prolonged-recession at the Old Vic. The losing battle in which some of the Repertory Theatres are engaged called for emergency action . It must be emphasised that most of these anxieties were not provoked by a falling-off in audiences, but rather by the inexorable increase in the cost s of presentation. In such circumstances the providing bodies, and especiall y the major ones, are confronted with a dilemma . If they decide to econo- mise by, let us say, reducing the number of new productions in opera , ballet or drama they run the risk of a decline at the box-office . There is a limited audience for any given opera or ballet or classical play ; and the programme must be frequently changed if attendances are to be main- tained. Morton's Fork is a familiar phenomenon in administering the arts . With the aid of a supplementary vote from Parliament, and the use o f its 1951 Festival reserve fund, the Arts Council was able to stave off disaster. For the present year its grant has been substantially increased by Parliament and, at least, breathing-space has been secured . The additional needs of Scotland are recognised by increasing its net allocation fro m 14 E57,000 to £75,750 ; Wales, which now enjoys Home Rule in the arts, sets off on its autonomous development with more than £30,000 to apply-a n increase of £6,000 on what was spent on Welsh affairs last year . The major symphony orchestras are to have £50,000 instead of £40,000 ; Covent Garden and Sadler's Wells are being financially reinforced, and the popular Carl Rosa Company is to resume its touring of provincial towns . Major exhibitions, such as the great revelation of Mexican Art which packed the Tate this summer, are made possible by the new grant, and there are modest amounts available for the Arts Council's experi- mental schemes for encouraging poets and playwrights. The hard-pressed provincial Repertory Theatres already in association with the Arts Counci l will have their grants maintained. In the present year, as last year, the Arts Council has further reduced its administrative and operational costs , although the latter item includes the maintenance of a small fleet of vans for distributing art exhibitions, and a fair-sized team of packers and drivers for handling them. The prospects for maintaining the present level of provision in the art s are less sombre than they were a year ago . But maintenance is the maxi- mum that can be expected, and there are many imponderables in the presen t situation. The cost of provision is likely to rise again : several wage claims in the arts are already pending . Audiences are showing some signs of resistance where costs of admission have been marginally increased; and in some areas, more than others, television seems to be claiming a segment of former concert-goers and playgoers . The situation as a whole is far from stable.

Lord Keynes did not live to see the final act of transforming the war- The first Chairman time CEMA into the Arts Council of Great Britain . In the Royal Charter of Incorporation, therefore, Sir Ernest Pooley was named as the Council' s first Chairman, and he held that office from 1946 to his retirement last April. After Cambridge and the call to the Bar he served the Drapers ' Company for 40 years, first as Assistant Clerk, then as Clerk and-finall y as Master ; and he supplemented these duties by distinguished publi c service to education and hospital administration, as well as by membershi p of the governing bodies of the Old Vic and Sadler's Wells . His colleagues on the Council soon discovered that he was an authoritative and adroi t Chairman. The early years of this experiment in public patronage were a s full of hazards as of opportunities, and Ernest Pooley had uncommon 15

abilities in recognising both. The Council's Charter was, very wisely, loosely drawn : and it therefore afforded opportunities of error as well a s of experiment. The members of the Council, moreover, were mostly people of emphatic personality, divergent enthusiasms and considerable authority. The government of such an assembly demanded courage , experience and diplomacy, and Ernest Pooley revealed these qualitie s abundantly . There were frequent occasions, however, especially in the early years, when none of these three virtues could resolve an impasse i n some discussion of policy. When the warmth of debate had reached a certain degree Ernest Pooley was always able, by some thermostati c impulse, to reduce the tension by a sally of irresistible humour . He could, indeed, be as bold in his quips as in his judgments, but he neve r failed to impress even the victim of his jest with an implicit assurance of hi s good will and benevolence. Under Ernest Pooley's vigilant guidance the Arts Council has complete d the first phase of its development. Its purpose has begun to crystallise i n forms more specific than were apparent, or even predictable, in 1946. It has confronted, and resolved, many of the dilemmas which make patronage so perplexing a function . It has overcome, except among the die-hards, the ill-disposed and the outright philistines, the reasonable doubt whether the State could or should assume the responsibilities of patronage . In all this basic endeavour the Arts Council has been wisely and shrewdly led by Ernest Pooley. He has left his mark, moreover, not only on the policie s and aspirations of the Council, but on the minds and hearts of all those who, in any capacity, have sat under him . We wish him and Lady Pooley, with gratitude and affection, all happiness and good fortune .

Self- For several years the Arts Council's work in Wales has been planned an d Government for Wales supervised by a Welsh Committee based on Cardiff . But until recently the Welsh Committee was only empowered to make recommendations to the Council, and expenditure in Wales was controlled directly by the Art s Council in London. From April 1st of this year the Welsh Committee wil l be directly responsible for the policy and budget of the Council's work in Wales. They will receive an annual block grant from the Council, based o n the Welsh Committee's estimate of actual needs, and they will allocate this money at their own discretion. Thus Wales will henceforth enjoy a status similar to that of Scotland . The most considerable and promising activity at present afoot in Wale s 16 is the development of the Welsh National Opera Company . The chorus and the minor r6les in its productions are sung by amateurs, who cheerfull y travel long distances in their own time for the exacting and well disciplined rehearsals the Company demands. The Welsh National Opera Company is now playing several weeks a year ; has already made successful forays int o England, and is contemplating even more ambitious ones . Its chorus, inevitably, is its principal distinction, as it demonstrated in the perform- ances of Verdi's Nabucco. The Welsh Committee has several indigenous problems to solve . The arts in Wales are lop-sided . There is an abundance of interest in music but relatively little in painting . There is a strong native tradition of drama, but virtually no professional theatre . Communications are sketchy outside th e main centres of population, and there is a general shortage of housing accommodation for the display of the arts . In Wales, again, there is an ancient minority culture to be cherished and developed : drama and literature must be nourished in Welsh as well as in English. The Welsh Committee has a complex task to accomplish, and is very much alive to it s autonomous responsibilities .

The progressive city of Coventry seems likely to be the first local Local authority since the war to build itself a brand-new Civic Theatre, although Authorities and Buildings for several municipalities, such as Canterbury, have adapted buildings for use the Arts as a theatre . Coventry has drafted both the budget and the sketch plans for a thousand-seater theatre, and has even received from the city of Belgrade a commemorative £12,000 gift of the timber needed for the job . For several years Coventry has been in alliance with the Arts Council i n maintaining the popular Midland Theatre Company-an enterprise, inci- dentally, which escapes many of the disadvantages of weekly repertor y by playing two weeks out of three in neighbouring towns . For a figure of £180,000 Coventry hopes to equip itself with a worthy home for its civic playhouse. It is an example which, if times improve, other local authorities ma y decide to study, particularly in relation to their powers under the Loca l Government Act of 1948 . By a brief clause in that historic Act, local authorities are empowered to spend up to a 6d. rate in supporting the arts . How best use those powers? A local authority which experiments i n patronage may easily come a cropper and produce nothing but a derisiv e escapade in sponsorship . (Some of the most diverting French films, 17

indeed, have been based upon such a situation.) May not the most valu- able and prudent role for a local authority to assume in the arts be that of providing the bricks and mortar in which the arts can be presented? Man y local authorities are, indeed, displaying initiative and enlightenment i n their nourishment of artistic activities, and are proving indispensabl e partners in many of the Arts Council's ventures; and a few of such instances are mentioned in Appendix C. Nevertheless, the safest and most necessary contribution the average local authority might make would be the provision of the .facilities which their ratepayers need for their enjoy- ment of the arts . Provide the swimming bath-but let the people learn to swim for themselves.

The Cost of One anomaly is causing the Arts Council some concern . It is the Free Admission Council's practice to make a small charge-from 5s . to 20s. a day-to pro- vincial art galleries which book its travelling exhibitions . Most art galleries are allowed a pitifully small budget for their `extras', and some of them are finding that even nominal hiring fees are beyond their means t o provide from the annual pittance the local authority permits them t o spend. They would willingly ask visitors to pay a small charge o f admission, for at 3d . a head, or even less, they could count on makingu p the cost of hire. But many art galleries are governed by well-meant bye - laws, passed a century ago, which insist on free admission to the local gallery. What is the answer to this dilemma? Should the Arts Council forgo its hiring fees and accept a further burden on its funds of over £5,00 0 a year? Or should local authorities cancel the obstructive bye-laws to th e extent of permitting their galleries to charge a token fee for exhibition s which thousands of people would willingly pay to see? Should the Welfar e State reconsider the consequences, moral and economic, of wholesale free admission?

The Problem of ' The minor anomaly mentioned in the previous paragraph bears on a Prices bigger problem. Would it be fair and reasonable to ask the public to pay more at the door for its enjoyment of the arts? There must evidently b e a ceiling to national and municipal patronage, and it is going to be difficul t to raise the level of such assistance much above the present scale . But the gap between the cost of the arts and the income they yield is still widening. Who is to pay the difference? Prices have recently been raised a little a t 18 places like Covent Garden, Glyndebourne and the Old Vic without materially diminishing attendances. The public, it seems, is not unwilling to pay a little more for the best . But second-best establishments cannot persuade their customers to pay more, especially as they have to compet e with such other forms of entertainment as TV and the cinema. Most of the drama and music provided in Britain, inevitably, cannot reach a first- class level ; and in many a struggling Repertory or Philharmonic Societ y a decision to increase admission prices would be a death warrant . There is one school of public opinion which declares that the onl y remedy is to multiply national and municipal subsidies, and to provide art- below-cost as we supply bread-below-cost and medicines-below-cost. We are already, of course, providing art-below-cost . The crux of this policy is `How much below costT At what point in the arithmetical progression o f subsidy are we to stop? The bearing of this problem upon the accepted scale of diffusion of the arts is evident. As the figure of subsidy rises, how soon will it become expended, in the main, upon the kind of diffusion which can only be dilution? Or when will it cease to operate, whatever its size, because there develops a dearth of the product it exists to diffuse? There is , evidently, a limit to the `potential' of the arts . There are some minor complications to note as well. On the whole we accept the principle of free admission, or cheap admission, to art galleries . Partly, of course, because the cost of maintaining museums and galleries i s relatively modest; but partly, without question, because looking at pictures is held to be more uplifting than looking at ballet . Is it the stubborn survival of a Puritan tradition which actuates a town council when i t refuses to subsidise the local Repertory yet votes an annual grant, withou t discussion, to the local museum?

Another orphan of the financial storm of rising costs joins the queue for Private Art public assistance-the museum and art gallery founded under a private Galleries benefaction and now functioning on an inadequate endowment . Some (though by no means all) of these impoverished institutions have valuabl e collections and do first-rate work, but they are unable to make ends mee t on the scanty public funds they can attract from various sources . The Arts Council cannot undertake a wholesale rescue operation, although it has made small grants to the Whitechapel Art Gallery and the Royal Institutio n of Cornwall Museum at Truro . Some of these unfortunate galleries are falling into ruin; the Passmore Edwards Gallery at Newlyn, for instance, 19

requires immediate action if it is to be made weather-proof. Others more fortunate in their physical background, and housing collections of import- ance-the Whitworth Art Gallery at Manchester and the Bowes Museu m at Barnard Castle are two obvious examples-must inevitably face a stat e of permanent inactivity, or even extinction, unless the increased cost o f upkeep can be bridged. There are others which have their own particular problems, such as the fine Maxwell Art Gallery at Peterborough, onl y recently opened, the Compton Art Gallery, famous for its pictures b y Watts, or the Red House at Christchurch . There is more than one answer to this problem . Though there are some galleries which might well b e allowed to perish--contents and all-there are many which deserve to b e rescued not only for their intrinsic worth but as diffusion-centres for the Arts Council's travelling exhibitions. Their preservation, not merely as storehouses but as active art centres, is an urgent matter .

Marketing Last year's report sounded a note of warning about the financial diffi- Orchestral culties facing the permanent Symphony Orchestras, and referred to a n music imminent demand from the Musicians Union for an increase in the mini- mum rates of pay to orchestral players . Although the year has been as difficult as anticipated, it must be recorded that public support for th e concerts given by these orchestras has not diminished in spite of a numbe r of increases in admission charges. The boards of management and their staffs deserve a word of congratulation on their resourceful methods an d energy in careful planning and in rallying support of all kinds to th e thankless task of balancing their budgets . The expected increase in players' salaries has been made after prolonge d negotiations in which the managements (represented by the Orchestra l Employers Association) and the Musicians Union were unable to come t o terms. Under an award made by the Industrial Court on November 17th , 1952, which took effect immediately, the rates of pay for musicians on con- tinuous contract in the permanent symphony orchestras, as well as thos e casually employed, were increased by amounts varying from 10 to 15 pe r cent. The new rates are applicable to a new standard form of contract , common to all these orchestras . Some clauses in this contract have still t o be settled by the parties concerned . The full impact of these increases has yet to be felt in a full working year , but there is no doubt of the additional burden it has thrown on to th e 20 managements concerned . Increased support from some local authorities , notably the Birmingham Corporation who have increased their annual grant-aid from £11,000 to £25,000 in the current year, has done much t o ameliorate the situation, but the fundamental economic obstacles to `paying one's way' with an orchestra of players on continuous contrac t remain as obdurate as ever . One method of helping both the orchestras and the concert-going publi c outside the big urban centres is to improve the arrangements fo r `marketing' orchestral music throughout the country . In those cities and surrounding areas where permanent orchestras are based, the orchestras themselves present orchestral music to the general public by direct pro- vision, and this may include, of course, invitations to other orchestras to appear in their normal series of concerts for the season . Elsewhere, however, the situation is less satisfactory . Many town s receive frequent but irregular visits from one or more of the permanen t orchestras which directly provide concerts at their own risk, with or withou t support from the local authority concerned. Furthermore, these visits are made only at times convenient to the orchestras' schedule, while th e programme of music performed is usually selected from the items which happen to be in rehearsal at that time . Relations with the local authority are not ideal, since the latter is approached by each orchestra concerne d for small separate guarantees for each particular concert . A promoting society, covering a specific town or area large enough to have regula r orchestral concerts, could do much to improve matters by acting as a distributing agency and, in conjunction with the orchestras, presentin g concerts to the public on mutually agreed terms . This would mean:- (1) the public in a given centre would get a properly planned scheme o f concerts for the season ; (2) the wishes of that public in regard to choice of orchestra, programme , soloist, etc., could be expressed through the machinery of the promoting society; (3) the local authority could canalise its financial support for orchestras through the promoting society in one sum only, and it could b e reasonably certain that the wishes of its musical rate-payers would be met; (4) the orchestras would be getting an increasing number of engage- ments wholly or partly guaranteed financially. The promoting society could take the usual form of a non-profit-distri- buting body, with a committee selected from private citizens chosen fo r 21

their musical or other qualifications, as well as a proportion of loca l authority representatives in cases where substantial sums were provided from the rates . An experiment on these lines has, in fact, been launched most success - fully in an area which had not previously enjoyed such amenities-th e West of England. The chief task was to overcome the administrative and financial problems arising from long distances for travel, and from th e lack of suitable concert halls of economic size to serve the main centres of population . On the initiative, and with the financial support, of th e Council, a Western Symphony Concerts Committee has been formed t o advise and co-ordinate arrangements ; its general policy being to invite th e national orchestras to visit suitable centres at regular intervals . Member- ship of the Committee consists mainly of representatives from the towns and areas where concerts are given . With the willing co-operation of the authorities concerned, the first three series of concerts have been given by the Halle, London Philharmonic and Royal Philharmonic Orchestras i n the cathedrals of Exeter and Truro and in a large cinema at Plymouth . It is worth recording that at Plymouth, on each occasion, a cinema holdin g over 2,000 people has been filled to capacity, despite the fact that concert s cannot begin until 10 .30 p.m. after the normal cinema showing has ended . Under the same scheme, Bournemouth Municipal Orchestra has als o given a successful first concert at a cinema in Taunton which was also sol d out. Other centres in the West Country are to be included in tours durin g the forthcoming season, one of which will be undertaken by the Bournemouth Municipal Orchestra .

The Choral A transformation seems to be taking place in the fortunes of man y Tradition choral societies in this country . Some of them are evidently in a state of decline, and the reasons for this make an interesting study . Many choral societies are by tradition based upon nonconformist chapels, and th e decline of church and chapel attendance in many areas is no doubt on e reason why these societies are losing their numbers and their appeal . Another reason is the rival attraction of Light Opera, for many estimabl e young people find it more amusing to participate in Gilbert and Sulliva n than in one more rendering of Judas Maccabeus or Israel in Egypt . In some choral societies the average age of the members is going up, and these are frequently the societies dominated by the personality of a tyrannical an d old-fashioned conductor. If the choral societies are to make in the futur e 22 a contribution to our musical life comparable to their influence in the past , they must, it would seem, widen their repertory and learn how to counte r the attractions of Broadway. Some societies are discovering this lesson, and it is currently reported that Bach is close on the heels of Handel .

Some reference is made earlier in this Report to the handicaps which Diffusing the National impede diffusion. In a paper which he read at the Museum's Association Collections Conference last summer, Sir Philip Hendy, Director of the National Gallery, enlarged upon one of these obstacles . Both the National Gallery and the Tate agreed some time ago to put their `spare' pictures-mostl y minor, though interesting, works-into a pool which the Arts Counci l could then diffuse to provincial art galleries . The spares are, indeed, avail- able, to the number at present of about 410 in all, but the-use to which they can be put turns out to be less than was hoped . As these pictures are national possessions and, sometimes, important" ones, the Arts Council i s bound to ensure that the galleries to which they are lent provide ful l security precautions, including night-watchmanship . Many provincial galleries cannot afford to guarantee these conditions of acceptance and , accordingly, cannot use an opportunity they are anxious to embrace . There is another difficulty as well. Before these national pictures are sent on a round of the provincial galleries they need to be preserved, as far as possible, from those risks of disintegration to which all old pictures ar e liable, especially when they are moved. To put all the pictures availabl e into a proper state for circulation would take far more technical resource s of restoration and preservation than either of the galleries can command. Here is one more instance of the general truth that our national heritage of the arts is at present lamentably incapable of the diffusion we are exhorte d to provide.

Some poets have to be content with a restricted audience drawn from The Audience the circle of their family and friends. Those who find a publisher know for Poetry how unusual it is for sales of a new book of verse to reach four figures . Poetry readings and recitals are generally considered successful if the y succeed in attracting a couple of hundred persons . The presence of an audience of nearly 3,000 in the Royal Festival Hall on May 31st, 1953, t o hear an Apollo Society programme of poetry and music entitled `Four Queens of England' was therefore something extraordinary . The readers 23 were Peggy Ashcroft, Sir John Gielgud and George Rylands ; the musicians George Malcolm (harpsichord) and Mewton-Wood (piano) . This was th e first time the Royal Festival Hall had been used for a poetry reading; and the success of the experiment doubtless owed much to the celebrity of the artists and the planning of the programme . But when all that has been said, it remains a fact that 3,000 persons listened enthralled throughout a long session. Of the poets living in the present reign, Walter de la Mare, Louis MacNeice, Dylan Thomas, and T. S. Eliot were represented (th e latter by East Coker), and Cecil Day Lewis wrote a poem specially for th e occasion entitled The Coronal. Probably the majority of the audience a t the Royal Festival Hall had never been to a poetry reading before, thoug h it is possible that they had listened to poetry occasionally on the air . The intimate poetry-reading has had abundant and understandable success i n recent years. A mass-meeting with the Muse is a new phenomenon . Does it portend anything in particular? Is it another variety of star-attraction ? Does it suggest that the Festival Hall is building up a faithful audience fo r anything it offers? Is the B.B.C. leavening the lump again?

The Old Vic There has been a spectacular transformation in the fortunes of the Ol d Vic. In the middle of last year it was in desperate straits, but during the season which recently closed it achieved the very high average attendanc e of 86 per cent. of capacity. Among the many reasons for this recovery, some obvious and some imponderable, was the excellent all-round standar d of acting and production, and the popularity of the new personalities wh o appeared on the stage. The current policy of the Old Vic is to revive th e Lilian Baylis tradition of creating its own stars rather than importing ready-made ones from the West End. Its new names, such as Claire Bloom -to be partnered next season by Richard Burton-arrive already with a reputation in the films, but the public is evidently very interested to see how such newcomers can match on the stage the celebrity they have begun t o achieve in the cinema. Stars-in-the-making are obviously an attraction . They themselves, too, show a most commendable spirit in choosing t o learn their trade the hard way. Hugh Hunt, the retiring Director, leaves a t a time when the theatre is flourishing, and is succeeded by Michae l Benthall. Hugh Hunt was responsible for three of the most successfu l Shakespearian productions ; other memorable events of the season were the return of Robert Donat in Robert Helpman's production of Murder in the Cathedral and Tyrone Guthrie's production of Henry VIII. 24 Encouraged by such a run of success, the Old Vic now feels able t o emphasise the special identity of the theatre by presenting all the 36 play s in the First Folio during the next five years-four years less than it too k Lilian Baylis to accomplish. This systematic revival of the classics i s precisely the kind of operation which a National Theatre should attempt. It not only gives the public an opportunity to see all Shakespeare's plays , but it also makes possible within the theatre a planned economy over a number of seasons. The mechanics of such a programme call for a return to the Repertory system of playing a different play each night, and n o doubt audiences will have to be re-educated in their habits of attendance . It is to be hoped that the Old Vic will take particular care to make known , as widely as possible, the plays it is presenting night by night. It is a lon g time since London theatregoers have been offered an authentic Repertory system, on the lines of Covent Garden and Sadler's Wells ; and they will need to be familiarised with this method by every device of publicity.

There were many people who doubted the wisdom of building a concert The Royal hall on the South Bank, because the river might prove a psychological Festival Hall barrier to concertgoers . Such fears have not been realised, and in its shor t life the Royal Festival Hall has already achieved a notable success . One of the reasons for this is the vision of the architects in exploiting the whole magnificent river setting as the chief amenity of the hall . The impulse to attend a concert, which in London is subject to many counter-attractions , is strengthened by the anticipation of the ancillary pleasures in store atth e Royal Festival Hall-the river promenades, the strolls on the outside terraces, the floodlit vista of Somerset House, the city churches, St. Paul's, and everywhere the exciting sense of space . In the two years since the hal l opened, on May 3rd, 1951, 1,066 functions have taken place there, an d over two million people have paid for admission . The Festival of Britain was, of course, an exceptional period, but the statistics for a normal concert year are themselves impressive enough. Thus, in the year which ended on March 31st, 1953, there were 421 events in the auditorium an d 48 in the recital room . The total attendance at these functions wa s 1,014,307 ; and the average attendance at orchestral and choral concert s held in the auditorium was the very high one of 79. 8 per cent. of capacity. In some respects the use of the hall is still in its experimental stages , particularly in such matters as the integration of programmes and the 25

organisation of audiences . Some organisations which use the hall hav e built up their own nucleus of subscribers, but much has still to be done to guarantee that solid pre-assured audience which makes adventurou s concert-planning possible .

Varieties of A footnote to what appears in earlier pages on the subject of patronag e Patronage is afforded by several notable ventures carried out under various auspices . One such is available for inspection by any member of the public who care s to go inside and look around the `Time-Life' building in New Bond Street . The American proprietors of this famous establishment commissioned 5 2 British artists and designers, including Henry Moore and Maurice Lambert, to provide sculpture, Ben Nicholson to paint a mural, Edwar d Bawden to design a curtain. The contribution of a local education authority to collective patronag e is particularly well exemplified in what the Hertfordshire Educatio n Committee has accomplished in the schools it has built since 1948 . By spending up to one-third of 1 per cent . (or £1 in every £300) of the cost o f new schools on works of art, it has provided many murals and sculpture s for its buildings. Some of the artists have been people of established reputations : others have been men and women for whom the work has been their first commission. Another example, this time from commerce . The Dolcis Shoe Shop, in Bristol's new shopping centre, Broadmead, asked the Arts Council for th e loan of F. E. McWilliam's sculpture `Parents and Child .' The work is prominently displayed at the foot of the staircase, and the innovatio n received the following appraisal in the Journal of the Bristol Society o f Architects:- `In reality the most interesting departure is not the loaning by a public body to a commercial firm, but rather the placing of a n important work of an experimental kind in a shop which sells fashion - able wear : for it might at least be feared that the associations of the place would overwhelm the artist's message . That the presence of "Parents and Child" does not startle, but appears as the most natural thing in the world is probably due to the fact that leading commercia l firms have long been using the language of space-time in Display. Thus it is that the McWilliam is more at home, less challenging, mor e "accessible" in Broadmead than it would be in the City Art Gallery , where the associations of Renaissance Fine Art still abound . The 26 interest-and the danger-of the experiment lies in the fact that it s appearance in this milieu is less challenging, that its serious comment - ary may be lost in the sea of window dressing . But the risk is as well worth taking as the precise choice of a work i s good : for though the change from realism in the heads to abstraction in the build-up of the torsos is apt to disconcert, it is a device which the sculptor has used to lead the least sophisticated onlooker firml y but gently by the hand. What is so interesting is that it is easier to grasp her hand when she is looking for shoes than it is when she i s keyed up to receive "culture" in a museum. ' Yet another welcome project in patronage is that which the Footbal l Association has lately accomplished . It sponsored a competition by painters and sculptors in depicting scenes and personalities from the worl d of football. No fewer than 1,200 paintings, drawings, prints and sculptors ' maquettes were submitted, and judged by a jury of well-known authorities. A selection from this novel sporting-gallery is to be toured by the Art s Council this autumn and winter. Many other examples could be cited o f the new patronage, including those which are to be found in some airport s and modern ocean liners. The scope for such manifestations is immense , the cost of them is inconsiderable, and the consequences incalculable . The nationalised industries have not yet demonstrated a notable interes t in public patronage. If any activity of this kind on their part should lead to an increase of railway fares, or precipitate a fresh avalanche of nutt y slack, we should not be for it. But the great industrial combines, whether private or collective, could play a worthy role at a modest cost if they cared to sustain or assist some limited ventures in the fine arts . One worthy example, recently provided, of industrial patronage, was the gift by th e Blue Funnel Line of a Rembrandt to the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool . This historic firm, seeking to commemorate three generations of associa- tion with a great maritime city, decided to do so by presenting the ar t gallery with a masterpiece.

After the efflorescence of arts festivals during the Festival of Britain, Arts Festivals when 28 of them were in association with the Arts Council, the summer o f 1952 marked a reversion to more normal conditions, and only 10 festival s received help from the Council. One of them (King's Lynn) was a festival created in 1951, and now trying to establish itself on a regular annual basis ; another (Hovingham) first made its mark in the latter part of the 19t h 27

century, but had been discontinued for some time until the Festival o f Britain provided a suitable occasion for its revival . The remainder were all festivals that had been established for a period of years : the Welsh National Eisteddfod and Canterbury before the war, and the others sinc e 1945. The largest in conception and scope is undoubtedly Edinburgh , where so high a standard of music, drama, opera, ballet, exhibitions, film s and other attractions is maintained year after year that it continues t o draw many visitors not only from Scotland but also from all parts of th e United Kingdom and abroad . On a very much smaller scale, festivals like Aldeburgh and Bath also provide programmes that ring the changes on th e various arts, whereas Cheltenham and Swansea concentrate on one art a t a time. A festival that is welcomed only tepidly by its inhabitants, tha t does not attract sufficient support from individual donors and guarantor s and the local authorities, and that has no specialities to offer, is hardl y likely to prosper and establish itself . The success of any festival must depend in the long run on local enthusiasm, local backing and loca l resources.

Arts Centres : In 1945 the Arts Council drew attention to the lack of accommodatio and Clubs n for the arts in what it called the `medium-sized' towns with a populatio n between 15,000 and 30,000, and advocated the building of comprehensiv e arts centres to serve communities where it was economically unlikely ther e could be a separate theatre, or concert hall, or art gallery . This proved to be an over-optimistic policy, for in the event no such arts centre has been built anywhere in the country during the last eight years ; but at least it has had the merit of focusing interest on the desirability of small towns findin g some way of presenting the arts professionally instead of relying entirel y on local amateur efforts. In the course of time the Council has helped in adapting a number of buildings for use as arts centres, and also assisted a number of clubs which, though without homes of their own, act o n occasions as promoters of professional entertainments both for their ow n members and for the general public . In April 1952 the Council withdrew its policy of association with arts centres and arts clubs, not because it did not approve the excellent work they were doing, but because it wished t o reserve its formal association for a select number of professional under- takings connected with the arts . Meanwhile, it has continued to help various centres and clubs by underwriting their activities; and in assessing its grants or guarantees it has deliberately taken into account the measur e 28 of support the centre or club has already attracted from its local members and from local authorities. The centres now being assisted are in Bridg- water, King's Lynn, Liverpool, Plymouth and Shaftesbury . The latter is a new project and it is hoped that when the work of conversion an d adaptation is completed the centre will become self-supporting. In England and Wales 47 clubs were assisted during the year . These clubs are scattere d all over the country ; but there is a particularly strong concentration of them in the South-West.

The Council has accepted, with gratitude, a presentation from the late Harold Mr. Harold Holt of a valuable collection of play bills, programmes, Holt Collectio n music covers, lithograph portraits of famous artists, and other archive material relating to operatic, theatrical and musical life in London ove r the last two hundred years . The process of sifting the material is still i n progress. Some of the lithographs are being incorporated into an exhibi- tion which the Art Department is arranging, while other material has been presented to the collections at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden , the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, the Sadler's Wells Theatre, D'Oyly Cart e Company and the Royal College of Music . The outgoing Chairman's term of office continued until the end of April, Appointment of 1953, and his post was then taken over by Sir Kenneth Clark . Chairman At the end of December, 1952, Dr . Wyn Griffith (Chairman of the Welsh Council Committee of the Council) accepted an invitation to serve as Vice-Chair- Membership man of the Council and member of the Executive Committee for a furthe r period of one year. The retiring members of the Council were Sir Bronson Albery, Mrs. Hugh Dalton and Viscount Esher ; and in March, 1953 , John Carter, on taking up an appointment in the U .S.A., resigned from the Council. The Chancellor of the Exchequer appointed the followin g new members at the beginning of 1953 : Professor William Coldstream, who became Chairman of the Art Panel and a member of the Executive Committee, the Lady Fermoy, John Newsom and Lady Ogilvie . The remaining members of the Executive Committee, in addition to the Chair - man and Vice-Chairman, were Edric Cundell (Chairman of the Musi c Panel) and Joseph Compton (Chairman of the Poetry Panel) . The Chairman of the Council, Sir Ernest Pooley, and Captain John Honours McEwen were both created baronets in the New Year Honours . Professor Coldstream was made a C.B.E. 29

The Art Director and Assistant Art Director were honoured by th e Mexican Government for their services in connection with the Mexica n Exhibition. Philip James was made a Commander and Gabriel White a n Ensign of the Order of the Aztec Eagle .

3

AR T

Exhibitions The exhibitions brought from abroad during the year included three o f exceptional interest and importance . The splendid exhibition of Mexican Mexican Art Art from Pre-Columbian times to the present day was, perhaps, the most ambitious spectacle ever staged by the Council. The presentation, which involved the construction of an immense range of illuminated cases in th e Tate's great sculpture hall and seven other galleries, was brilliantly designed by Senor Fernando Gamboa; and added lustre was given to th e Pre-Columbian section, which contained magnificent examples o f sculpture, ceramics, goldsmiths' work and codices, by the loan of th e British Museum's unique mosaic objects, crystal skull and Zouche-Nuttal l codex. The British public, of which no less than 121,526 visited the exhibition in nine weeks, owe a great deal to the energetic intervention o f His Excellency the Mexican Ambassador in London, Senor Francisco d e Icaza, which largely contributed to the decision of the President of Mexic o and the Mexican Government to send the exhibition to this country . The experimental extension of the hours of opening from 6 to 9 p .m. at a reduced charge proved entirely successful, as no less than 28 per cent . of the visitors came during these evening hours after the day's work . Matisse Several exhibitions of modern painting and sculpture were also held at the Tate Gallery. One consisted of virtually the whole of the sculpture by Matisse, whose work in this medium is not generally known in thi s country. In addition, the artist himself lent some drawings, three paintings , and a large number of preliminary studies and photographs which were o f 20th-century particular interest to students. Twentieth Century Masterpieces, shown first Masterpieces in Paris as part of the Congress of Cultural Freedom, was a persona l selection made by J. J. Sweeney of New York, and included many impor - 30 tant landmarks in the history of art during the first half of this century . Many of these came from American and Continental private and publi c collections, and had not been seen in London before . Among exhibitions of the art of historic periods the most remarkable, The Ravenna and the most popular, was a series of copies of the superb mosaics in Mosaics various churches of Ravenna. These were no ordinary reproductions, but faithful and meticulous replicas made by craftsmen who still preserve the lovely art of mosaic in Ravenna to-day. Their skill was the more appre- ciated because demonstrations of the technique were given throughout the exhibition. The total attendances for this exhibition, which was als o shown in Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester, were 68,451 . These foreign exhibitions must often, by reason of their size or the tim e for which they are available, be denied to other galleries in the country. The Council therefore continued its policy of sending small exhibitions o f high quality to galleries of restricted size, and a group of 30 paintings b y J. M. W. Turner lent by the Tate Gallery was shown in 12 towns . A second exhibition dealing with English Landscape was selected from the well - known collection of Colonel Grant, who generously lent 70 paintings. The exhibitions of Degas and Epstein, shown as a double bill at the Tate Degas and Gallery, attracted a public of 87,275 . The former had been previously Epstein shown at the Edinburgh Festival, and although it made no claim to be a large and comprehensive exhibition it did, on its modest scale, cover al l aspects of Degas' work, thanks largely to the wise choice of pictures and sculpture by Derek Hill . The Epstein exhibition, a somewhat belated tribute to this great artist , contained sculptures of all periods selected by the Art Director and also a small number of drawings never previously shown . This impressive anthology, which was received without any of the protestations this artist once roused, confirmed the belief that Epstein, especially in his male heads , is probably the greatest portraitist of our age . In the words of the cata- logue: `the future writers of English history will inevitably turn to these , more than to the work of any other portraitist, whether in paint or bronze , for illustrations of the personalities of the past half-century .' It is gratifying to record that this exhibition was swiftly followed by the addition of a mos t impressive work by Epstein to London's public statuary. This was the splendid Madonna and Child, in lead, commissioned by the Convent of th e Holy Child Jesus in Cavendish Square, towards the cost of which th e Council gave a grant of £620. This monumental group, over 30 ft. high hanging on the high, blank stone wall of the bridge connecting th e 31

The Number of People who saw Arts Council Exhibitions 1952-5 3

IN I-O DON Each stvnbol * equals 1,000 adpnissinrl s

Chinese Ceramics from Sir A . Barrow's Collection ! . (41 WCClis l h: ! AC English Churchyard Sculpture A- (3) AC 3 Young Collectors [21 C

Degas T 1 ]q1]

Drawings for Pictures j [31 ]

Epstein r i [7] Charles Keene [4 fl AC yy Sculptures by Matisse T [71 T

R

Mexican Art T j

r r. 'p Contemporary Colour Lithography [4] AC

Young Painters of L'Ecole de Paris [51 N B

Pottery and Textiles 1920-51 by craftsmen t o (4) B Great Britain N

Rasenna Mosaic," '{' _!' ° " [5Sl N B

Merseyside Artists 141 N B

Twentieth Century Masterpieces T ♦ [51 L

NB No Lf Arts Council Galley}' Tare Gallert, New Burlington Gallerv

The Number of People who saw Arts Council Exhibitions 1952-5 3

1 \ `f i t ) 1 i \ C I : ~' 51- ~ 010 :t it m I - s i o n s Each sYmhol * equals 2,000 admissions Janke] Adler 2 Arts Council Coll . I 13 Arts Council Coll. 11 13 Arts Council COIL 111 14 Arts Council Wartime Coll . 10

Ballet Designs from the Collection of 7 . Carr Doughty K' 10 Paintings from Northern Galleries 6 Country Life 7

Dimisrrs for Opera and Ballet At Covent Garden 10

Chinese Ceramin from Sir A . Barlow's Collection

Pottery and Textiles 1920-5: by craftsmen in Ch Britain 2 Drawings for Pictures = 1 Roger Fry ' T 10 , English Landscapes from Col . Grantb Collection t - ,Q 4 Hiroshige 2 Frances Hodgkins 4 A . S. Hartrick 4 1 Charles Keene l Looking Forward ! 2 Meninsky 2 Merseyside Artists 2 Ravenna Mosaic y! " 3 Rembrandt Etchings 3

Selection from R .A . Summer Exhibition 1952 4 6 t . Elliot Scabrooke S Sixty Paintings for '51 3 Turner 1 1 3 Young Collectors 4

%ictonan Photographs from the Gemsheim Collection 7

Ethel Walker 4 Comcmpoun watercolours and Drawings fro m Whitworrh G411ery, Manchester 6 Young Contemporaries 1952 S

•This diagram doer not include the nunther ojpeople who visited the 43 Arts Council Exhibitions or Graphic Art, Reproductions, etc ., also circulated during the year .

convent's two buildings, has a nobility and grandeur which places it in the front rank of this great sculptor's work . Three Young This exhibition consisted of contemporary paintings and drawings from Collectors the collections of three young men-Robert Banks, R. D. S. May and Peter Meyer-all of whom have formed the bulk, if not the whole, of thei r collections since the war . It is refreshing to discover that there still exis t private patrons of taste, enthusiasm and sufficient means who are les s disposed to play safe by investing in the paintings of established masters than to gamble on the work of living artists. Coronation Four exhibitions were specially arranged to celebrate the Coronation , Exhibitions and the choice of subjects was not uninfluenced by the fact that man y visitors from overseas would be in London for this great occasion . Two retrospective exhibitions by painters essentially English in style and vision , one an old master and one a contemporary, were held concurrently at th e Tate Gallery; Gainsborough and Sutherland were the artists chosen . The Gainsboroughs, selected by Professor Ellis Waterhouse (and reinforce d for part of the time by the two landscapes from the Tollemache collection , kindly lent by the anonymous purchaser) showed the artist in his les s familiar aspects, and included a number of important pictures never previously exhibited in London (notably the Menage lent by the Louvre). The Sutherland exhibition consisted, in the main, of the works presente d by the British Council at the Biennale in Venice, where the painter receive d universal applause and did so much to enhance his reputation . Some new works were added, including the portrait of Lord Beaverbrook . These tw o exhibitions together drew a total of 55,240 visitors. In the New Burlington Galleries, much improved by the installation o f a new velarium, a general exhibition on the theme of British Life was arranged. This was a pictorial record of our lives and pursuits, in all aspects, from the reign of Queen Elizabeth I to the Coronation of Quee n Elizabeth Il. Brinsley Ford ranged the country far and wide to produc e a fascinating `omnium gatherum' which he supported by a witty an d informative catalogue. There were works by Hogarth, Stubbs, Reynolds, Frith (whose Ramsgate Sands was lent by Her Majesty), Sickert and man y other artists neglected or little known to-day . Lastly a small exhibition was mounted at St . James's Square of photo- graphs of the sculpture on the Royal Tombs at Westminster Abbey . This consisted of three groups-the Gothic monuments in the Confessor's Chapel by William Torel, the tomb in Henry VIPs chapel by Torrigiani, and the marble figure of Queen Elizabeth . The beauty of these monuments 34 was vividly illustrated in particular by the inclusion of many details. Rarely have the form, texture and character of sculpture been as sympa- thetically reproduced as in these photographs by F . L. Kenett. A particularly successful regional exhibition of works by John Piper was organised and held in the Cambridge office . Among the purchases of original works made during the year pride of Purchases place goes to a fine portrait by Sickert . Dating from about 1904, it is said to be a portrait of either Jeanne or Helene Dormont (known by Sickert a s the `Belgian Cocotte') and was formerly in the collection of a privat e owner in France. Other paintings acquired were by artists of both fam e and promise, including Piper, Freud, Frost, Gaudier-Brzeska, Gowing, Wyndham Lewis, Monnington and Jack Smith. By a fortunate coincidence an early self-portrait of the late Albert Rutherston was acquired just before the artist's death. Thirty-four additions were made to the collection of prints. A beginning was also made of collections both of small sculpture and contemporary drawings. Works by Epstein (the maquette for the new Madonna and Child in Cavendish Square), Underwood, Ehrlich and Elizabeth Frink have been acquired ; and drawings by Lowry, Sutherland, Gwynne-Jones and Prunella Clough. A number of gifts have been mad e to other institutions : Sutherland's Origins of the Land to the Tate Gallery; William Gear's Autumn Landscape and Robert Medley's Cyclists (two of the prizewinning pictures commissioned for the Festival of Britain) to th e Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle, and to the City Art Gallery, York, respectively. For the third year in succession a mobile unit has toured England and Art Films Wales with a repertory of 29 films on art . One hundred and thirty centre s were visited. The service, which is organised in co-operation with the British Film Institute, is available to any club or society which can provid e a suitable hall ; and it has proved so successful that it has now become a permanent feature of the winter season . Fourteen films were added to th e repertory, among them a documentary on the Van Meegeren forgeries, a colour film on the Ravenna mosaics and Paul Haesaert's Visit to Picasso. A New Way of Gravure, in which William Hayter is seen carrying out the entire process of an engraving, was also included at the end of the tour. Following their great success with a film on Henry Moore the B .B.C. Television Film Unit, aided and abetted by the Arts Council, has now completed one film dealing with the problems of the artist to-day and on e on Graham Sutherland. In addition, a colour film directed by Basil Wright 35

and Adrian de Potier and based on the magnificent exhibition of drawings by Leonardo da Vinci held at Burlington House in the spring of 1952, was produced by a number of public and private guarantors, of which the Council was one. It is hoped that these three films will be available for th e 1953-54 season . The Crafts Two exhibitions were held during the year, one historic and the other contemporary. The former consisted of a generous loan of Chines e pottery of the T'ang and Sung dynasties from the well-known collectio n of Sir Alan Barlow and revealed a surprisingly wide appreciation extendin g far beyond sinologists and connoisseurs of ceramics . The contemporary exhibition illustrated the work of British artist-craftsmen in pottery an d textiles from 1920 to 1952 and was arranged in collaboration with Dartington Hall, where the exhibition was first shown as a background t o an international conference which dealt with the problems of the craft s in an industrialised society. Lectures The demand for lectures has decreased considerably, and during the yea r the staff of salaried lecturers was reduced . The Council would like to record its gratitude to Miss Maria Shirley, to Robin Pearce and par - ticularly to George Mayer-Marton who gave over eight years' strenuous and widely appreciated service, first to CEMA and then to the Arts Council. 4

MUSI C Symphony The comparative numbers of concerts given in the last two years by th e Orchestras five permanent Symphony Orchestras associated with the Council are these :- 1951/52 1952/53 City of Birmingham 185 193 Ha116 190 225 Liverpool Philharmonic . . 198 206 London Philharmonic 257 273 Scottish National . . 122 158 The London Symphony Orchestra received a grant in respect of its own annual series of concerts . The Council continued to support the Roya l Philharmonic and Brighton Philharmonic Societies for their annua l series of concerts . 36

Comparative totals of concerts are as under :- Chamber and String 1951/52 1952/53 Orchestras Boyd Neel Orchestra 126 104* Jacques Orchestra . . 52 40 ' This figure includes 45 concerts given in Canada and the U .S.A. and six in France . An innovation in the year under review was the creation of a special fund to assist this type of orchestra to undertake short tours outside London , more especially in places which do not receive visits from the symphony orchestras. The summary of activities for the year 1952-53 is as follows :- National Feetion Type of Society Number _ Number of Amount Masi aSocieties Concerts Offered `A' Societies 112 352 £7,59 1 `B' Societies 188 434 £4,075 Music Clubs 108 545 £2,760 The experimental scheme described in last year's report for `A' and `B' Societies has not proved sufficiently successful to justify its retention i n the future. The Federation has decided, therefore, to revert to its forme r arrangements for assessing financial help to these Societies as well as t o Chamber Music Clubs . An analysis of the works performed by all Choral Societies in the Federation during the season 1952-53 revealed that, apart from Handel' s Messiah, the works of J. S. Bach were most frequently performed . Not only was the St. Matthew Passion top of the list but three other major works (St. John Passion, Christmas Oratorio and the B Minor Mass) were in the first 10 places . The number of music clubs and societies receiving assistance directly Other Clubs from the Council rose last year from 119 to 134 . In the year under review and Societies the number has again increased to a total of 160 . As an inevitable corollary, the total number of directly provided con- Directly-pro- certs in England and Wales dropped to 53 . It will be seen that the vided Concert s Council's policy of gradual withdrawal from this type of work has no w been almost achieved . A total of £815 was given by way of grant or guarantee to other amateur Professional choral and orchestral societies and amateur operatic societies towards the Stiffening cost of professional assistance in sums ranging from £5 to £100 . The Grand Opera Group completed its fourth season in March, 1953, Special Groups and gave a total of 65 .performances in places as wide apart as St . Ives 37

The Arts Council and the National Federation of Music Societies LARGE CHORAL. AND ORCHESTRAL ("A") SOCIETIE S

SMALL CHORAL AND ORCHESTRAL ("B") SOCIETIE S

188 Societie s

fl 1 .880

£43 .35 ; £39,646

%rL1r%, UZ,,.

434 Conccr[ s

MUSIC CLUB S

118 Clubs

►~~£24,490 _ £21,674 ,~\k16,422 M a`vw 543 Concerts lt,,~ kP1n MI r o ul (TORS'$ AND ARTS COUNCIL . INCOME FROM ORCHESTRAL FEES V k~PEtiDfI l RE A55LSFAM1CE ADMISSIONS A ti ►~~~~~~~ SOLO ARTISTS' FEES OTHER SOURCES - OTHER EXPENDITURE (Cornwall) and Fort William in Scotland . In their specially designed bus , which carries the complete party as well as their luggage and equipment, a total distance of some 6,500 miles was covered . A new feature of the season's work was an extension of the abridged version of Mozart's Cosi fan Tutte to cover a full evening's programme ; costumes and some lighting effects were added, and this programme accounted for no less than 39 o f the performances given . In the coming season it is proposed to increase th e Group by one singer, a second soprano, and to offer in addition to Cosafan Tutte an abridged version of Rossini's Cinderella sung in English. Intimate Opera and the Opera Trio, under the direction of Antony Hopkins, are adding to their repertory in the coming season three ne w short operas by contemporary composers-Apollo and Persephone by Gerald Cockshott, The Dumb Wife by Joseph Horovitz and Three's Company by Antony Hopkins . The Council proposes to carry out further improvements in time for th e Wigmore Hall coming season. These will include improvements to artists' cloakrooms and lavatories and the installation of a licensed bar for concert patrons . The Coronation gave musicians a unique opportunity to celebrate th e Coronation occasion in special commissions and in festival performances . A large Music number of musical organisations gave Coronation concerts and include d in their programmes many works, old and new, of appropriate character . The Council commissioned Sir William Walton to write a new Coronatio n March, Orb and Sceptre, which, in addition to being played in Westminster Abbey at the Coronation Service, was first performed in public a few day s later at the Royal Festival Hall in the special series of Eight Coronatio n Concerts presented by the Royal Philharmonic Society in association wit h

MUSIC SOCIETIES AND MUSIC CLUBS-(see opposite) 1. The Arts Council of Great Britain allocates a sum of money (annually) to the National Federatio n of Music Societies to be distributed for the benefit of their member Societies . For administrative reasons the Choral and Orchestral Societies are divided into two categories, `A' and `B' . 2. Both Societies and Music Clubs apply (each year) to the Federation for assistance, givin g particulars of their season's plans with estimates of expenditure and income . The special Joint Committee, representing the Federation and the Arts Council, with the advice of the Federation' s Regional Committees, determines the amounts available by way of guarantee against loss to eac h applicant . The Committee takes into account both the artistic and financial aspects of every case . 3. The purpose of the diagrams is to show that limited Arts Council funds, modest in relation t o the total sums involved, help to turn the large wheels representing important and extensive musica l activities throughout the country . The segments, indicating the amounts distributed in fees t o conductors, soloists and orchestras, also demonstrate the extent to which professional artists benefi t under this scheme . The totals shown in the black wheels do not exactly equal the sum of the figure s given in the red and pink wheels because credit or debit balances of individual Societies have no t been taken into account . 39 the B.B.C., the L.C.C. and the Council. This series was notable for the range of British works presented, and it received wide approbation in th e Press of the exceptionally high standard of performance . Another of the Council's Coronation commissions was the collection o f songs for mixed voices entitled A Garland for the Queen. The com- posers and poets who collaborated in pairs to provide this series were :- Henry Reed and Arthur Bliss. Clifford and Arnold Bax . Christopher Fry and Michael Tippett . Ursula Wood and R . Vaughan Williams. Paul Dehn and Lennox Berkeley. James Kirkup and John Ireland . Walter de la Mare and Herbert Howells. Edmund Blunden and Gerald Finzi . Louis MacNeice and Alan Rawsthorne . Christopher Hassall and Edmund Rubbra . A Garland for the Queen was first performed by the Cambridge Uni- versity Madrigal Society, under Boris Ord, at the Royal Festival Hall, as part of a concert of music specially chosen and presented by the Counci l for the eve of Coronation Day. Other items included the final Masque from Purcell's King Arthur, a selection from The Triumphs of Oriana Madrigals and Dr. Vaughan Williams' Fantasia for double string orchestra on a Theme of Thomas Tallis . It was a particular pleasure and an honou r to have the composer, whose associations with the Council go back to th e earliest days of CEMA, directing the performance of the last-named work . Both Orb and Sceptre and A Garland for the Queen are dedicated, by gracious permission, to the Queen .

5 DRAM A

The Reps. During the year the provincial Repertory Companies have, generall y speaking, marked time at their previous levels, both artistically an d financially, although the Nottingham Theatre Trust has decided on a n uncompromisingly ambitious policy with which it hopes to consolidat e 40 the reputation it has built up from its early years . Without increased subsidy, which the Council has not been able to provide, an appre- ciable rise in Repertory standards cannot be expected . In some cases, however, this may also be because audiences themselves do not see k a higher quality in what is offered to them . Despite the many difficultie s none of the Repertory Theatres in association with the Council wen t out of business, although several struck an extremely hazardous perio d in the winter, when the combination of fog and 'flu seriously re- duced their audiences. To some of the theatres the Council was able t o give emergency aid from its Festival of Britain surplus, which is no w wholly exhausted . The Bristol Old Vic's production of The Two Gentlemen of Verona at its parent theatre in the Waterloo Road in February 1952, was such a succes s that it was brought to London again for three weeks in July . It was followed by the Birmingham Repertory Company with Shakespeare' s King Henry VI, Part III, for two weeks. These two productions were excellently received, and at the same time gave the London public a chance to make comparisons, by no means unfavourable, between the work of two of the best provincial repertory theatres and the more familiar West End productions . The last Report referred to the plans of the Salisbury Arts Theatr e (which has now changed its name to `The Playhouse') for maintaining tw o companies, each playing alternately a week in Salisbury and a week o n tour. These hopes have been dashed, principally by the heavy cost of touring nowadays, and the second company had to be disbanded i n January. The theatre has now adopted a policy of weekly repertory i n Salisbury, a disappointing outcome of seven years of high endeavour an d courageous struggle. The Leatherhead Theatre Club was the only additional company taken into association during the year . The only repertory company which the Arts Council now directl y manages is the Midland Theatre Company, based on Coventry . The financial support enjoyed from the Coventry Corporation and the local authorities of Nuneaton and Dudley was reinforced by a gift of £250 fro m the Loughborough First Nighter's Club, raised by private subscriber s who `stood-in' for their local authority which was unable to offer th e Company a grant. During the year the Council sent out two directly-managed tours Council Tours to the theatreless areas . The first, Macbeth, played for nine weeks i n 41

30 places in Wales, 5 in the North-West, and 13 in the North-East . The second tour, The Rivals, played for eight weeks in 30 places in Wales and 13 in the North-East, of which all the Welsh dates were `one-night stands .' Macbeth played to 27,941 people, an average of 90 per cent . capacity, and its per capita subsidy was only ls. 6d., the lowest on any of the Council's tours so far . This was due to excellent support from local authorities and schools . The Rivals played to 20,475 people, an average of 80 per cent . capacity; its per capita subsidy was slightly higher, at 2s ., but while the Company was touring Wales a blizzard prevented many parties from reaching some performances . Mobile Apart from these tours, many small towns and villages continued to b e Theatres served by the Caryl Jenner Mobile Theatre's two companies, and th e West of England Theatre Company toured a circuit in the West Country . Bus Subsidies The Council has continued its scheme of offering subsidies to repertory theatres for bringing in bus parties from surrounding districts, an d several theatres have built up a valuable new public by this means . The licensing regulations restrict the extent of this amenity, but the potential audiences that can be attracted in this way make it well worth while fo r theatres to seek the co-operation of their local bus companies . Promotion of There is a dearth of new plays of quality . Managements are reluctant New Drama to risk putting on a new play by an unknown writer, because the publi c is unwilling to take a chance on a new name . This is particularly true i n the provinces. In 1951 the Council held a competition for the best play s produced by Repertory Companies ; but the Repertory Theatres, it wa s found, could not afford the risk of production without the certainty of a prize. This year the Council offered guarantees against loss, up to £300 , to managements presenting new plays of quality by writers who had no t already made their mark . The merit of plays submitted under this scheme was adjudicated by the Drama Panel . Thirteen plays were submitted, bu t only two were considered good enough to justify a guarantee : Fool's Mate by Lyndon Brook, produced by the Under Thirty Theatre Group for a Sunday night performance in London on January 11th, 1953, an d The Purple Fire-Eaters by Charles Fenn, produced by the Ipswich Theatre Trust for two weeks from March 2nd, 1953 . In neither case was the Council's guarantee called in full . The Council is making other experiments to promote new drama o f quality. It has awarded a bursary of £500 for one year to Leo Lehman , who was considered the most promising and deserving of 20 youn g dramatists whose names were sponsored by responsible members of the 42 W . R . SICK FRT Portrait of a Woman r . I k)04 (Arts Council Collection I THE ARTS COUNCI L

15 JULY TO 17 A UGllST WEEKDAYS 10-6 3UMDAY52-6

/~ wssiris ow ~AA-nq

Left FX111111 FION POSTE R Designer, Carol JetTries IF. PAN . ) Ruhr EXHIBITION POSTE R

Designer, H . Matisse I %low1w . Fori.0 40

oo~

ARTS COUNCI L THE SCULPTUREMATISSE OF AND THREE PAINTINGS WITH STUDIE S 9 JANUARY - 22 FEBRUARY 195 3 THE TATE GALLERY

4*

Mexican Art MUSI C THE ARTS COUNCIL OF GREAT BRITAIN For the v%v crf' ('++r- nation Ua v

`&rfr COVER for ILLUSTRATED SUPPLEMENT t .SJu, nvaf Arv F Rigid-PROGRAMME COVER Designer, Lynton Lamb(Kris,cru+Pruiu~ik l.,rd.1 theatrical and literary professions . The Council has also commissione d plays from Antony Brown, through the Bristol Old Vic Company, and Giles Cooper, through the Midland Theatre Company ; and has invited the Arts Theatre Club in London, and the Liverpool Playhouse, each t o commission a play from established writers of their own choice who hav e not previously written for the theatre . At the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park, Robert Atkins' Bankside Open-Air Players had a summer that was financially disastrous because of bad Closure weather. They had, first, to ask the Council to increase the size of it s grant, and then had to close several weeks before the scheduled end o f their season; 1953 is their twenty-first anniversary, but the elements did not smile upon their coming-of-age .

6

OPERA AND BALLET

The Opera and Ballet notes in last year's Annual Report stressed the Carl Rosa importance the Council attached to the role of the Carl Rosa Opera Company in maintaining and developing opera in the provinces . Out of its increased Treasury grant for the current year the Council is backing a tour in the provinces of 14 weeks during the autumn months . It is hoped that results will be sufficiently encouraging to justify a spring tour in 195 4 of approximately the same duration. Details of the places to be visite d in the autumn have already been given to the Press, and although no new productions will be added to the repertory in the first tour, it is hope d that this will prove possible as soon as the new Company, which wil l include many former Carl Rosa artists, is firmly established . The Covent Garden Opera Company's first production during the Covent Garden autumn season was A Masked Ball in a new translation by Edwar d Dent, who restored the libretto to its Swedish setting on the lines originally planned by Verdi and his librettist. The producer was Gunthe r Rennert, the designers Alan Barlow and Alix Stone, and the opera wa s conducted by John Pritchard. The following month, Bellini's Norma was revived under the direction of Vittorio Gui. The opera was sung in 43 Italian with a distinguished cast including Maria Meneghini Callas an d Ebe Stignani. Before starting out on its annual tour of provincial centres, the Compan y presented a new production of Gluck's Orpheus by Frederick Ashton, with decor by Sophie Fedorovitch, whose tragic and unexpected deat h had taken place a few days earlier . Kathleen Ferrier, who sang the title role with incomparable artistry, made the occasion a memorable one fo r all who were present. In addition to directing this opera, Sir Joh n Barbirolli appeared frequently during the season, notably in Aida and Tristan and Isolde. Sylvia Fisher made her debut as Isolde, receiving warm approbation from the Press and public alike . After a provincial tour in which Cardiff, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Birming - ham were visited, the Company returned to Covent Garden for a Coronation season. Last year's notable production of Wozzeck was brought back into the repertory, again under Kleiber, who also directed a revival of Strauss's Elektra in a new production by Rudolph Hartmann, with scenery and costumes by Isabel Lambert. The performance was given in German, with Erna Schluter as Elektra . On June 8th, Her Majesty the Queen attended a Gala Performance in the theatre at which the premiere of Benjamin Britten's Gloriana was given. The opera had been written with the express approval of the Queen, a n unprecedented event in our operatic history, and the libretto by Willia m Plomer was compiled from incidents in the lives of Elizabeth I and the Earl of Essex. A spectacular production, with costumes and scener y designed by John Piper, included a masque with full ballet and a large ballroom scene . John Pritchard conducted, and Basil Coleman was the producer. The Sadler's Wells Ballet Company played the longest season o f ballet in its history. With the exception of holidays and two or three visits to provincial centres, the Company performed regularly in the theatre for some 14 months. Two full-scale new productions were under- taken-Delibes's Sylvia, with new choreography by Frederick Ashton , in settings and costumes by Robin and Christopher Ironside, and a ne w production of Le Lac des Cygnes, in which Leslie Hurry was again responsible for the decor. Other new productions included Bonne Bouche , a light-hearted short piece with music by Arthur Oldham, decor by Osber t Lancaster, and choreography by John Cranko ; The Shadow, to Dohnanyi's F sharp minor Suite, again with choreography by John Cranko an d settings by John Piper ; Veneziana to music arranged by Dennis Ap Ivo r 44 from the operas of Donizetti, choreography by Andree Howard, wit h scenery and costumes by Sophie Fedorovitch. Finally, on Coronatio n Day itself, the Company presented a new ballet by Frederick Ashton , Homage to the Queen . The choreography gave opportunity to all the leading dancers in the Company against a magnificent setting designe d by Oliver Messel ; the music was by Malcolm Arnold . The Sadler's Wells Opera Company added several new productions to Sadler's Wells Theatre its repertory. During the autumn season Tchaikowsky's Eugene Onegin was produced by George Devine, with decor by Motley. Next came The Seraglio, in a notable new translation by Edward Dent. Peter Rice designed the scenery and costumes, while Clive Carey, who produced , thus completed a cycle of five Mozart productions during his associatio n of over 20 years with the Old Vic-Sadler's Wells organisation . After Christmas Samson and Delilah was brought back, after a long absence , into the repertory, with a new production by Basil Coleman who chos e Ralph Koltai as his designer. In March, Heinrich Sutermeister's Romeo and Juliet, an opera presented in many theatres abroad, though hithert o unstaged in England, was produced by George Devine, with scenery and costumes by Malcolm Pride . The Coronation season included many popular works from its reper- tory, but the Company offered two new productions : The Immortal Hour by Rutland-Boughton, and the first production by a professional compan y of Vaughan Williams's short opera Riders to the Sea, which was given with a revival of the same composer's Hugh the Drover. The Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet also presented several new ballets , as well as a revival of the popular The Rake's Progress. Reflection intro- duced a new score by John Gardner to choreography by John Cranko ; Ile des SirMes showed Alfred Rodrigues, a member of the Sadler' s Wells Company for several years, as choreographer for the first time . Then followed a Sherlock Holmes story (The Great Detective) with music by Richard Arnell and choreography by Margaret Dale, and finally , during the Coronation Season, Blood Wedding, with choreography agai n by Alfred Rodrigues, music by Dennis Ap Ivor, and decor by Isabe l Lambert. . Both Companies visited a number of provincial centres during th e year, and the Theatre Ballet paid a four-week visit to Belgium, Hollan d and Germany. At the Aldeburgh Festival the English Opera Group presented a new English Opera production of Love in a Village, for which Arthur Oldham prepared a Group 45 score from Gay's music . The Group also presented a number of concerts in London and the provinces, as well as several wireless productions o f works in its repertory. Ballet Rambert The Rambert Ballet have again been touring in many provincial centre s and presented a successful short season at the Lyric, Hammersmith, in which a number of its early and well-known ballets were revived .

7

POETR Y

The Poetry On May 12th, 1953, the Poetry Library of the Arts Council was opened at Library of the the National Book League. The speakers on this occasion were Lor d Arts Council Justice Birkett, Joseph Compton, T. S. Eliot and Sir Herbert Read ; and they all welcomed the fact that here was the nucleus of what it is hope d will in course of time become a specialised reference library of considerabl e importance. The choice of books has been made by the Poetry Panel and is intended to represent the verse published in Great Britain and th e United States of America during the past quarter of a century . It is the Panel's intention to add new volumes at regular intervals . The Library is housed at the National Book League, 7 Albemarle Street, W .1, and is available for the free use and enjoyment of members of the National Boo k League and the Institute of Contemporary Arts. It may also be used by accredited students on payment of a small fee. A short-title catalogue has been published ; and in the introduction John Hayward defines the purpose of this reference library as being `th e simple one of helping the reader of poetry, and particularly the younge r reader, to get into easier and closer touch with the published verse of hi s poetic contemporaries ; and literally in touch, so that, without obligation , he can handle their books at his pleasure and make use of them to hi s heart's content. Such an opportunity for leisurely inspection may inci- dentally help a reader to decide which books he should buy for his own shelves; and so, if only in a small way, increase the sale of poetry at a time when, more than ever before, this is the most valuable help that the public can give the poet and his publisher .' 46 In the summer of 1952 the Council announced that it was prepared to Prizes for Pub- yBooks of offer two prizes of £225 each for (i) a first book of original English verse POe~ by a living poet published between January 1st, 1951 ; and June 30th, 1953 ; and (ii) a book of original English verse by a living poet publishe d during the same period. The following judges were appointed : Joseph Compton (chairman), G . S. Fraser, John Hayward, William Plomer, an d Miss C. V. Wedgwood. By the end of June 1953 nearly 100 entries had been received. Two festivals were helped during the year : the English Festival of Festivals Spoken Poetry, which was held at the Royal Academy of Music, July 21st-24th; and the Cheltenham Festival of Contemporary Literature, October 6th-10th, 1953 . The purpose of the English Festival of Spoke n Poetry is to raise the standard of verse-speaking through contests o f different kinds, whereas the Cheltenham Festival aims at interesting the general public in lectures, talks and discussions, on literature . This year's programme was extended to poetry, and a particularly successful recita l was given by Cecil Day Lewis and Jill Balcon to a large audience in th e Cheltenham Town Hall . Excellent audiences for spoken poetry in different parts of the country Poetry were one of the most encouraging features of the year . Three poetry Readings tours were arranged through the Council's regional offices . In the South-West, Cecil Day Lewis and Jill Balcon visited Bridgwater, Bath, Bristol, Exeter and Swanage (February 9th-13th, 1953) and there were capacity attendances at every performance. In fact, a small net profit resulted from this tour. New ground was broken in the North of Englan d where Christopher Hassall and Jill Balcon were the readers in a tour o f York, Leeds, Harrogate, Scarborough, Hull and West Hartlepool (Feb- ruary 18th-24th), and Christopher Hassall and Nicolette Bernard in a tour of Lancaster, Liverpool and Manchester (March 25th-27th) . In many of these places a poetry reading was a complete novelty. Never- theless, the reception was enthusiastic, and everywhere the hope wa s expressed there would be further recitals in the future . The Apollo Society acted as the Council's agents for the two tours o f the North of England ; but it reverted to its usual programme of two reader s and a pianist for the three recitals it gave in the Recital Room of th e Royal Festival Hall last winter. The outstanding success of its special recital in the Royal Festival Hall just before the Coronation is referre d to in Notes of the Year . 47

A Poetry Book The Panel held a number of consultations during the year regardin g Society the idea of a Poetry Book Society, and the Council has approved th e outline of a scheme which it is hoped will be launched in 1953-54. Copyright Last year mention was made of the Conference on Copyright Poetry, Poetry whose report and recommendations had been accepted by the Counci L When the Report of the Copyright Committee set up by the Government through the Board of Trade was published in October 1952, it was foun d to contain a special reference to the arrangements concluded under the auspices of the Arts Council `between the interests most concerned for th e establishment of a tariff of fees and for their collection for public recital s of copyright poetry.' The new arrangements seem in fact to be working smoothly; and it is to be hoped that they will definitely benefit the poe t himself, or his heirs or assigns, without in any way discouraging the promoters of public poetry readings and recitals .

8

SCOTLAND

Finance In the year under review the net amount of money available for th e Scottish Committee was £57,000 . There were the usual direct grants an d guarantees to the Scottish National Orchestra and numerous small music societies to the associated repertory theatres in Dundee, Glasgow an d Perth and the grant of £5,000 to the Edinburgh Festival Society . This was the first occasion on which the grant had come direct from the Scottis h Committee. An idea of the extent of direct provision of the arts can b e got from the General Expenditure Account on page 72. Under the headings Directly Provided Concerts, Drama and Ballet Tours and Art Exhibition Expenses, there is a total net sum of well over £12,000 . All these are organised by the staff of the Scottish Office working closely wit h local organisers throughout Scotland and almost a quarter of the Treasur y Grant is spent on this direct provision. It will be seen in the Accounts that the balance carried forward is rathe r less than £12,000, but of this, two large sums are earmarked for Specia l Purposes ; the first is £7,000 for the acquisition of office premises and £3,000 for the Greenock Arts Guild . 48

The Edinburgh International Festival had in many ways its most The Edinburgh successful year in 1952 . The high artistic standards were maintained and Festival the attendances were extraordinarily large. For example, the Hamburg State Opera, which gave a season of six German operas, attracted 25,00 0 people and played to 97 per cent. of capacity; ballet at the Empire Theatr e attracted nearly 48,000 and played to 100 per cent . of capacity . Excellent attendances were achieved for orchestral concerts, chamber concerts an d for drama performances, and nearly 33,000 people saw the exhibition o f Degas' work which was shown in the Royal Scottish Academy . The improvement in the standard of performance of the National Scottish Orchestra, which was referred to in last year's Annual Rpeort, has been National Orchestra maintained under the Orchestra's new conductor Karl Rankl. Here again there have been good attendances and at concerts given in Edin - burgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee there has been an increase i n attendance during the autumn and winter seasons of more than 30,000 with increased takings of well over £5,000. The Orchestra has still to face a number of problems, but this year there has been much to cheer th e hearts of the Directors. A very noticeable and encouraging feature this year has been the Directly- provided marked improvement in the size of the audiences at the concerts which Performances are directly provided, often in very remote communities . It would appear that the Committee's long-term policy of building up, over the years, a real appreciation of good music is now bearing fruit . A very high musical standard is consistently maintained in the planning of these concerts an d is, indeed, demanded by the audiences . Chamber music features increas - ingly in the requests received from local organisers and the problem in many places is becoming not so much that of `selling' the highest forms of music as that of ensuring that the developing appreciation of music does not, by aiming too high too quickly, defeat its own ends . Outstanding among the activities in this field has been the great Drama, Ballet enthusiasm for ballet; the funds at the disposal of the Scottish Committee and Puppets made it impossible for all requests to be met, but the three Ballet Com - panies which toured during the season played to a total audience o f nearly 15,000 people. The Ballet Rambert alone was seen by more tha n 6,500-76 per cent . of capacity. Drama and puppet tours continued t o attract large and enthusiastic audiences and an interesting introductio n from over the border was the London Club Theatre Group which was warmly received during its tour in the North of Scotland and the Outer Isles. 49

Repertory The three repertory companies have continued to do steady and ofte n Theatres and pioneer work both in their own theatres and on tour . A number of new Play Award Competition plays by Scots authors has been produced and the Play Award Com- petition organised by the Scottish Committee attracted a total entry of ten new plays. During the year 1953-54, in order both to encourage promise and to reward achievement, the basis of the competition will b e somewhat altered, but the aim of stimulating new and progressive wor k in the Scottish theatre will remain unchanged . Poetry Much thought has been given to the art of poetry, and the steadily increasing demand for a poetry recitalist to be included in concerts woul d appear to indicate a greater appreciation which is being carefully fostered . To provide a stimulus on the creative side the Committee has again decide d to make an award for a collection of verse by a living Scots poet ; the last competition of this kind was held in Scotland to celebrate the Festival o f Britain and it is hoped that this Coronation Year Competition will prove equally successfully . Visual Arts Each year, since 1949, an exhibition of special importance has bee n arranged in the Diploma Galleries of the Royal Scottish Academy i n Edinburgh. Probably the most successful of this series was the com- prehensive exhibition of paintings and drawings by Sickert which was opened by Sir Kenneth Clark in January of this year . A gradually increasing liaison and collaboration between the Scottish Committee and many art bodies in Scotland is producing fruitful results , notably the exhibition of Eighteenth-Century Scottish Costumes an d Portraits shown in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery during the Edinburgh International Festival, the selection of handsome painting s lent for an extensive tour by the Glasgow Corporation from the Hamilton Bequest, and the varied and charming selection of Twentieth-Centur y British Paintings lent by the Aberdeen Corporation, which introduced a number of distinguished English painters to the smaller Scottish towns . Of the exhibitions which came from Headquarters, the Jankel Adle r Memorial Exhibition shown in Glasgow, where Adler is well remembered, was of particular interest, and the Pottery and Textiles Exhibition, shown in Edinburgh during the Festival, was a delight and prompted many requests for further crafts exhibitions . To some extent this was met in a modest way by the tour of a small exhibition of Danish Crafts arranged primarily for showing in Orkney during the Danish-Orcadian Conference held there in the summer of 1952 . 50 The numerous Art Clubs scattered throughout the country are becomin g increasingly conscious of the necessity for a fairly continuous activity if they are to hold the interest of their members . Only a few exhibitions can be arranged by these Clubs each year, but a series of art films and visitin g lecturers maintain the interest in the intervening periods and enhanc e the value of the exhibitions when they come. Since 1951 it has been possible to continue to purchase paintings by contemporary Scottish artists and a second anthology, including some of the younger painters is slowly growing. Another `throwback' to 1951 is the seven-feet high carving in Leoch stone, commissioned from Thoma s Whalen, now on view at the Royal Scottish Academy before being place d in the grounds of the newly-opened Health Centre in Edinburgh . During the year there has been only one change on the Scottish Com- Membership of mittee, James McNaught retiring under rota and David Baxandall takin g Committee his place.

9

WALE S

The period under review was a time of particular importance to Wales , Autonomy fo r as it was in this year that the Arts Council, appreciating that Wales is a Wales nation with its own language and way of life, decided, with Treasur y approval, that the Welsh Committee should enjoy autonomy fro m April 1st, 1953. The Welsh Committee is now, therefore, on the sam e footing as the Scottish Committee ; it receives from the Arts Council an annual block grant, based on the Welsh Committee's estimate of actual needs, and applies this fund, at its own discretion, to the support of th e arts in Wales . The following were due to retire from the Welsh Committee a t Welsh December 31st, 1952 : Mrs. Irene Edwards, Miss Frances Rees, O .B.E., Committee and C. E. Gittins, and were reappointed to serve for a further period . Five new members were appointed, namely: Sir Wynn P. Wheldon, K.B.E., D.S.O., and Dr. D. E. Parry Williams, both of whom had pre- 51 viously served on the Arts Council's first Welsh Committee set up to 1945 ; the Most Hon . The Marquess of Anglesey, the Very Rev. C. Witton-Davies and County Alderman Llewellyn Heycock, J .P., bringing the size of the Committee up to 15 under the chairmanship of Dr . Ll. Wyn Griffith, O.B.E., with Sir Ben Bowen Thomas serving as assessor for the Ministry of Education . Welsh Office- The imminence of autonomy necessitated the reorganisation of the Cardiff and Wrexham Welsh office, and David Peters, Assistant Director at Wrexham, was transferred to the Cardiff office and assigned special duties, and Mis s Nesta Howe, Assistant Director in Cardiff, was given charge of th e Wrexham office . Miss Megan Ogwen Davies retired from the post o f Assistant Director in the Cardiff office after a period of 10 years' excellen t service to CEMA and its successor-the Arts Council of Great Britain . Festivals The Arts Council, on the recommendations of the Welsh Committee, continued their support of the Royal National Eisteddfod held a t Aberystwyth, the Montgomery County Music Festival held in Newtown, and the Swansea Festival of Music and the Arts; the latter was als o guaranteed against loss up to £1,000 by the Swansea Corporation . Music There has been a marked increase in the interest shown in chamber music concerts, and credit for this must be paid to the officers of the man y Music and Arts Clubs scattered throughout Wales . These Clubs, operating under guarantees from the Arts Council, promoted some 150 concerts ; and their officers, working energetically and in close alliance with th e Council's Welsh Office, sought to reduce the per capita costs of their concerts and in many cases succeeded. The same encouraging trend wa s shown in the figures for concerts directly provided by the Welsh Office . A significant development was the co-operative effort made by 19 of the smaller local government authorities in South Wales in promotin g and subsidising a Festival Tour by the London Philharmonic Orchestra , conducted by Sir Adrian Boult and Norman del Mar . The initiativ e shown by these authorities, which was recognised by a grant from th e Arts Council to their independent Committee, subsequently inspired th e setting-up of `The Orchestral Association of Wales', to which many loca l authorities have already affiliated . The ultimate aim of the Association is to establish a symphony orchestra for Wales ; meanwhile it proceeds with the work of planning further tours by visiting orchestras . Opera and The Covent Garden Opera Company and the Sadler's Wells Balle t Ballet Company had a phenomenal success in their short seasons in Cardiff . The 52 amount of money returned to disappointed applicants for seats, during both seasons, would have bought the house fully for an additional thre e weeks . One applicant alone wanted to buy 1,000 seats for the oper a performances. The Welsh National Opera Company gave two seasons of a fortnight each in Cardiff and Swansea. In April 1953 it visited England for the first time and gave a particularly successful week of opera in the Pavilion, Bournemouth, where, as in Cardiff and Swansea, it had the advantage'o f working with the Bournemouth Municipal Orchestra. The partnership has been a happy one and promises to continue in the future . The most important event in the year's work was a striking production of Verdi' s early opera Nabucco which was given in the three places already named. The producer was John Moody, while settings and costumes, designed by Patrick Robertson, were all made locally from the Company's own resources. The production aroused much interest and was seen by repre- sentatives of the national Press and leading provincial papers . Reference was made in last year's Report to the grant given to this Company by th e Cardiff Corporation, and it is gratifying to announce that this has bee n continued in the current year, although at a reduced scale, and tha t Swansea Corporation has now also offered a grant to the Company . Theatres in large centres of population are lacking in the greater part Drama of Wales ; and the Council's directly-managed drama tours help to satisfy an acute need . Shakespeare's Macbeth and Sheridan's The Rivals were well supported and much appreciated . Special matinee performances were arranged in collaboration with th e education authorities, and there was a heartening response from local government authorities all over Wales to the request for guarantees fo r performances in their localities . The result was that the cost to th e Council for these tours dropped to a reasonable figure. The problems of drama in Wales are twofold, for the Welsh Committe e must consider Welsh as well as English Theatre. On their recommenda- tion the Council again supported the Welsh Drama Festival held at th e Little Theatre, Garthewin, where Saunders Lewis' play Gan Bwyll, which was commissioned by the Council, was given its first performance, an d Welsh translations of Moliere's play The Miser and Camus' Le Malentendu were included in the programme. The National Council of Social Service for Wales and Monmouthshire, operating with a guarantee against loss offered by the Arts Council , subsequently sent the Welsh version of The Miser out on a short tour . 53 Art In collaboration with museums, art galleries, art societies and com- munity centres, 45 exhibitions were held throughout Wales durin g 1952-53. Amongst these was the touring exhibition of works by con - temporary artists in Wales, purchased to form the nucleus of the Ar t Council's Welsh Collection . These works aroused great interest amon g the thousands of visitors to the International Eisteddfod at Llangollen i n July 1952, the prevailing comment being one of pleasant surprise that Wales had produced a rising school of native artists . Other touring exhibitions which were widely shown were Tone and Texture and Looking at Pictures ; these were welcomed by smaller town s where the need for didactic exhibitions was apparent and where suc h exhibitions could help the public towards a greater enjoyment of pictures . Under the heading of The Artist in Wales, an exhibition of over 100 paintings was arranged by the Welsh Office of the Arts Council, i n collaboration with the National Library of Wales. This was hung in the Gregynog Gallery of the National Library at Aberystwyth from May t o October 1952, a period which included the holding of the Royal National Eisteddfod. This collection was augmented by the Eisteddfod Art Exhibition, selected by Henry Moore, Ceri Richards and Eric Newton, whose comments on contemporary Welsh painting are worth noting . They said `that whatever might be the reason-perhaps the poetry and th e imagination latent in the Welsh temperament-there were evidences of a more dramatic approach, a more powerful or a more poignant romanticis m than one would expect to find in England, and felt that it was only by suc h exhibitions that a nation could realise and develop its own potentialities .' Following the success of the Pictures for Welsh Schools exhibition in 1951, the Society for Education in Art-again working with a grant from the Arts Council-organised a second exhibition at the National Museum of Wales, in Cardiff, in July 1952 . Local education authorities were en- couraged to make purchases, and the sales totalled £450 . Large numbers of schoolchildren thronged the gallery, which rang with their livel y comments. With the advice and help of the Welsh Office the Art Clubs and Societie s of North Wales formed a federation known as `The North Wales Group, ' with Sir Wynne Cemlyn Jones as President . The chief aim of the Group is `to encourage a wider appreciation of the visual arts in North Wale s and to raise the standard of their execution.' The Group will co-operat e with the Welsh Office in arranging tours and exhibitions, lectures and art films. 54 Autumn and spring tours of art films were arranged in North an d South Wales, and the public response proved that by its immediate visua l impact this stimulating medium has supplanted the lecture in art education . In reviewing the work accomplished for the arts in Wales in the year Conclusion 1952-53, the feature which emerges most encouragingly is the heightene d interest shown by organisations, societies, local education and government authorities. This interest has been expressed by practical demonstration s of help in many ways and by a keen desire to collaborate with the Arts Council in all its activities .

55 APPENDICE S

A NOTE ON THE ACCOUNTS The first point to make on the financial statements for 195253, which ar e set out in Appendix A, is that in this year the form of the accounts ha s been changed and, it is hoped, simplified . The Revenue Account has been considerably shortened by transferring most of the detail to support- ing schedules, and three items in the Balance Sheet-`Special Funds, ' `Special Fund Investments,' and `Loans to Associated and Other Organi- sations'-have been treated in a similar way. Another change to be noted is the disappearance from the financia l appendix of the separate Balance Sheet and Revenue Account included i n previous years for the Theatre Royal, Bristol . This theatre, formerly managed as a `direct venture,' is now leased by the Council to the Ol d Vic Trust (for the Bristol Old Vic Company), but the Council remain s responsible for the maintenance of the building, and a Reserve Fund ha s been set up to provide against this liability (see Schedule 1 attached t o accounts) . During their tenancy of the theatre certain contributions are made to this Reserve Fund by the Old Vic Trust . The total grant of £265,000 shown in Schedule 5 as paid to the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, includes a special grant of £15,000 fo r the Coronation Season, and a sum of £50,000 to cover accumulated dilapidations and the maintenance of the Opera House (i.e., the actual theatre building which was erected in 1857) . Of the surplus of £49,499 8s . 3d. shown in the Council's Revenue Account, over £29,000 had already been earmarked, although not actuall y paid, or voted, at March 31st, 1953 . The disposable surplus for the year will therefore work out at something short of £20,000, which is less than 3 per cent. of a total budget of £675,000 and no more than a pruden t margin to meet emergencies .

57

THE ARTS COUNCI L APPENDIX A REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUN T

GENERAL EXPENDITURE ON THE ARTS (See Schedule 3) £538,957 12 9 GENERAL OPERATING COSTS (See Schedule 4) 103,475 15 5 TRANSFER TO CAPITAL ACCOUNT REPRESENTING CAPITAL EXPEN- DITURE FOR THE YEAR 9,767 10 8 RESERVE FOR LOANS TO ASSOCIATED ORGANISATIONS 1,275 0 0 GRANT TO SCOTTISH COMMITTEE 57,000 0 0 BALANCE carried forward 49,499 8 3

t/-)9,9/3 7 1

NOTE.-The sum of £29,918 9s. 4d . has been earmarked out of the above Balance of £49,499 8s. 3d. 58

OF GREAT BRITAI N

FOR THE YEAR ENDED MARCH 31st, 195 3

BALANCE as at April Ist, 1952 £74,092 11 9 GRANT IN AID : H .M . Treasury Original £585,000 0 0 Supplementary 90,000 0 0 675,000 0 0 LOAN REPAYMENTS 6,248 0 0 CANCELLATION OF GRANTS and provision for expenses i n previous year not required 3,082 10 0 REFUND ON ENDOWMENT POLICIES, being surrender value s on withdrawals from Pension Fund 286 4 3 SUNDRY RECEIPTS Bank Interest 1,185 13 2 Donations 20 7 6 Miscellaneous 115 19 8 1,322 0 4 Less Loss on Sale of Assets 55 19 3 1,266 1 1

£759,975 7 1

59

THE ARTS COUNCI L BALANCE SHEET A S LIABILITIES CAPITAL ACCOUNT Balance at March 31st, 1952 £,47,905 13 1 Add Capital Expenditure during year transferred from Revenu e and Expenditure Account 9,767 10 8 Add Expenditure during year from Mrs . Thornton Fund 288 10 0 57,961 13 9 GUARANTEES AND GRANTS OUTSTANDING 12,511 6 8 SUNDRY CREDITORS 37,626 0 1 SPECIAL FUNDS (See Schedule 1) 29,755 2 5 REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUN T Balance as at March 31st, 1953 49,499 8 3

Chairman: KENNETH CLARK .

Secretary-General: W . E. WILLIAMS.

£187,353 11 2

I have examined the foregoing Account and Balance Sheet . I have obtained all the information and explanations that I have required, and I certify as the result of my audit that in my opinion this Account and Balance sheet are properly drawn up so as to exhibi t

60

OF GREAT BRITAI N AT MARCH 31st, 1953 ASSETS OFFICE EQUIPMEN T At valuation as at April 1st, 1949, and additions at cost to March 31st, 1952 £10,010 2 8 Additions during year at cost 506 8 4 £10,516 11 0 MOTOR VANS AND CARS At valuation as at April 1st, 1949, and additions at cost less items sold to March 31st, 1952 11,702 5 0 Additions less items sold during year 1,945 6 3 13,647 11 3 PIANO ACCOUNT At valuation as at April 1st, 1949, and additions at cost to March 31st, 1952 2,754 8 4 Less sale during year 75 0 0 2,679 8 4 THEATRE AND CONCERT HALL EQUIPMENT At valuation as at April 1st, 1949, and additions at cost to Marc h 31st, 1952 7,880 15 5 Additions during year at cost 5,510 3 8 13,390 19 1 LITHOGRAPHS At cost 593 19 1 Less items sold during year 9 18 2 584 0 1 1 PICTURES AND SCULPTURE S At cost as at March 31st, 1952 14,964 2 7 Additions during year at cost 1,890 10 7 Additions purchased from Mrs . Thornton Fund 288 10 0 17 143 3 2 LOANS TO ASSOCIATED AND OTHER ORGANISATION S (See Schedule 6) Secured by Mortgage 4,125 0 0 Unsecured and only conditionally recoverable 27,584 8 3

si,ivy b S Less Reserve 27,584 8 3 4,125 0 0 SPECIAL FUND INVESTMENTS (See Schedule 2 ) At cost or as at date of transfer (Market value £19,169 Os . 3d .) 21,444 3 7 SUNDRY DEBTORS, PAYMENTS IN ADVANCE 32,972 10 1 CASH On Deposit 67,000 0 0 On Current Account 2,905 15 7 Imprests 773 0 1 In hand 171 8 1 70.850 3 9

k187,3~3 11 L

a true and fair view of the transactions of the Arts Council of Great Britain and of the state of their affairs . (Signed) F . N . TRIBE, Comptroller and Auditor-General. Exchequer and Audit Department , 16th September, 1953 . 61

THE ARTS COUNCI L

SCHEDULE 1-SPECIAL FUNDS

PILGRIM TRUST SPECIAL FUND As at March 31st, 1952 £3,333 0 3 Interest Account 60 0 0 3,393 0 3 Less Payments during yea r 10 19 1 3,382 1 2 PILGRIM TRUST CHANNEL ISLES FUN D Capital Account 5,000 0 0 Income Account Balance at March 31st, 1952 160 3 2 Add Income during year 188 1 4

Less Payments during yea r 308 0 9 5,308 0 9 H. A. THEW FUND Capital Accoun t 9,094 10 9 Income Account Balance at March 31st, 1952 960 5 1 0 Add Income during year 304 12 1 0 1,264 18 8 Less Payments during year 111 0 0 1,153 18 8 10,248 9 5 MRS. THORNTON FUN D Capital Account 5,408 9 1 Income Account Balance at March 31 st, 195 2 126 18 3 Add Income during yea r

Less Payments during yea r 31 15 8 5,376 13 5 BRISTOL, OLD VIC RESERVE FUND 5,439 17 8

Total Special Funds as per Balance Sheet £29,755 2 5

62

OF GREAT BRITAI N

SCHEDULE 2-SPECIAL FUND INVESTMENT S

Nominal Value Book Value Market Value at 31st March, 195 3 PILGRIM TRUST SPECIAL FUND 3 per cent. Defence Bonds, 3rd serie s £2,000 0 0 £1,996 13 0 £2,000 0 0

PILGRIM TRUST CHANNEL ISLES FUN D 3 per cent. Savings Bonds, 1960/70 5,065 17 10 5,000 0 0 4,457 19 8

H. A . THEW FUND s British Transport 3 per cent. Stock 6,876 16 11 6,326 13 11 5,535 17 2 31 per cent . Conversion Stoc k 2,809 19 10 2,767 16 10 2,233 18 1 0

MRS. THORNTON FUND 21 per cent . Consol s 665 1 9 488 16 10 399 1 0 3 per cent. Funding Stock 100 0 0 99 15 0 89 0 0 3 per cent. Funding Stock 250 0 0 249 7 6 222 10 0 3 per cent. Serial Funding Stock, 1955 200 0 0 203 7 6 201 0 0 1 3 per cent. Defence Bonds (Conversion Issue) 30 0 0 30 0 9 30 0 0 31 per cent . City of Birmingham Stock 100 0 0 102 0 0 96 10 0 3 per cent. British Transport Stock 355 5 10 337 10 6 286 0 2 3 per cent. Funding Stock 1,997 2 1 2,000 0 0 1,777 8 5 3 per cent. Defence Bond s 740 0 0 739 5 6 740 0 0 31 per cent. Defence Bonds 1,000 0 0 1,000 0 0 1,000 0 0 21 per cent . National War Bonds, 1952/54 100 0 0 102 16 3 99 15 0

Total Special Fund Investments as per Balance Sheet £22,290 4 3 £21,444 3 7 £19,169 0 3

63

THE ARTS COUNCI L

SCHEDULE 3 - GENERAL

Gros s OPERA AND BALLET Revenue Grants and Guarantees (see Schedule 5 )

MUSI C Grants and Guarantees (see Schedule 5) Directly Provided Concerts 4,966 11 0 Wigmore Concert Hall 8,839 15 1 0 Rent Charged for Concert Hall Equipment 223 14 5

Net Total Expenditure

DRAMA Grants and Guarantees to Associated Companies (see Schedule 5 ) Companies specially engaged for Arts Council Tours 6,078 7 5 Midland Theatre Company 19,477 8 1 0 Rent Charged to Theatre Company for Motor Vehicles and Equipment 306 13 4

Net Total Expenditure

ART Grants and Guarantees (see Schedule 5) Exhibition s 19,173 9 5 Guide Lecturer's Fees and Expenses 208 0 6 Art Films 1,065 4 4 New Burlington Gallery 2,641 1 9 Net Loss on Joint Exhibitions with other Organisation s Lithograph Sales 33 6 3

Net Total Expenditur e

POETRY GRANTS ARTS CENTRES AND ARTS CLUB S Grants and Guarantees Bridgwater Arts Centre REGIONAL PROJECTS FESTIVALS Grants and Guarantees (see Schedule 5)

Net Expenditure transferred to Revenue and Expenditure Account 64

OF GREAT BRITAI N

EXPENDITURE ON THE ARTS

Gross Net Net Expenditure Revenue Expenditure £347,275 0 0 £347,275 0 0

73,236 5 9 73,236 5 9 7,952 1 7 2,985 10 7 12,717 5 2 3,877 9 4 £223 14 5 223 14 5 427,374 5 8 223 14 5 427,150 11 3

63,273 4 1 63,273 4 1 10,282 14 7 4,204 7 2 24,673 5 3 5,195 16 5 306 13 4 306 13 4 72,673 7 8 306 13 4 72,366 14 4

4,052 11 7 4,052 11 7 31,053 19 8 11,880 10 3 2,210 1 3 2,002 0 9 1,610 4 2 544 19 10 5,816 17 5 3,175 15 8 9,000 0 0 19 4 4 14 1 1 1 14 1 11 30,655 18 1 14 1 11 30,641 16 2 648 0 4 648 0 4 648 0 4

3,938 16 10 3,938 1 .6 1 0 203 15 6 203 15 6 4,142 12 4 1,105 0 0 1,105 0 0 1,105 0 0

2,902 18 4 2,902 18 4 2,902 18 4

BQ14 Oc7 1'f 0

65

THE ARTS COUNCIL OF GREAT BRITAI N SCHEDULE 4 GENERAL OPERATING COSTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED MARCH 31st, 195 3

HEADQUARTERS Salaries and Superannuation Music £5,623 15 1 0 Drama 4,008 12 8 Art 8,682 6 1 Finance 7,507 9 5 Secretarial and General 15,295 2 3 £41,117 6 3 Rent, Rates and Maintenance Expenses 11,677 6 9 Office, Travelling, Entertainment and Sundry Expenses 8,785 8 1 Printing and Publicity 2,792 13 9 -- £64,372 14 1 0 REGIONAL OFFICE S Salaries and Superannuation 23,731 10 10 Rent, Rates and Maintenance Expenses 2,126 0 1 1 Office, Travelling and Entertainment Allowances and Sundry Expenses 13,245 8 10 39,103 0 7

Transferred to Revenue and Expenditure Account £103,475 15 5

No-n : Endowment benefits due to members of the Pension Fund are assured by Policies held by th e Council . 66

THE ARTS COUNCIL OF GREAT BRITAI N

SCHEDULE 5 GRANTS AND GUARANTEES

OPERA AND BALLET Royal Opera House, Covent Garden Limited (see Notes on Finance) £265,000 0 0 Sadler's Wells Foundation 68,000 0 0 *Welsh National Opera Company 6,275 0 0 Intimate Opera Society Limited 500 0 0 English Opera Group 3,000 0 0 Opera Studio 1,000 0 0 Mercury Theatre Trust Limited (Ballet Rambert) 2,000 0 0 Delius Trust (for production of Irmelin) payment on account 1,500 0 0 £347,275 0 0 * Includes grant for Equipment . MUSIC London Philharmonic Orchestra 10,000 0 0 Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra 11,500 0 0 City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra 11,000 0 0 Halle Concerts Society 10,500 0 0 London Symphony Orchestra 2,000 0 0 Payments to Music Societies and Clubs affiliated to the National Federation of Music Societies in respect of guarantees 11,819 16 1 0 Jacques Orchestra 500 0 0 Jacques Orchestra (for tour of Lake District) 200 0 0 Boyd Neel Concert Society 500 0 0 Peter Gibbs String Quartet 800 0 0 Rural Music Schools Association 1,200 0 0 London Contemporary Music Centre 500 '0 0 Society for the Promotion of New Music 500 0 0 Western Philharmonic Society 1 1,000 0 0 Royal Philharmonic Society }for season 1951-52 1,210 18 7 Brighton Philharmonic Society JJJ 1,500 0 0 English Folk Dance and Song Society (for International Festival 1952) 500 0 0 Central Music Library 500 0 0 Direct Grants and Guarantees to Music Clubs for Concerts 6,755 10 4 Coronation Commissions 750 0 0 - 73,236 5 9 DRAMA Old Vic Trust Limited lThe Old Vic J 24,00 0 0 0 Royal Victoria Hall Foundation J l 10,000 0 0 *Old Vic Trust Limited (Bristol) 6,000 0 0 Bankside Players (Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park) 1,700 0 0 Chesterfield Civic Theatre Limited 1,000 0 0 *; Ipswich Arts Theatre Trust 1,130 0 1 * Nottingham Theatre Trust 3,000 0 0 Salisbury Arts Theatre Limited 5,500 0 0 International Theatre Institute (British Centre) 775 0 0 West of England Theatre Company Limited 2,000 0 0 Mobile Theatre Limited 2,500 0 0 The Playhouse, Amersham 200 0 0 Fashion Research Centre (Museum of Costume) 500 0 0 Carried forward £58,305 0 1 £420,511 5 9 67

SCHEDULE 5-continued

Brought forward £58,305 0 1 £420,511 5 9 DRAMA (continued) Oxford Repertory Players Limited (Shaw Festival) 500 0 0 Leo Lehman (part of £500 Bursary for Playwright) 250 0 0 Leatherhead Theatre Club 500 0 0 Garthewin Players (Wales) 444 18 0 tThe Playhouse, Kidderminster 299 4 0 tCanterbury Theatre Trust 700 0 0 Council of Social Service for Wales and Monmouthshire 500 0 0 •tColchester Repertory Company Limited 800 0 0 tCambridge Arts Theatre Trust 200 0 0 Morecambe Repertory Theatre Limited 100 0 0 tDavid Garrick Memorial Theatre Limited, Lichfield 27 15 0 $Under Thirty Theatre Group 83 17 0 Guildford Theatre Company 500 0 0 'Northampton Repertory Players 62 10 0 -- 63,273 4 1 • Includes grant for Redecoration and Repairs . t Includes grant for Bus to Theatre Subsidies . $ Includes grant for Promotion of New Drama . ART Midland Regional Group of Artists and Designers 950 0 0 Seligmann Catalogue 10 10 0 Institute of Contemporary Arts 1,250 0 0 Hampstead Artists Council 75 0 0 Penwith Society of Arts, Cornwall 150 0 0 Bournemouth Arts Club 100 0 0 Petersfield Arts and Crafts Society 25 0 0 Bromley Art Society 20 0 0 Colchester Art Society 40 0 0 Cirencester Arts Club 50 0 0 Finsbury Art Group 50 0 0 Society for Education in Art 607 1 7 Society for Italic Handwriting 50 0 0 International Sculpture Competition 300 0 0 Contemporary Art Society for Wales 25 0 0 Whitechapel Art Gallery 250 0 0 Young Contemporaries 100 0 0 - 4,052 11 7 FESTIVAL S The Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts 500 0 0 Bath Assembly 500 0 0 Cheltenham Festival of Contemporary Music 852 0 0 Hovingham Festival 36 11 1 0 Swansea Festival of Music and the Arts 364 6 6 King's Lynn Festival Committee 500 0 0 Canterbury Festival Committee 150 0 0 2,902 18 4

£490,739 19 9

68

THE ARTS COUNCIL OF GREAT BRITAI N

SCHEDULE 6

LOANS TO ASSOCIATED AND OTHER ORGANISATIONS

Loans secured by mortgage £4,250 0 0 Less repaid during year 125 0 0 £4,125 0 0

Loans unsecured and only conditionally recoverabl e £33,157 8 3 Add new loans made during year 1,275 0 0 - 34,432 8 3 Less repayments during year of loans previously reserved fo r 6,248 0 0 Cancellation s 600 0 0 6,848 0 0 This sum is fully covered by reserve as shown in the Balance Sheet £27,584 8 3

69

THE COUNCIL'S COMMITTE E APPENDIX B REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUN T

GENERAL EXPENDITURE ON THE ARTS (Schedule 1) £45,201 0 4 GENERAL OPERATING COSTS (Schedule 2) 8,421 13 2 TRANSFER TO CAPITAL ACCOUNT REPRESENTING CAPITAL EXPENDI- TURE FOR THE YEAR 256 4 0 BALANCE carried forward 11,892 3 1

£65,771 0 7

BALANCE SHEET

CAPITAL ACCOUN T Balance at March 31st, 1952 £2,456 19 0 Capital Expenditure during year transferred from Revenue and Expenditure Account 256 4 0 2,713 3 0 GRANTS AND GUARANTEES outstanding 6,325 15 0

SUNDRY CREDITORS 1,403 6 2 REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT Balance at March 31st, 1953 11,892 3 1

NOTE : The sums of £7,000 for the purchase of Office Propert y and £3,000 for the Greenock Arts Guild have been ear- marked out of the above balance of £11,892 3s. Id. £22,334 7 3

I have examined the foregoing Account and Balance Sheet . I have obtained all the information and explanations that I have required, and I certify as a result of my audit that in my opinion this Account and Balance Sheet are properly drawn up so as to exhibi t

70

1N SCOTLAN D

FOR THE YEAR ENDED MARCH 31st, 195 3

BALANCE at March 31st, 1952 £8,195 1 0 GRANT FROM ARTS COUNCIL OF GREAT BRITAIN 57,000 0 0 CANCELLATION OF GRANTS AND GUARANTEES in previous year not required 379 14 1 SUNDRY RECEIPTS : Donations 20 0 0 Interest on Deposit Receipts 176 5 6 £65,771 0 7

AS AT MARCH 31st, 1953

PICTURES At Cost at March 31st, 1952 £2,456 19 0 Additions during year at cost 256 4 0 2,713 3 0 SUNDRY DEBTORS 778 9 9 CAS H On Deposit £17,500 0 0 On Current Account 1,277 14 6 In Hand 65 0 0 18,842 14 6

£22,334 7 3

Chairman of the Scottish Committee : GEORGE T . McGLASHAN . Secretary-General : W. E. WILLIAMS .

a true and fair view of the transactions of the Arts Council's Committee in Scotland and of the state of their affairs. (Signed) F. N. TRIBE , Comptroller and Auditor-General. Exchequer and Audit Department, 16th September, 1953 . 71

THE COUNCIL'S COMMITTEE IN SCOTLAND SCHEDULE I GENERAL EXPENDITURE ON THE ARTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED MARCH 31st, 195 3 MUSIC Grants and Guarantees : Scottish National Orchestr a £15,000 0 0 Music Societies 961 17 1 0 Directly Provided Concerts £6,677 11 0 Less Receipts 2,024 7 8 4,653 3 4 ---- £20,615 1 2 DRAMA Grants and Guarantee s 11,061 1 1 Tours 4,133 0 9 Less Receipts 2,274 5 9 - 1,858 15 0 --- 12,919 16 1 BALLET Tours 4,111 8 1 Less Receipts 2,474 16 1 0 -- - 1,636 11 3 ART Grants 175 0 0 Exhibition Expense s 5,003 8 6 Less Exhibition Fees and Catalogue Sale s 698 8 9 --- - 4 .304 19 9 4,479 19 9 BUILDING AND EQUIPMENT Grants to Arts Centres, etc . 549 12 1

EDINBURGH FESTIVAL SOCIETY 5,000 0 0

Net Expenditure transferred to Revenue and Expenditure Account £45,201 0 4

THE COUNCIL'S COMMITTEE IN SCOTLAN D SCHEDULE 2 GENERAL OPERATING COSTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED MARCH 31st, 195 3

Salaries and Wages £5,198 10 2 Travelling and Subsistence 1,113 11 3 Rent, Rates, Insurance, Heating and Lighting 613 1 7 Publicity and Entertainment 609 11 5 Telephones, Postages and Stationery 886 18 9

Transferred to Revenue and Expenditure Account £8,421 13 2

72

THE COUNCIL'S COMMITTEE IN SCOTLAN D

SCHEDULE 3

GRANTS AND GUARANTEES FOR 1952/5 3

MUSIC Scottish National Orchestra £15,000 0 0 Glasgow Grand Opera Society 300 0 0 Edinburgh Lunch Hour Concerts 150 0 0 Edinburgh Freemasons' Hall Recitals 100 0 0 Orkney Music Committee 100 0 0 Glasgow Cathedral Choral Society 80 0 0 Direct Grants and Guarantees to Music Clubs for concerts (£50 and under) 231 17 1 0 ---- £15,961 17 1 0

DRAMA Perth Repertory Theatre (two companies) 5,000 0 0 Dundee Repertory Theatre 3,041 1 1 Glasgow Citizens' Theatre 3,000 0 0 Scottish Association for the Speaking of Verse 20 0 0 -- - 11,061 1 1

ART Edinburgh University Art Society 50 0 0 Cupar Fine Arts Society 50 0 0 Edinburgh College of Art 50 0 0 Arbroath Art Society 25 0 0 - - 175 0 0 Edinburgh International Festival 5,000 0 0

ARTS CENTRES AND CLUBS Stornoway Arts Club 150 0 0 Galashiels Arts Club 100 0 0 Galashiels Arts Club 99 12 1 Keith Arts Club 75 0 0 Clarsach Society 50 0 0 Direct grants of under £50 to Arts Clubs 75 0 0 549 12 1

£32,747 11 0

73 APPENDIX C SELECTED INSTANCES OF ACTION TAKEN IN CONNECTIO N WITH THE ARTS BY LOCAL AUTHORITIES UNDER THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1948

As is well known, the Local Government Act of 1948 gives Local Authorities wide powers concerning the provision of entertainment . Under Section 132 a Local Authority "may do , or arrange for the doing of, or contribute towards the expenses of the doing of, anythin g necessary or expedient for any of the following purposes, that is to say - (a) the provision of an entertainment of any nature or of facilities for dancing ; (b) the provision of a theatre, concert hall, dance hall or other premises suitable for th e giving of entertainments or the holding of dances; (c) the maintenance of a band or orchestra ; (d) any purpose incidental to the matters aforesaid, including the provision, in connec- tion with the giving of any entertainment or the holding of any dance, of refreshment s or programmes and the advertising of any such entertainment or dance" . For this purpose a Local Authority in England and Wales means "the Council of a Count y Borough, Metropolitan Borough or County District or the Common Council of the Cit y of London" ; in Scotland it means "a County, Town or District Council" . The expenditure of a Local Authority under this Section may not in any year exceed the product of a 6d . rate in England and Wales or a 4gd . rate in Scotland. Statistics are not available to show what proportion of Local Authorities have so far mad e use of the Act ; nor is it feasible to give a complete account of their action to date . But the following selected instances, drawn mainly, but not exclusively, from the year 1952/53 , show a cross-section of the present position and reveal certain interesting trends . In considering this record of action, two points should be borne in mind . In the first place, the Local Government Act is not the only Act under which Local Authorities can hel p the arts . Before it was passed, some Authorities-particularly certain spas and seaside towns-had powers under special Acts which allowed them to spend money on the art s (among other things). But by the passing of the Local Government Act, such powers wer e for the first time extended to all Local Authorities as mentioned above . It should also be remembered that Local Authorities support the visual arts of painting and sculpture an d finance their own local galleries and collections under other Acts . Secondly, the Local Government Act specifically mentions the "provision of entertainment"-an object whic h is wider than that of the Arts Council of Great Britain, whose activities are confined b y Royal Charter to the arts. Under this Act, Authorities may legitimately spend money o n various things (e.g. dances) that come outside the Arts Council's scope . It will be readily understood, therefore, that the following record, which is confined t o selected instances of action taken in connection with the arts under the Local Governmen t Act, is by no means complete or even representative .

II It is the Arts Council's policy to send play tours twice a year to North-East England an d Wales, as otherwise these districts would have little or nothing in the way of live professional theatre . Macbeth and The Rivals were the plays for 1952/53 . The assistance of the Local Authorities, which is particularly appreciated by the Arts Council, is detailed below . With regard to Milford Haven, it should be noted that although the Urban District Council offered guarantees for both tours, in fact it proved impossible to extend either tour t o Pembrokeshire . (The number of performances is shown in brackets .) 74

NORTH-EASTERN REGION County Boroughs Darlington Macbeth (1) £20 grant (Education Committee) The Rivals (1) £20 grant Middlesbrough Macbeth (3) £30 gran t The Rivals (3) £30 grant West Hartlepool Macbeth (1) £70 guarantee The Rivals (1) £70 guarantee Borough Stockton-on-Tees Macbeth (3) £60 grant The Rivals(2) £40 grant Urban District Councils Alnwick Macbeth (1)_ £10 gran t The Rivals (1) £10 gran t Spennymoor Macbeth (1) Free use of Town Hal l The Rivals (1) Free use of Town Hal l

WALES County Boroughs Newport, Mon . Macbeth (1) £25 grant The Rivals (1) £25 gran t Swansea The Rivals (1) Free use of Bishop Gore High School Boroughs Abergavenny Macbeth (1) £75 guarante e The Rivals (1) £75 guarante e Aberystwyth The Rivals (1) £75 gran t Bangor Macbeth (1) £63 guarantee Wrexham Macbeth (1) £75 guarantee

Urban District Councils Aberdare Macbeth (1) £75 guarantee The Rivals (1) £75 guarantee Abergele Macbeth (1) £60 guarantee Festiniog Macbeth (1) £55 guarantee Holyhead The Rivals (1) Free use of Town Hal l Milford Haven Macbeth (1) £50 guarantee The Rivals (1) £50 guarantee Newtown & Llanllwchaiarn Macbeth (1) £75 guarantee The Rivals (1) £75 guarantee Rhyl Macbeth (1) £75 guarantee The Rivals (1) £75 guarante e Rural District Council Wrexham Macbeth (1) £75 guarante e The Rivals (1) £75 guarante e III Other interesting examples of combined action come from Staffordshire and Wales . In Staffordshire the following Authorities have agreed to give guarantees to the Lichfiel d Coronation Festival of Music and Drama :- County Council Rural District Councils Staffordshire £2,000 0 0 Cannock £52 0 0 Boroughs Leek £31 0 0 Bilston £78 0 0 Lichfield £94 0 0 Stafford £100 0 0 Seisdon £60 0 0 Wednesbury £82 0 0 Stafford £25 0 0 75

County Boroughs Brownhills £33 0 0 Lichfield £260 0 0 Cannock £88 0 0 Stoke-on-Trent 250 0 0 Coseley £65 0 0 Urban District Councils Darlaston £50 0 0 Aldridge £69 0 0 Rugeley £18 0 0 Amblecote £5 0 0 Wednesfield £38 0 0 Biddulph £10 0 0 Willenhall £72 0 0 In Wales a Spring 1953 orchestral tour of the London Philharmonic Orchestra wa s arranged by the Orchestral Association of Wales and backed by the following Authorities :- Newport (Mon .) County Borough fA75 guarantee Llanelly Borough Llanelly Rural District Council £600 joint guarante e Haverfordwest Borough Fishguard & Goodwick Urban District Counci l Milford Haven Urban District Council £350 joint guarantee Haverfordwest Rural District Counci l Narberth Rural District Council J Ebbw Vale Urban District Council £500 guarantee Rhondda Urban District Council £1,000 guarantee for 2 concerts Neath Rural District Council £450 guarantee Pontardawe Rural District Council £450 guarantee

IV In view of the financial autonomy the Arts Council has now granted to its Welsh Com- mittee, it is of interest to consider some instances of action taken by Welsh Local Authoritie s in addition to the two special examples mentioned above . In the case of each Authority , both here and in the subsequent section, the rateable value in force at the beginning o f 195253 and the population are given. Every attempt has been made to see that these figure s are accurate.

MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS (County Boroughs are marked CB ) ABERGAVENNY Abergavenny and District Choral Society £10 10s . Od. grant Pop. 8,844 Abergavenny Orchestral Society £10 10s. Od . grant R.V . £58,264 Abergavenny Borough Band £25 gran t Orchestral Association of Wales . £8 8s. Od. gran t BARRY Barry Music Club (two concerts) £14 17s . Od . guarantee Pop. 40,979 Barry Municipal Choral Society £30 guarantee R .V. £247,920 CARDIFF (CB) Arena Theatre £100 guarantee Pop . 243,627 Welsh National Opera Company £1,000 gran t R .V. £2,149,873 Orchestral Association of Wales £10 10s . Od . grant Festival of Britain Welsh Choir £30 grant LLANELLY Music Clubs £83 grant Pop. 34,329 R .V . E163,947 PEMBROKE Instruments for Town Band £127 3s. 7d . Pop. 12,020 R .V . £57,23 7 SWANSEA (CB) Swansea Festival of Music and the Arts £1,000 guarantee Pop . 160,832 Welsh National Opera Company £500 gran t R .V . £1,068,535 Orchestral Association of Wales £10 10s. Od. gran t 76

URBAN DISTRICT COUNCIL S ABERCARN Local Eisteddfo d £10 10s. Od. gran t Pop. 18,68 0 R .V . £69,35 7 ABERDARE Aberdare Juvenile Eisteddfod Committe e £30 grant Pop . 40,918 Music Club £20 grant R .V . £163,51 3 BEDWAS AND MACHEN Maesycwmmer Choral Society £2 2s. Od . grant Pop. 8,71 2 R .V . £30,54 6 BEDWELLTY Orchestral Association of Wale s £10 10s . Od . grant Pop. 28,826 Rhymney Valley Music Committe e £25 gran t R.V . £102,92 9 BLAENAVON Nativity play £300 guarantee Pop. 9,77 7 R .V. £34,063 BRIDGEND Orchestral Association of Wale s £10 10s . Od. gran t Pop. 13,646 R .V . £75,52 1 CWMAMMAN Orchestral Association of Wales £4 4s. Od . grant Pop. 4,59 3 R .V . E11,65 8 GELLYGAER Rhymney Valley Music Committee £25 grant Pop. 36,157 R .V . £127,89 1 LLANFAIRFECHAN Orchestral Association of Wales £3 3s. Od. grant Pop. 3,163 R .V . £15,17 9 MAESTEG Orchestral Association of Wales . £10 10s . Od. gran t Pop. 23,500 Welsh Youth Orchestra £60 guarantee R.V . £79,892 MILFORD HAVEN Orchestral Association of Wales . £10 10s . Od . grant Pop. 11,11 0 R.V. £49,064 MOUNTAIN ASH . Music Club s £39 8s . lid. gran t Pop. 31,528 R .V . £107,702 MYNYDDISLWYN Local Eisteddfodau and concert s £10 10s. Od. grant Pop. 14,200 R .V. £54,563 NANTYGLO AND BLAINA Blaina and District Silver Band £35 grant Pop. 11,340 R .V. £34,108 NEWTOWN AND LLANLLWCHAIARN Orchestral Association of Wales £5 5s. Od . gran t Pop. 5,552 R .V . £27,22 6 PENARTH Penarth Music and Arts Clu b £25 grant Pop. 18,32 5 R .V. £136,636 ' TOWYN Orchestral Association of Wale s £5 5s . Od . grant Pop. 4,49 1 R .V . £19,213

7 7

RURAL DISTRICT COUNCILS

ABERAYRON Orchestral Association of Wales £10 10s. Od. gran t Pop . 9,28 8 R .V . £15,840 CARMARTHEN Orchestral Association of Wales £10 10s . Od . grant Pop . 28,46 9 R .V . £65,500 CEIRIOG Orchestral Association of Wales £7 7s. Od. gran t Pop. 7,632 R .V. £29,93 0 HAY Orchestral Association of Wales £3 3s. Od. gran t Pop. 3,86 9 R.V. £19,10 7 LLANDILO RURAL University Council of Music £25 grant Pop. 26,404 Orchestral Association of Wales £10 10s . Od . grant R.V. £63,102 LLANTRISANT AND LLANTWIT FARDRE Local operatic, dramatic and chora l Pop. 25,670 societies £434 grants R.V . £92,221 Dramatic Society (upkeep of premises) £50 grants NEWCASTLE EMLYN Orchestral Association of Wales £10 10s. Od. gran t Pop. 8,692 R .V. £16,13 0 VAYNOR AND PENDERYN Orchestral Association of Wales £6 6s. Od . gran t Pop. 5,644 R .V . £43,440 WREXHAM Various villages in the district £297 grant s Pop. 62,623 R .V . £209,109

V

The following list gives selected examples of action taken by individual Authorities i n Scotland.

SCOTTISH CITIES AND BURGHS

ARBROATH Webster Memorial Hall renovation £1,746 Pop. 19,579 Arbroath Instrumental Band £200 R .V . £145,676 Scottish National Orchestra Society £20 Arbroath British Legion Pipe Band £25

COATBRIDGE Coatbridge Town Prize Band £100 Pop. 49,230 Gartsherrie Silver Instrumental Prize R .V . £334,089 Band £50 Coatbridge Choral Union £50 Scottish National Orchestra-a guaran- tee of £l00

EDINBURGH Edinburgh Festival Society . £15,000 Pop. 474,537 Scottish National Orchestra £5,000 R .V . £6,633,024 Edinburgh Exhibition £60 0 78

GLASGOW Scottish National Orchestra Society £11,500 Pop. 1,086,827 Glasgow Amateur Orchestral Society £2 5 R.V . £12,197,85 5 GREENOCK Greenock Orchestral Society £3 0 Pop. 76,670 Scottish National Orchestra £20 0 R.V . £679,179 Greenock Arts Guild £1,00 0 KILMARNOCK Kilmarnock and District Choral Union £17 2 Pop. 42,117 Scottish National Orchestra £1 0 R.V . £374,13 0 KIRKCALDY Scottish National Orchestra £25 Pop. 49,356 Kirkcaldy Amateur Orchestra £2 5 R .V . £412,15 3

VI

The following list gives selected examples of action taken by individual Authoritie s separately in England .

MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS (County Boroughs are marked CB ) BASINGSTOKE Basingstoke Theatre Association : lease Pop. 16.979 of Haymarket Theatre at a rent of £5 £200 loan R .V . £143,530 BIDEFORD Bideford Voluntary Silver Band £150 grant Pop. 10,300 Public Library and Art Gallery Services £581 ; and the pro- R .V . £70,390 duct of 41d . rate BIRMINGHAM (CB) Birmingham Repertory Theatre £3,000 gran t Pop. 1,112,340 for alterations and decorations £6,500 R .V . £7,445,188 Music Festival £120 gran t City of Birmingham Symphon y Orchestra . £11,000 grant ; and £20,000 loa n BRADFORD (CB) Adaptation of St . George's Hall for con- Pop. 292,39 4 certs, etc. (including rebuilding organ) . £61,00 0 R .V . £2,145,99 5 CANTERBURY (CB ) Marlowe Theatre run as a Civic Theatre Pop. 27,77 9 R .V. £242,719 CHTPPENHAM Salisbury Arts Theatre, Ltd. £160 guarante e Pop . 11,85 0 R .V. £96,428 COLCHESTE R Colchester Repertory Theatre £200 grant Pop. 57,43 6 Rent arrangement worth about £15 0 R .V. £401,98 7 CROSBY Festival of Music and Dancing . £25 gran t Pop. 58,362 A large house has been acquired for pro- R .V . £536,341 bable conversion as a Cultural Centre . DUDLEY (CB) City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra £450 grant Pop. 62,536 Midland Theatre Company £500 grant R .V . £335,587 Total grant for cultural activities . £2,590 79

GUILDFORD Municipal Orchestra : expenditure limite d Pop . 47,484 to £3,11 0 R .V . £565,350 Self-supporting Picture Loan Collectio n operated Guildford Theatre Club, Ltd . £750 guarantee HARROGATE Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra (on e Pop . 52,050 concert) Drectlyi promoted R .V. £603,996 Hall6 Orchestra (seven concerts) . Directly promoted Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (one concert) Drectlyi promote d Three piano recitals Directly promote d Two Musical Festivals Directly promoted Drama Festival of Continental Ballet, D'Oyly Carte and Northern Children' s Theatre (one week each) Directly promoted Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra (three concerts) Assistance given British Drama League Theatre Wee k Assistance given Five Art Exhibition s Total outlay : £6,000/Revenue : £5,400 Net cost : £600 KING ' S LYNN Civic Society Concerts £30 guarantee Pop . 26,17 3 (Total payment, £90) R .V . £158,635 King's Lynn Festival . £200 gran t LANCASTER (CB) Ha116 Orchestra (one concert) £100 grant and free Pop. 51,650 use of Public Hall R .V . £330,292 Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (one £100 grant and free concert) use of Public Hall LIVERPOOL (CB) Commissioning of full-length portrait o f Pop. 789,532 H.M . The Queen £1,000 fe e R .V. £6,593,222 LUTON Luton Music Club (London Phil - Pop. 110,370 harmonic Orchestra concerts) £10 0 R .V . £805,172 MACCLESFIELD Local Musical Society £250 interest-free loan Pop. 35,98 1 (repayable in five years ) R .V . £216,504 NEWCASTLE-UNDER-LYME Provision and extension of Arts Centre . £2,562 (net cost) Pop. 70,028 Local String Orchestra Guaranteed R .V . £329,620 Music and Drama Festival . Guaranteed NEWCASTLE UPON Local music, art, ballet and dram a TYNE (CB) organisations Grant s Pop. 291,723 Ha118 Orchestra (three concerts) . R .V. £2,851,971 Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (three concerts ) £60 grant Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra (three per concer t concerts) Id . rate raised : £1,450 . OXFORD (CB) A series of four concerts by the City of Pop. 98,675 Birmingham Symphony Orchestra spon- R .V . £1,009,949 sored (each concert guaranteed, and free use of the Town Hall) Local Amateur Societies : reduced fee fo r performances in the Town Hal l 80

PORTSMOUTH (CB) Municipal concerts £1,000 gran t Pop. 233,464 Use of Central Library and Cumberlan d R .V. £1,852,926 House for meetings, exhibitions, etc . SAFFRON WALDEN New proscenium in Town Hall £25 0 Pop. 6,98 0 R .V. £45,49 9 ST . IVES S.A.M.A. and other Local Societies : 25 Pop. 9,037 per cent . concession on charge for hirin g R .V . £84,541 the Municipal Concert Hall St. Ives Dramatic Society £25 grant St. Ives Operatic Society £25 grant St. Ives Choral Society £25 grant SALFORD (CB) Local musical and dramatic organisations Grants-in-aid Pop. 178,036 Entertainments in the Parks £1,069 R .V . £1,128,66 8 SOUTHEND-ON-SEA (CB) Purchases for the Corporation Art Pop. 151,830 Gallery and Museum £500 R.V . £1,573,81 4 TAUNTON West of England Theatre Company, Ltd. £68 gran t Pop. 33,613 Taunton Deane Arts Club : reduction o n R .V. £259,354 the charge for hiring the Municipal Hal l for art exhibition WARWICK Three-day Music Festival £75 guarantee Pop. 15,550 Play at Lord Leycester Hospital £100 guarantee R .V. £115,218 Warwickshire Pageant Possible grant or guarantee WHITEHAVEN Hall built as first part of new Civic Pop. 24,624 Centre £20,00 0 R .V . £117,21 8 WORKSOP Caryl Jenner Mobile Theatre (four per- Pop. 32,050 formances) £11 9 R .V . £171,810 Opera Players : Don Pasquale £2 9 Worksop Orpheus Club £26 16s . Od . guarantee Dukeries Singers Male Voice Choir £10 guarantee Local brass bands (six concerts) . £10 per concert

URBAN DISTRICT COUNCILS ATHERTON Local hall improved for use as cultura l Pop. 20,880 and entertainment centre . £3,000 R .V . £102,95 8 GOSFORT H Further equipping of Central Hall fo r Pop. 24,424 use of local societies £2,02 0 R .V. £231,82 8 HAVERHILL Haverhill Society for Music and the Arts £20 guarantee Pop. 4,09 6 R .V. £19,974 HORNCHURCH Municipal Theatre being opened Pop. 104,128 R .V. £781,86 3 HORWICH Local Arts Council . £125 grant Pop. 15,55 2 R .V. £81,392

8 1

NEWMARKET Newmarket Arts League £40 guarante e Pop . 10,184 R.V. £77,406 NEWTON ABBOT Newton Abbot and District Society o f Pop . 16,393 Arts £25 gran t R.V . £129,077 ST. AUSTELL St. Austell Society Music Club £100 interest-free Pop. 23,640 loan R.V . £121,87 7 TRINC Victoria Hall being modernised for the Pop. 5,018 use of Local Societies £500 R.V . £31,36 8

RURAL DISTRICT COUNCILS CALNE AND CHIPPENHAM Salisbury Arts Theatre, Ltd . £25 guarante e Pop. 35,51 3 R.V. £194,78 7 CHESTERFIELD Amateur Societies £7 5 Pop. 75,728 Caryl Jenner Mobile Theatre (two R.V. £304,153 weeks) £30 0 Local bands £20 0 Chesterfield Civic Theatre £300 grant NEWMARKET Newmarket Arts League £40 guarantee Pop. 20,340 R .V . £66,000 THORNE Band concerts £570 Pop. (32,950) Orchestral concert £5 8 R .V . £129,712 Other entertainments . £89

82 APPENDIX D

ARTS COUNCIL EXHIBITIONS HELD IN GREAT BRITAI N DURING THE PERIOD APRIL 1952-MARCH 195 3

ENGLAND AND WALES

Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture * Jankel Adler Memorial Exhibitio n Sculpture of Matisse and Three Painting s w The Artist in Wale s with Studie s Arts Council Collection, Part I Bernard Meninsky Memorial Exhibitio n Arts Council Collection, Part II Merseyside Artists from the Sando n Arts Council Collection, Part II I Studios Society * Arts Council Collection (War-time Pur- Mexican Art chases) British Contemporary Painting fro m CEMA Collection, Part III - Water - Northern Galleries colours and Drawings R An Exhibition of the Works of John Pipe r A Selection from the Royal Academ y * Ballet Designs from the Collection o f Summer Exhibition, 1952 John Carr-Doughty Elliott Seabrooke Memorial Exhibitio n Country Life Sixty Paintings for '5 1 Degas Three Young Collectors Designs for Opera and the Ballet a t Turne r Covent Garden Twentieth-Century Masterpieces Drawings for Pictures Contemporary Watercolours and Draw - Epstei n ings from the Whitworth Art Gallery, Roger Fry Manchester Tirzah Garwood *w Contemporary Painting in Wales (Arts * Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Century Council Collection) Landscape Painting from the Collectio n w Pictures for Welsh Schools (organize d of Colonel Grant with the Society for Education in Art) A. S . Hartrick Memorial Exhibitio n w Pictures for Welsh Schools (touring ex- Frances Hodgkins Memorial Exhibitio n hibition ) Looking Forward Ethel Walker Memorial Exhibitio n Gwen John Memorial Exhibitio n * The Young Contemporaries, 195 2 Charles Keene Young Painters of the Ecole de Pari s

Graphic Arts, Books, Design, etc . Blake's Illustrations to the Book of Jo b Contemporary British Lithograph s Bookplates Contemporary British Lithograph s British Book Design, 195 2 (second series) Chinese Ceramics from Sir Alan Barlow' s Contemporary Colour Lithography Collectio n Contemporary Lithographs Commis- Thirty English Colour Print s sioned by J . Lyons & Co . An Experiment in Embroidery Desig n * Pottery and Textiles by Artist Craftsme n (Mary Kessell) in Great Britain, 1920-195 2 Etchings and Engravings from the Art s Ravenna Mosaics Council Collection Rembrandt Etchings Handwriting Splendid Occasions Hiroshige Victorian Music Covers Iowa Prints 83 Reproductions and Photographs The Artist at Wor k Looking at Pictures The Artist at Work (small version ) Paul Nash's Camera (photographs) Reproductions of Old Master Drawings Victorian Photography from th e from Chatsworth Gernsheim Collection Christian Art, Part I Sculpture by Giovanni Pisano (photo - The Art of Drawing graphs of figures from the Baptistery a t The Art of Drawing, Part I-Italian Pisa) Schoo l The History of the British Playhouse The Art of Drawing, Part II-French Reproductions of Portrait s Schoo l Precursors of Impressionis m The Art of Drawing, Part III-English Photographs of Royal Tombs at West- and Dutch Schools minster Abbey The Enjoyment of Life Reproductions of Drawings by Seurat English Churchyard Sculpture Tone and Texture The Development of Modem French Toulouse-Lautrec Reproductions Painting, Part I-Impressionis m Vincent van Gogh (Reproductions) The Development of Modern French Reproductions of Important Paintings Painting, Part II-The Post-Impres- prior to 1860 (UNESCO travelling sionists prints, second series) The Development of Modem French Painting, Part III-The School of Pari s • Also exhibited in Scotland . Flower Prints w Organised by Welsh Committee . Photographs of Indian Sculpture R Regional Exhibitions . The Art of Landscape Reproductions of Drawings fro m 108 exhibitions held in 220 centres . (434 Leonardo to Rembrandt showings, including the 19 exhibitions held Reproductions of Drawings by Leonardo in the Arts Council, New Burlington and da Vinci Tate Galleries)

SCOTLAND Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture The Artist at Work Gwen John Drawing s Contemporary Arts and Craft s Painters from the Rhine Contemporary Scottish Paintings Picasso Illustrations to Buffon's Histoire Costumes and Portraits Naturell e Danish Handcrafts Scottish Genre Paintings Eight Young Contemporary British Sickert Painters Twentieth-Century British Paintings fro m Forty Paintings from the National Galler y the Aberdeen Art Galler y of Scotland Young Painters of the Ecole de Paris Ganymed Reproduction s A Selection from the Hamilton Bequest Y Also exhibited in England .

84

STAF F

HEADQUARTER S

4 St . James's Square, London, S .W.I . Whitehall 973 7 Secretary-General : W. E . Williams, C.B.E. Deputy Secretary : M . J . McRober t Art Director Music Director Drama Director Philip James, C .B.E . John Denison, M .B.E. John Mood y Assistant Secretary : Eric W. Whit e Finance Officer D. P. Lun d

ENGLAND Regions NORTH-WESTERN : CHESHIRE, CUMBERLAND, DERBYSHIRE (northern part), LANCASHIRE, STAF- FORDSHIRE (northern part), WESTMORLAN D Director: J . L. Hodgkinson, O.B.E ., lb Cooper Street, Manchester. (Manchester Central 8021/2 . )

NORTH-EASTERN : COUNTY DURHAM, NORTHUMBERLAND, YORKSHIR E Director: Donald Mather, 5 King's Court, The Shambles, York . (York 4805/6 .)

MIDLANDS : DERBYSHIRE (southern part), HEREFORDSHIRE, LEICESTERSHIRE, NORTHAMPTON - SHIRE, NOTTINGHAMSHIRE, OXFORDSHIRE (northern part), RUTLAND, SHROPSHIRE, STAF- FORDSHIRE (southern part), WARWICKSHIRE, WORCESTERSHIR E Director: Keith MacGregor, 19 Calthorpe Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, 15 . (Birmingham , Edgbaston 2935 .)

EASTERN : BEDFORDSHIRE, CAMBRIDGESHIRE, ISLE OF ELY, ESSEX (northern part), HERTFORDSHIR E (northern part), HUNTINGDONSHIRE, LINCOLNSHIRE, NORFOLK, SUFFOL K Director: Gerald McDonald, 2 All Saints' Passage, Cambridge . (Cambridge 3165.)

SOUTH-WESTERN : CORNWALL, DEVON, DORSET, GLOUCESTERSHIRE, HAMPSHIRE (Bournemout h and Christchurch only), SOMERSET, WILTSHIR E Director: Cyril Wood, 20 The Mall, Clifton, Bristol, 8. (Bristol 38414/5 . )

SOUTH-EASTERN : BERKSHIRE, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE, ESSEX (southern part), HAMPSHIRE (except Bournemouth and Christchurch), HERTFORDSHIRE (southern part), KENT, GREATER LONDON, MIDDLE - SEX, OXFORDSHIRE (southern part), SURREY, SUSSEX, ISLE OF WIGH T Director: Mrs . Anne Carlisle, 4 St . James's Square, London, S .W .1 . (Whitehall 9737.)

SCOTLAN D Director : Dr. George Firth, 29 Queen Street, Edinburgh . (Edinburgh 34635/6 .)

WALE S Director : Miss Myra Owen, O .B.E., 29 Park Place, Cardiff. (Cardiff 23488 . )

NORTH WALES OFFIC E 1 Central Arcade, Hope Street, Wrexham, North Wales . (Wrexham 3602 .)

Printed in England at The Baynard Press