Fantastica: The World of Leo Bensemann. By Peter Simpson

Peter Simpson has long been fascinated with aspects of the life and work of Leo Bensemann as painter graphic artist, typographer and printer and many years of his dedicated research has resulted in this extensive biography and the associated exhibition currently on show at the Christchurch Art Gallery.

Simpson examines Benseman’s highly productive life through a chronological structure beginning with his early family years and education in Takaka and Nelson and the move to Christchurch. He discusses the beginning his graphic and printing career, his involvement with The Group artist’s collective and concludes with final era when Bensemann was able to devote his energies entirely to painting.

Given Simpson’s extensive academic background in New Zealand literature he is very confident when he explores the Bensemann’s role within the Caxton Press and its activity with the New Zealand literary world in particular the relationship with Charles Brasch whose generous beneficence in time and money sustained the Landfall literary magazine.

The author provides an in-depth consideration of Bensemann’s illustrative work and his undoubted ability in the printing field involving his sensitivity to the use of type in making the printed page a thing of beauty. Typography is indeed the invisible art and Simpson reveals how, specifically with Landfall, excellent printing is the natural handmaiden to fine poetry and literature. We can also observe how the Caxton Press, probably under the stimulus of Dennis Glover, closely correlated to the English Private Press movement.

The author’s research draws heavily from the Bensemann family archives and quotes frequently from various correspondence in particular with Lilburn. This provides us with insight into a man who formed many deep, lasting and productive friendships.

My late colleague Trevor Moffitt was one of these friends and he was also keen to write about Leo but I am sure if he had actually produced his planned biography it would have conveyed a very different picture even though Simpson has referred to the Moffitt /Bensemann interview discussion notes which are now in the Christchurch Gallery Library. The important meeting ground for both these men and their many Christchurch colleagues, was the New Albion Pub which was perhaps the creative centre of the city’s visual cultural world. It was here that the many political aspects of the New Zealand and local art scene were heatedly discussed and principles and theories often fiercely argued.

Some of the theories that Simpson claims were influential on Bensemann’s art could have well been challenged in this environment. I must admit to a being confused when the author describes Christchurch as provincial and compares this to Auckland’s progressive visual art directions. If the term’s meaning relates to a concern to reflect the ideas and values of the perceived international centres of art production then the hankering after European school of Paris i.e. cubist stylistic aspects or European abstraction and stylistic developments within the NY school then the Auckland visual art environment appears to fit more closely to the description of provincialism.

The author presents the dominant Christchurch art theory and practice as being nationalist. My feeling is that apart from the New Albion group constantly and rather meanly attacking the Canterbury School of Art and its curriculum reforms as being dominated by a “bunch of poms” there was not a great interest in nationalist sentiments. That there was no real substance to this position is apparent when one considers Bensemann’s close and rewarding friendship with senior lecturer in typography, Max Hailstone, one of the “art school poms”.

Leading members of this “New Albion” group including Sutton, Moffitt, Macfarlane were clearly persistent regionalists who firmly believed that their visual art products must reflect aspects of their their physical, cultural or intellectual environment. It may be more relevant to compare the values of Christchurch artworld with the Melbourne “Antipodean Manifesto” sentiments against Auckland having, in the manner of Sydney, an internationalist focus. The simplistic view that Auckland was the more progressive centre and Christchurch and the Group were backward looking conveys an old modernist idea of progress which does not reflect today’s thinking .

Bensemann and his closest colleague’s clearly felt that their art was an expression of identity including a spiritual meaning of place and this belief glows from all of their work. Bensemann’s regional values appear to have deepened throughout his Group involvement and further evolved through frequent painting trips with Doris Lusk. The surrealist or fantastic aspects Simpson identifies in Bensemann’s art appears mostly in the artist’s illustrative work while the last rather haunting rock paintings were often inspired by close rendering of actual found object i.e.hand held rocks.

It also appears that most of the artist’s visual art products including paintings, both portrait and landscape as well as the exquisite drawings, were essentially inspired by a fastidious attention to detail and a strong, finely honed, sense of design that developed from his printer’s eye

Although disagreeing with some of the author’s conclusions Fantastica: the World of Leo Bensemann provides a very rewarding and interesting read. It is a very beautiful book including its quality paper stock excellent graphic design and wealth of superb reproductions is worthy of the subject who devoted his energy to the highest ideals in this craft