1960 Fredericton Encaenia
Martin, Alec
Doctor of Laws (LL.D.)
Orator: Cattley, Robert E.D.
Image
Image Caption
L to R: Alec Martin, Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., Goodridge Roberts
Second Image Caption
Source: UA PC-4 no.8j
Citation:
ENCAENIA, MAY, 1960
SIR ALEC MARTIN
to be Doctor of Laws
In the name of herself, of this province, and of its capital, the University of New Brunswick acknowledges a debt to two men who, each in his own realm, have made their contribution to the Beaverbrook Gallery.
They represent those complementary elements without whose vital interplay all art must fail of its development, the creator and the critic.
The former is Goodridge Roberts, Sir Alec Martin the latter.
A connoisseur of universal repute, Sir Alec came out from England to advise and assist Lord Beaverbrook in the hanging of the paintings. Some may have glimpsed this robust and youthful Demiurge, who at seventy-six prefers to work in his shirt-sleeves, and who criticizes, when his criticism is provoked, in the roundest Anglo-Saxon.
He seems always to have been young, a critic and a lover of canvasses. He entered Christie's at the age of twelve and as Managing Director for eighteen recent years of that world-famous house of art auctioneers, has superintended sales of over 15,000 pictures annually, with values over the years running into millions of pounds sterling.
To the preservation of all his nation's art treasures, their exhibition and, wherever possible, their circulation he has devoted the same wisdom and solid convictions that he brings to bear as Chairman of the Board of the Wallace Collection and as Governor and Guardian of the National Gallery of Ireland.
Three knighthoods have recognized the services, without inflating the ego, of this plain, blunt, but altogether bewitching man. A giant in the eyes of his world, the only cubits he will admit to adding are not those of fame to his own stature, but a single and very physical cubit to the ceiling, when already finished, of the Beaverbrook Gallery, which -- to the consternation of donor, trustees, and architect -- he advised raising by exactly that biblical measure. His shrewd, if devastating, aesthetics have brought this magnificent edifice one step nearer to perfection.
From:
Cattley, Robert E.D. Honoris causa: the effervescences of a university orator. Fredericton: UNB Associated Alumnae, 1968.
SIR ALEC MARTIN
to be Doctor of Laws
In the name of herself, of this province, and of its capital, the University of New Brunswick acknowledges a debt to two men who, each in his own realm, have made their contribution to the Beaverbrook Gallery.
They represent those complementary elements without whose vital interplay all art must fail of its development, the creator and the critic.
The former is Goodridge Roberts, Sir Alec Martin the latter.
A connoisseur of universal repute, Sir Alec came out from England to advise and assist Lord Beaverbrook in the hanging of the paintings. Some may have glimpsed this robust and youthful Demiurge, who at seventy-six prefers to work in his shirt-sleeves, and who criticizes, when his criticism is provoked, in the roundest Anglo-Saxon.
He seems always to have been young, a critic and a lover of canvasses. He entered Christie's at the age of twelve and as Managing Director for eighteen recent years of that world-famous house of art auctioneers, has superintended sales of over 15,000 pictures annually, with values over the years running into millions of pounds sterling.
To the preservation of all his nation's art treasures, their exhibition and, wherever possible, their circulation he has devoted the same wisdom and solid convictions that he brings to bear as Chairman of the Board of the Wallace Collection and as Governor and Guardian of the National Gallery of Ireland.
Three knighthoods have recognized the services, without inflating the ego, of this plain, blunt, but altogether bewitching man. A giant in the eyes of his world, the only cubits he will admit to adding are not those of fame to his own stature, but a single and very physical cubit to the ceiling, when already finished, of the Beaverbrook Gallery, which -- to the consternation of donor, trustees, and architect -- he advised raising by exactly that biblical measure. His shrewd, if devastating, aesthetics have brought this magnificent edifice one step nearer to perfection.
From:
Cattley, Robert E.D. Honoris causa: the effervescences of a university orator. Fredericton: UNB Associated Alumnae, 1968.
Citations may be reproduced for research purposes only. Publication in whole or in part requires written permission from the author.