I am very much obliged to Sir Gerald Kelly for proposing the toast of Her Majesty’s Ministers, and for the compliment which he has paid to me. I cannot help regretting that after what may well have been a prolonged meditation he has not been able to find anything to say about our politics good, bad, or indifferent, but has simply commended us to the natural kindness of this distinguished gathering. A more fertile theme would perhaps have been ‘the difficulties of Her Majesty’s Ministers’, and he could have expatiated on these without in any way giving offence to the Leader of the Opposition [Clement Attlee] whom we are so glad to see here tonight and who, I believe, has his difficulties too.
Sir Gerald has, however, decided to keep clear of politics and politicians as long as they do not send pictures to the Royal Academy, or otherwise trespass upon the domains of art. This prudent course imposes, however, disadvantages upon the politician who is called upon to reply. He is like a painter invited to produce a masterpiece but unprovided with any particular subject wherewith to fill his canvas. He has got to provide it all out of his own head or else embark upon a dreary vindication of conduct which has neither been impugned or even praised. Sir Gerald need not have restricted himself in this way. Her Majesty’s Ministers are quite used to being criticized, and even if they were paid a tribute I am sure Mr Attlee would not have been offended. He is quite used to putting up with things. Let me therefore confine myself to more agreeable topics than politics.
I was very glad when it was decided a few years ago to revive the Royal Academy Banquet after the war, and we are grateful to Sir Alfred Munnings not only for his strong initiative but for the controversial element with which he enlivened the proceedings. It is with genuine regret that we face the fact tonight that this is the last Royal Academy dinner over which Sir Gerald Kelly will preside. The Presidents of the Royal Academy are esteemed figures in British life. None has been more tireless in his search for the welfare of the Academy and of British art in general than Sir Gerald. During his Presidency we have had the Dutch Exhibition and the Flemish Exhibition. Seldom if ever have there been exhibitions at Burlington House which surpassed them either in the quality of the pictures or in the crowds they have attracted. For these remarkable selections of paintings we have Sir Gerald Kelly’s personal labours and persistence to thank. His successor will take over the Presidency at a high level of popularity and acclaim.
Last year I spoke of conventional and unconventional art, and of the controversies and compromises which exist between them. It was with a shock that a few months ago I heard that warfare was now being classified in ‘conventional’ and ‘unconventional’ forms and that these had become the official expressions on the continent of Europe. These hitherto harmless, inoffensive terms now strike a knell in all our hearts. Indeed, we may ask ourselves whether we should go on with the routine, ceremonies and festivities of our daily round when dangers are growing which might end the life of the human race. I have no doubt what the answer is to that question, namely, that the more the human mind is enriched and occupied and the conditions of our life here are improved and our capacities enriched, the greater is the chance that the unconventional weapons will lead not to general annihilation but to that outlawry of war which generation after generation has sought in vain.
In the course of a few bewildering years we have found ourselves the master or indeed the servants of gigantic powers which confront us with problems never known before. It may be that our perils may prove our salvation. If so this will depend upon a new elevation of the mind of man which will render him worthy of the secrets he has wrested from nature. In this transfiguration the arts have a noble and vital part to play. We therefore have no need to reproach ourselves for levity in coming here tonight.