Suggests Bermuda establish international art school.

President of the Royal Society of British Artists Mr. Peter Peterson says he is surprised by the enthusiasm for art in Bermuda and the high standards attained "on such a tiny island''.

He also feels, now that Bermuda has its own National Gallery, that serious consideration should be given to establishing an international art school, where the Island's natural beauty and climate would provide an ideal setting for six-week or even three-month courses for artists from around the world.

"It would also be a very good way of boosting tourism,'' he adds.

He is full of praise for the new National Gallery.

"I think they have made an excellent start and were very fortunate to have been given so many fine things. There are some very good quality Old Masters paintings. You have a very good Reynolds and I think it's quite an accolade for Bermuda to have a painting by George Morland. They are very rare -- most of them are in private collections and I've only ever seen about six Morland paintings myself.'' He feels the Watlington Collection provides a centre of gravity for the Gallery which will, hopefully, encourage others to donate. "But most of all, the Gallery will provide a constant education for the public and give professional artists the opportunity to look at good paintings,'' he says.

Back in Bermuda for a return visit, during which he will jury entries for the Bermuda Society of Arts Winter Members' Show and conduct workshops for the Society, Mr. Peterson is the latest in a long line of celebrities who have held the top job in one of England's oldest and most prestigious art societies.

Other artists who have held the position since the Royal Society was formed in 1827 include Whistler and Sickert, and the Society, based in historic Carlton House in The Mall, has counted many of England's greatest painters amongst its elite membership which is limited to just 100 artists at any given time.

Constable and Turner exhibited regularly with the Society.

Mr. Peterson says that although the small size of Bermuda can have its drawbacks for working artists, he points out there are also many advantages.

"People involved in the arts here seem to have easy access to one another, which can be very useful from an organisational point of view. In larger countries this is not always the case. For instance, I have never met the Chairman of the Arts Council in Britain -- in Bermuda, that would be quite ridiculous!'' He feels Bermuda's size also offers the Island an opportunity to do things that would be difficult elsewhere.

"One of the things that they have started at the National Gallery in London is to bring in some of the leading artists and have them fill a room with works by their favourite artists. This is a good way of getting people involved in the gallery process.'' He also suggests that the Bermuda Society of Arts do more to encourage art activity "outside the usual stream'', such as awarding prizes for the best drawing and make the competition open to the general public.

"I mention drawing because there seems to be a lack of drawing here. And drawings are the basis of most things.'' He would also like to see more open discussion about the philosophical aspects of art in a society that generally consigns, at best, only a peripheral seat to the arts in terms of societal identification.

He recalls that when he was Head of Department at Epsom School of Art, he used to hold seminars where his students would discuss such things as "Can morality be applied to art? Can a murder well performed be a work of art? Why do we value art?'' He goes on to answer this last question himself, saying, "because it gives us a pointer as to where we are going as human beings''.

When Living caught up with Mr. Peterson, he had just been looking at some of the Masterworks collection on Front Street.

"I thought there were some very nice things there. At the same time, I have seen work by Bermuda's Society of Art members that's just as good.'' He offers a word of caution to those who tend to venerate pieces of art largely because of historic, rather than intrinsic artistic value: "To separate the art of the past from the art of the present is rather false, I think. It always upsets me rather, to see art being separated in this manner.

This, by the way, is not peculiar to Bermuda. I have to admit I have this thing about living artists -- after all, the ordinary working artist of today is the famous artist of tomorrow!'' As a case in point, he cites London's renowned Paxton Gallery, which until recently sold Old Masters only, but now also deals in the work of living artists (including, as it turns out, paintings by Peter Peterson).

He feels, too, that much of the mystique surrounding deceased artists is often created by dealers to maintain artificially high prices.

"Once they know there won't be any more stuff coming from a certain artist's brush, they won't allow the value to drop because they've all invested money in him,'' he declares.

Mr. Peterson, who was last in Bermuda two years ago to select works by Bermuda's artists that subsequently formed a special section in a Royal Society show at the Mall Galleries, is conducting workshops for artists "at all levels''.

His visit is part of the Society of Arts' ongoing commitment to its educational role in the community, in encouraging working artists, both in a practical and aesthetic sense.

He feels his value to Bermuda's art community lies partly in the fact that he is an outsider who is able to stimulate new ideas and approaches.

"Because Bermuda is so small there is, perhaps, a certain lack of awareness of things that are going on outside. I think it would be helpful to give artists my own ideas about their work. People who are serious about painting don't just want praise. And sometimes it is easier for an outsider to be critical -- in a fair way -- about a person's art.'' And for tomorrow, he is also planning what he calls "a very informal talk and slide show'' on aspects of 19th century art.

"I thought it would be interesting to give people an idea of the sort of thing they would have seen on the walls of the Royal Academy if they had visited an exhibition there in late Victorian times. Because that style of painting became unfashionable, most of these pictures have disappeared, or are in obscure galleries.'' Mr. Peterson, who paints many landscapes and says that at the moment he is preoccupied in painting scenes of the River Thames at Wapping, admits to an obsession for painting St. Michael's Mount (off the coast of Cornwall) in all its moods, and is also painting pictures of wild flowers ("huge ones!''), will also show some slides of his own work.

The public is invited to attend the session which will be held tomorrow in the Society of Arts Gallery at City Hall at 5.30 p.m. Admission, which will include wine and cheese, is $5 and tickets may be obtained at the door.

There are a limited number of places left for the second workshop which will be held this weekend. Telephone the Bermuda Society of Arts at 292-3824 for further details.

VISITING ARTIST -- Royal Society of British Artists president, Mr. Peter Peterson, pictured at City Hall with Mr. William Collieson's sculpture, `Spirit of Ecstasy', at exhibition Juxtaposed, last week.

`LADY IN AN EXTRAVAGANT HAT' by British painter Mr. Peter Peterson.