Colin McCahon is regarded as one of New Zealand's greatest painters. A risk-taker and a nonconformist, he engaged with questions of religion, faith and the human condition through his art.
Art
Events In History
13 May 1947
One of this country's most celebrated artists, Frances Hodgkins spent most of her life overseas. She earned a place among the British avant-garde of the 1930s and 1940s – the first New Zealand-born artist to achieve such stature.
Articles
Links - arts and literature
Recommended links relating to New Zealand arts, literature and music Read the full article
The 1920s
The 1920s was the decade that modern New Zealand came of age. Despite political and economic uncertainty, the country shrugged off the gloom of war to embrace the Jazz Age - an era of speed, power and glamour. Explore an overview of the decade and a year-by-year breakdown of key events. Read the full article
Page 10 - 1927 - key events
A selection of key New Zealand events from
History of New Zealand painting
Early European painting in New Zealand was dominated by landscapes and images of exotic Māori. From the 1890s the local art scene was boosted by the arrival of professional painters from Europe. But it wasn't until the 1930s and 40s that a distinct style of painting began to emerge here. Read the full article
Page 1 - History of New Zealand painting
Early European painting in New Zealand was dominated by landscapes and images of exotic Māori. From the 1890s the local art scene was boosted by the arrival of professional
Page 2 - Beginnings
While the first New Zealand artists often had scenic interests, they were also influenced by art historical practices and
Page 4 - A new New Zealand art
In the 1930s and 1940s a distinctly New Zealand style of painting began to emerge - regionalism that is characterised by a preoccupation with place and local
Page 5 - Expressionism and abstraction
The revolutions in early 20th century European art took a long time to influence New Zealand painting. Cubism, for example, took four decades to be accepted
Page 6 - Contemporary Māori art
Between 1960 and 1980 a strong resurgence of Maori nationalism and culture developed alongside a growing political voice and demand for the honouring of the Treaty of
Page 7 - Further information
Links and books relating to New Zealand art
First World War art
During the First World War official and unofficial New Zealand war artists produced a wide range of works depicting this country's war effort. These works later became part of New Zealand's National Collection of War Art. Read the full article
Page 2 - Unofficial war art
New Zealand soldiers used art to interpret the experience of the war for an audience of noncombatant civilians. Civilian artists in turn produced works that responded to and
Page 3 - Official war art
The NZEF employed its first official war artist, Lance Corporal Nugent Welch, in April 1918. Welch documented the activities of the New Zealand Division in France and Belgium,
Page 4 - Establishing a collection
Following the end of the war, attention turned to where New Zealand's official First World War art collection would be stored. Plans for a National War Memorial Museum in
Page 5 - National Collection of War Art
There are around 1500 paintings, drawings, sketches, cartoons and prints in New Zealand’s National Collection of War Art. This collection has its origins in the final year of the
Women Together
Arts and crafts
All-women arts and crafts groups have a long history in this country. Read the full Women Together Theme
Association of New Zealand Embroiderers' Guilds
The Association of New Zealand Embroiderers' Guilds (ANZEG) was founded to co-ordinate and promote the needlework activities of local embroiderers' guilds. Read the full Women Together Essay
Association of Women Artists
The Association of Women Artists provided support and education for women working in the visual arts. Read the full Women Together Essay
Creative Fibre
The New Zealand Spinning, Weaving and Woolcrafts Society (now Creative Fibre) was formed to foster and speak for all aspects of the handcrafts concerned. Read the full Women Together Essay
Haeata
Haeata was a Māori women artists' collective. Read the full Women Together Essay
Mata Aho Collective
The art group Mata Aho Collective was established in 2012 by Erena Baker (Te Atiawa ki Whakarongotai, Ngāti Toa Rangatira), Sarah Hudson (Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Tūhoe), Bridget Reweti (Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāi Te Rangi) and Terri Te Tau (Rangitāne rāua ko Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa). Read the full Women Together Essay
Spiral
Spiral was founded in 1975 as a women's literary and arts journal. Read the full Women Together Essay
The Women's Gallery
The Women's Gallery in Wellington provided a space where women's everyday realities could be expressed in an art form. Read the full Women Together Essay
Biographies
The multi-faceted Charles Heaphy made quite an impact on colonial New Zealand as an artist, explorer, soldier and colonial administrator. He was the first colonial soldier to win the Victoria Cross.
Len Lye is a controversial figure in New Zealand art, an internationally renowned and influential film-maker and kinetic sculptor who is seen by some as an outsider whose art has little relevance to the local tradition
Colin McCahon’s works became some of the most recognisable and celebrated paintings ever to be produced in New Zealand.
By 1980 Mountford Tosswill (Toss) Woollaston was one of New Zealand’s most widely known contemporary painters; a far cry from his childhood on a dairy farm in the Taranaki backblocks.
Frances Hodgkins’ 56-year career as an artist earned her a secure place among the English avant-garde of the 1930s and 1940s. She was the first New Zealand-born artist to achieve such stature.
The work from artist George French Angas’ 1844 visit to New Zealand recorded a crucial transitional phase of Māori culture under the impact of European settlement.
From the 1960s Rita Angus was recognised as one of the leading figures in 20th-century New Zealand art.
Main image: Prisoners of war artwork, 'Tiki times'
From 'Tiki Times' 23: 8 January 1945
From 'Tiki Times' 22: 1 January 1945
