Northland Panels is an eight-part landscape painted by the New Zealand artist Colin McCahon in November 1958 shortly after his first and only trip to the United States.
55-611: In April 1958, Colin McCahon and his wife Anne traveled to the United States. At the time McCahon was working at the Auckland City Art Gallery (now known as Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki ) as Keeper of Collections and the main purpose of the trip was to look at how public art galleries operated. During the visit, however, he was also able to see major works of art by American artists for the first time. He
110-450: A print on demand publishing company he founded in 2000 which specializes in new and out-of-print copyright works, mostly of a scholarly nature. The editorial board of the company has included other academics such as Frederick Crews , Anthony Grafton and Marjorie Perloff . Dutton wrote on authenticity in art and distinguished between nominal authenticity , in which a work of art is correctly attributed to its author rather than being
165-483: A 2010 TED talk . Dutton also argued that progress in the arts and sciences had declined, especially since around 1800. As editor of the journal Philosophy and Literature , Dutton ran the Bad Writing Contest, which aimed to "expose 'pretentious, swaggering gibberish' passed off as scholarship at leading universities". In 1995, the contest was won by Homi K. Bhabha and Fredric Jameson . In 1998,
220-487: A forgery, and expressive authenticity , where a work is a true expression of an individual's or a society's values and beliefs. In his book The Art Instinct (2010) Dutton opposes the view that art appreciation is culturally learned, claiming instead that art appreciation stems from evolutionary adaptions made during the Pleistocene . He set out abbreviated versions of his theory in a 2009 Google Talk lecture and
275-829: A half thousand prints, including work by Callot , Piranesi , della Bella and Hollar . In 1997 the Chartwell Collection , established in 1974 by Hamilton businessman Rob Gardiner, was transferred from the Waikato Museum of Art and History to long-term loan at the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki. By 2022 the Chartwell Collection had over 2000 items and was a regular feature in the Auckland Art Gallery's programme along with specific exhibitions of works from
330-519: A number of occasions through gifting including Gordon Walters 1971 painting Genealogy 5 in tribute to the Directorship of Chris Saines in 2022 and No Ordinary Sun by Ralph Hotere in memory of the artist in 2013. She has also gifted other significant paintings by Gordon Walters to the collection including Blue and Yellow 1967. In 2009, it was announced that American investor Julian Robertson would donate art valued at $ 115 million to
385-602: A programme marking the centennial of the artist's visit to the gallery, including the exhibition Paul Gauguin: Pages from the Pacific and a major book: Gauguin and Maori Art . Other achievements during his incumbency were the funding and development of the New Gallery for contemporary art, which opened in 1995, the establishment of Haerewa, the Maori Advisory Group and a significant range of acquisitions for
440-510: Is reflected in McCahon's inscription on panel 5, ‘a landscape with too few lovers.’ 4) Rain. 5) A landscape with too few lovers. 6) Tui. The tūī (Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae ) is a New Zealand blue, green and bronze bird with a white tuft of feathers at its neck and a very distinctive call. In Māori the words Korokoro tūī means sweet melodious voice. 7) Landscape with White Road. 8) It can be dark here and manuka in bloom may breed despair. McCahon painted Northland Panels on
495-699: Is shared between the Auckland City Art Gallery, the Public Library and the Auckland Museum. Mackelvie's will stipulated a separate gallery to display his bequest; this was not popular with the city authorities, but a special room was dedicated to the collection in 1893 and eventually the top lit Mackelvie Gallery was built in 1916. The Mackelvie Trust continues to purchase art works to add to the collection, which now includes significant 20th-century bronzes by Archipenko , Bourdelle , Epstein , Moore and Elisabeth Frink . The Auckland Gallery collection
550-480: The Dunedin Public Art Gallery , which opened three years earlier in 1884. Wellington's New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts opened in 1892 and a Wellington Public Library in 1893. In 2009, it was announced that the museum received a donation from American businessman Julian Robertson , valued at over $ 100 million, the largest ever of its kind in the region. The works will be received from
605-711: The Peace Corps and learned to play sitar . Dutton taught at several American universities, including the University of California, Santa Barbara and the University of Michigan–Dearborn , before emigrating to New Zealand. Dutton started teaching at the University of Canterbury , Christchurch , in 1984. From 2008 to 2010, he was the Head of the Philosophy school in an unofficial capacity and acted briefly as Head of Humanities. At its December 2010 graduation ceremony,
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#1732790800392660-611: The Art Gallery on Wellesley Street. Although founded in 1888, the Gallery did not employ a professional director until the appointment of Englishman Eric Westbrook in 1952. He was appointed as the first full-time director of the Art Gallery (previously the Head Librarian was formally in charge of both the Gallery and Library). He was succeeded in 1955 by Peter Tomory who stayed until 1965. Both men sought to revitalise
715-636: The Auckland Art Gallery a representative collection of British paintings from the interwar period. Her gifts in 1948 and 1950 totalled 154 works by modern British artists, including Christopher Wood , Frances Hodgkins, Phelan Gibb , R. O. Dunlop and Alfred Wallis . The Wertheim collection was initially displayed in a separate room opened by the Mayor J. A. C. Allum on 2 December 1948. In 1953 Rex Nan Kivell donated an important collection of prints, including work by George French Angas , Sydney Parkinson , Nicholas Chevalier , and Augustus Earle . The 1960s saw
770-614: The Auckland Art Gallery. The donation included works by Paul Cézanne , Paul Gauguin , Pablo Picasso , Henri Matisse , Piet Mondrian , Salvador Dalí , Georges Braque , André Derain , Fernand Léger , Pierre Bonnard and Henri Fantin-Latour , and was the largest of its kind in Australasia. Following the donation, the Kitchener Street rooms were named the Julian and Josie Robertson Galleries. On Robertson's death in 2022
825-614: The Chartwell Collection (1999), Nine Lives: The Chartwell Exhibition (2003), Made Active: The Chartwell Show (2012), Shout, Whisper, Wail (2017) and Walls to Live Inside / Rooms to Own (2023). Initially with her husband Allan, Jenny Gibbs has been a long-time supporter of the gallery's collection and activities including the formation of the Patron's Group who with the Gibbs gifted Colin McCahon's 1974 painting Comet (F8, F9, F10) in 1987. More recently Dame Jenny Gibbs has marked
880-530: The Council and Tomory, resulting in his resignation. Tomory's intended purchase of Hepworth's Torso II in 1963 (likened by one councillor to 'the buttock of a dead cow') changed the climate of art and culture in New Zealand. Even the conservative New Zealand Herald pointed out to its readers, "It is no function of an Art Gallery to be stuffed with exhibits which everyone can comprehend." The bronze statue
935-441: The Gallery and introduce modern art to a largely conservative public in the face of resistance from a largely hostile City Council. The 1956 Spring Exhibition 'Object and Image' showed works by modern artists such as John Weeks , Louise Henderson , Milan Mrkusich , Colin McCahon, Kase Jackson and Ross Fraser . Other controversial exhibitions, including Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth , resulted in serious confrontation between
990-563: The United States McCahon saw examples of Rothko's paintings which the art historian Francis Pound claimed was reflected in this panel which is half black and half white. 2) Red Clay Landscape. 3) Manuka and Red Clay Landscape . Mānuka or kahikātoa ( Leptospermum scoparium ) is a native shrub of New Zealand. Captain Cook called it Tea tree. Until recently it was considered to be of little value or interest. This attitude
1045-596: The University of Canterbury awarded Dutton a research medal for his work. He was a member of the editorial board for The Rutherford Journal . On 28 December 2010, Dutton died from cancer . Dutton was best known for the web aggregation site Arts & Letters Daily , which he founded in 1998 and which secured him a place among "the most influential media personalities in the world". The site, described as "the first and foremost aggregator of well-written and well-argued book reviews, essays, and other articles in
1100-629: The arrival of the Watson Bequest, a collection of European medieval art. In 1967 the Spencer collection of early English and New Zealand watercolours was donated, this included early New Zealand views by John Gully , John Hoyt , and John Kinder . In 1982 on the death of Walter Auburn, print collector and valued adviser to the Gallery's prints and drawings department, the Mackelvie Trust received his magnificent collection of over one and
1155-618: The artists themselves. In 1915 a collection of paintings of Māori by Gottfried Lindauer was donated to the Gallery by Henry Partridge, an Auckland businessman. He made the gift on the proviso that the people of Auckland raise 10,000 pounds for the Belgium Relief Fund. The money was raised within a few weeks. Another major benefactor was Lucy Carrington Wertheim . Miss Wertheim was an art gallery owner in London and through her support of expatriate artist Frances Hodgkins bestowed on
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#17327908003921210-459: The backs of other paintings which were visible when the work was free-hung in the exhibition Détour by Michael Parekowhai . The verso of A Landscape with too Few Lovers begins with the words, 'the deed has no function apart from the doer, the doer has no function apart from the deed’. The scale of Northland Panels ( 1.2 x 5.6 meters ) made it challenging to find a private buyer and moreover McCahon himself had made it clear that he only wanted
1265-418: The ceiling and he later visited Kaprow's studio. McCahon used a housepaint called Monocoat to paint Northland Panels . The paint was not designed for use on loose canvas and hardened making the surface unstable. In 2014 a team of conservators at the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki stabilised the eight panels using an adhesive derived from a Japanese red algae called JunFunori. 1) Black and White . While in
1320-446: The collection and new acquisitions. The Auckland Art Gallery Toi Tamaki have also collaborated in joint purchases including Michael Parekowhai 's The Indefinite Article in 1990 and Giovanni Intra 's Untilted (Studded Suit) in 2003. Selected Chartwell Collection exhibitions at The Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki include: The Chartwell Collection: A Selection (1997), Home and Away, Contemporary Australian and New Zealand Art from
1375-511: The collection and the Mackelvie Trust including works by including works by Vanessa Bell, John Nash, John Tunnard, Anish Kapoor, Jesus Rafael Soto and Ed Ruscha. A selection of key exhibitions shown at the Auckland Art Gallery post 1950. Exhibitions developed by other institutions are noted. The E.H. McCormick Research Library, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki maintains a complete exhibitions list from June 1927. Denis Dutton Denis Laurence Dutton (9 February 1944 – 28 December 2010)
1430-548: The collection became incorporated with the collections of the Auckland Art Gallery and in celebration were shown in full in 2024. On 4 April 2012, it was announced that the Auckland Art Gallery would join the Google Art project . "It is a fantastic opportunity to share with the rest of the world some of the best of our New Zealand and international collection", said RFA Gallery Director Chris Saines. "People can learn about and enjoy New Zealand art up close even when they are on
1485-475: The complex during the period just after the war; the weaver Ilse von Randow utilised the clock tower rooms and created onsite the Art Gallery Ceremonial curtains, executed as part of the 1950s modernisation. In 1969 the art classes and studios were relocated to Ponsonby, where a decommissioned Police Station by John Campbell at 1 Ponsonby Road was relaunched as 'Artstation', which continues
1540-410: The contest awarded first place to philosopher and University of California-Berkeley Professor Judith Butler , for a sentence which appeared in the journal diacritics . Butler defended their work against the charges of academic pedantry and obscurantism in the pages of The New York Times . Dutton then ended the contest. The Bad Writing Contest emerged in an intellectual climate dominated by
1595-665: The end, however, the painting was purchased through the Ellen Eames Collection fund assisted by the New Zealand Lottery Board. In 1998 the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa opened in Wellington taking on the role of both National Art Gallery and Dominion Museum. This combined institution attempted an uneasy mix of both social history and art in its most contentious displays on opening in
1650-431: The exhibition Parade curated by Ian Wedde. Here McCahon's Northland Panels was shown alongside a television set and a refrigerator based on the fact that all three were of the same era. As Te Papa put it, ‘ Parade put these objects beside each other and stirred up the debate, encouraged connections, tickled your fancy.’ The juxtaposition was poorly received. Academic Denis Dutton responded, ‘knowing that they are from
1705-420: The extension, which finished in 2011 for a total of NZ$ 113 million, of which Auckland City Council contributed just under NZ$ 50 million. The expansion design by Australian architecture firm FJMT in partnership with Auckland-based Archimedia increased exhibition space by 50%, for up to 900 artworks, and provided dedicated education, child and family spaces. As part of the upgrade, existing parts of
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1760-555: The fallout from the Sokal affair , in which the alleged opaqueness and obscurity of postmodern writing came in for criticism: Edward Said , for instance, deplored "diminishment and incoherence" in the writings of some of his colleagues and Martha Nussbaum condemned academic writing that was "ponderous and obscure". Dutton supported "conservative ideas" and was a member of the Libertarian Party for some years. Dutton
1815-404: The gallery outreach programmes. From 1969 to 1971 the building underwent remodelling and a new wing and sculpture garden were added. This was the result of the lavish Philip Edmiston bequest, which had been announced in 1946 and stipulated the building of a new gallery. In 1971 the public library was moved to the new Auckland Public Library building by Ewen Wainscott in nearby Lorne Street. In
1870-473: The hilltop Albert Park in the central-city area of Auckland, the gallery was established in 1888 as the first permanent art gallery in New Zealand. The building originally housed both the Auckland Art Gallery and the Auckland public library , and opened with collections donated by benefactors Governor Sir George Grey and James Tannock Mackelvie . This was the second public art gallery in New Zealand, after
1925-575: The late 1950s is as significant as learning that Lord Rutherford and Mae West were both Virgos’ and the English cultural critic Theodore Dalrymple described it as ‘the institutional exemplar of the lowest common denominator turned into official cultural policy’. The criticism prompted Prime Minister and Minister of the Arts Helen Clark to commission a review of the institution and art exhibitions like Parade were discontinued. Note that
1980-513: The late 2000s, a major extension was mooted, which drew substantial criticism from some quarters due to its cost, design and the fact that land from Albert Park would be required. The Gallery closed for the extensive renovations and expansion in late 2007, and re-opened on 3 September 2011. During the closure, temporary exhibitions were held at the NEW Gallery on the corner of Wellesley and Lorne Streets. In 2008, Council decided to go ahead with
2035-515: The other side of the planet." Auckland Art Gallery has contributed 85 artworks to the project: 56 are from its New Zealand Pacific collection and 29 by international artists. The Gallery's two Senior Curators, Ron Brownson (New Zealand and Pacific Art) and Mary Kisler (Mackelvie Collection, International Art), selected the works. Examples of New Zealand art now available via Google Art Project include Colin McCahon's On Building Bridges (1952) and paintings by Frances Hodgkins. The main gallery building
2090-516: The owner's estate. Throughout the 1870s many people in Auckland felt the city needed a municipal art collection but the newly established Auckland City Council was unwilling to commit funds to such a project. Following pressure by such eminent people as Sir Maurice O'Rorke (Speaker of the House of Representatives) and others, the building of a combined Art Gallery & Library was made necessary by
2145-523: The painting to be sold to a public collection. Northland Panels was offered to the National Art Gallery (now known as Te Papa Tongarewa ) twice, once in 1968 for $ 3,000 and again in 1977. In May 1978 the National Art Gallery finally agreed to purchase the work from McCahon's Wellington dealer Peter McLeavey for $ 25,000. The Board of the Gallery did have some reservations as the price represented around two years of acquisitions budget. In
2200-424: The painting's fragility has made its inclusion in exhibitions increasingly rare. Selected exhibitions that included Northland Panels Auckland Art Gallery Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki is the principal public gallery in Auckland , New Zealand. It has the most extensive collection of national and international art in New Zealand and frequently hosts travelling international exhibitions. Set below
2255-667: The promise of significant bequests from two major benefactors, former colonial governor Sir George Grey and James Tannock Mackelvie . Grey had promised books for a municipal library as early as 1872, and eventually donated a large number of manuscripts, rare books and paintings from his collection to the Auckland Gallery & Library (in total this amounted to over 12,500 items, including 53 paintings). He also gave material to Cape Town , where he had also been Governor. The Grey bequest includes works by Caspar Netscher , Henry Fuseli , William Blake and David Wilkie . Mackelvie
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2310-421: The realm of ideas", features links to articles across the web about literature, art, science, and politics, for which Dutton wrote pithy teasers. In recognition of Arts & Letters Daily , Steven Pinker called Dutton a visionary for recognizing that a website "could be a forum for cutting-edge ideas, not just a way to sell things or entertain the bored". Dutton served as executive director of Cybereditions,
2365-561: The rugged landscape of Northland that he titled Northland Panels . McCahon had been attracted to the Northland landscape for some time and the family had friends in the area. Much later in 1977 he attempted to articulate his attraction to this place, ‘The real Far North of New Zealand is unlike any other part of the land. I can’t talk about it. I love it too much.’ Northland Panels was unusual for that time in New Zealand by reason of both its size and its presentation. The completed work
2420-515: The second of four children of William and Thelma Dutton, who were booksellers and founded what became Dutton's Books , a chain of independent bookstores. He grew up in North Hollywood, graduated from North Hollywood High School , and was educated at the University of California, Santa Barbara , where he earned his bachelor's degree in philosophy in 1966 and his PhD in philosophy in 1975. Between taking these degrees, he went to India with
2475-594: The structure were renovated and restored to its 1916 state – amongst other things ensuring that the 17 different floor levels in the building were reduced to just 6. The redevelopment has received 17 architectural and 6 design-related awards, including the World Architecture Festival 's 2013 World Building of the Year. One of the sealed entrances to the Albert Park tunnels can be found behind
2530-475: The team that handled the logistics of touring the exhibition Te Māori to the United States and its subsequent tour of New Zealand as Te Māori-Te Hokinga Mai . In 1988, Christopher Johnstone succeeded Rodney Wilson as director. During his eight years as director major exhibitions included Pablo Picasso: The artist before nature (1989), Rembrandt to Renoir , which attracted a record attendance for an exhibition charge exhibition of 210,000 (1993) and, in 1995,
2585-479: Was a businessman who had retained an interest in Auckland affairs after returning to Britain. In the early 1880s he announced a gift of 105 framed watercolours, oil paintings, and a collection of drawings. His gift eventually amounted to 140 items, including paintings, decorative arts, ceramics and furniture from his London residence – these form the core of the Mackelvie Trust Collection, which
2640-518: Was an American philosopher of art, web entrepreneur, and media activist. He was a professor of philosophy at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch , New Zealand . He was also a co-founder and co-editor of the websites Arts & Letters Daily , ClimateDebateDaily.com, and cybereditions.com. Denis Dutton was born in Los Angeles , California , United States, on 9 February 1944, as
2695-666: Was initially dominated by European old master paintings following the standard taste of the 19th century. Today the collection has expanded to include a wider variety of periods, styles and media, and numbers over 15,000 artworks. Many New Zealand and Pacific artists are represented, as well as Europe, and material from the Middle Ages to the present day. Notable New Zealand artists with extensive representation include Gretchen Albrecht , Marti Friedlander , C.F. Goldie , Alfred Henry O'Keeffe , Frances Hodgkins , Gottfried Lindauer and Colin McCahon . Some of these works were donated by
2750-586: Was intended to be shown unframed with the paintings hung loose like banners side-by-side. In addition to the Japanese artist Tomioka Tessai and the German Gerhard Richter , it has been suggested that the hanging banners were influenced by the American installation artist Allan Kaprow . During his US trip in 1958 McCahon had visited an exhibition by Kaprow where the work was hung in strips from
2805-474: Was one of the founding members and first chair of the NZ Skeptics . In 2009, he stated that he believed that " climate change is still an open question". He was also a passionate supporter of public radio . In the early 1990s, he founded the lobby group The New Zealand Friends of Public Broadcasting in response to proposals to devolve New Zealand's two non-commercial public radio stations. In 1995 he
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#17327908003922860-489: Was originally designed by Melbourne architects Grainger & D'Ebro to house not only the art gallery but also the City Council offices, lecture theatre and public library. It is constructed of brick and plaster in an early French Renaissance style and was completed in 1887, with an extension built in 1916. It is three storeys high, with an attic in the steep pitched roofs, and a six-storey clock tower. The building
2915-534: Was particularly impressed by large scale works by Richard Diebenkorn and Jackson Pollock and also saw Picasso's large-scale painting Guernica . On his return to New Zealand in July, McCahon at first found the close damp bush surrounding the family home in Titirangi to be oppressive but he then began to work outside on the deck of the house. Here he painted a very large work on long strips of canvas inspired by
2970-507: Was privately bought by local businessman George Wooler and anonymously donated to the Gallery. In 1981 Rodney Wilson was appointed as the Auckland Art Gallery's first New Zealand-born director and, still in 2024 the only New Zealander to hold the position. By the end of his directorship in 1988 the size of the Auckland Art Gallery had doubled and become the venue for a number of blockbuster exhibitions most notably Monet: Painter of Light in 1985 (see exhibition list below). Wilson also headed
3025-738: Was registered as a Category I heritage item by Heritage New Zealand on 24 November 1983, listed with registration number 92. The new building eventually proved too small to house all the Council departments, and overflow space in the Customs House in Customs Street was found to be necessary. Following the completion of the Auckland Town Hall in 1911 all Council departments left the Gallery building, allowing expansion of Gallery facilities, including extra workshop space for art classes. Several artists maintained studio space in
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