Art of New Zealand
Encyclopedia
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
or by New Zealanders
New Zealanders
New Zealanders, colloquially known as Kiwis, are citizens of New Zealand. New Zealand is a multiethnic society, and home to people of many different national origins...
. It includes traditional Māori art, which was developed in New Zealand from Polynesia
Polynesia
Polynesia is a subregion of Oceania, made up of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are termed Polynesians and they share many similar traits including language, culture and beliefs...
n art forms, and more recent forms which take their inspiration from Māori, European and other traditions.
Prehistoric art
Kaikoura
Kaikoura is a town on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is located on State Highway 1 180 km north of Christchurch.Kaikoura became the first local authority to reach the Green Globe tourism certification standard....
to North Otago
North Otago
The district of North Otago in New Zealand covers the area of Otago between Shag Point and the Waitaki River, and extends inland to the west as far as the village of Omarama . The large east-coast town of Oamaru serves as North Otago's main centre...
. The drawings are estimated to be between 500 and 800 years old, and portray animals, people and fantastic creatures, possibly stylised reptiles. Some of the birds pictured are long extinct, including moa
Moa
The moa were eleven species of flightless birds endemic to New Zealand. The two largest species, Dinornis robustus and Dinornis novaezelandiae, reached about in height with neck outstretched, and weighed about ....
and Haast's eagle
Haast's Eagle
Haast's Eagle was a species of massive eagles that once lived on the South Island of New Zealand. The species was the largest eagle known to have existed. Its prey consisted mainly of gigantic flightless birds that were unable to defend themselves from the striking force and speed of these eagles,...
s. They were drawn by early Māori, but by the time Europeans arrived, local inhabitants did not know the origins of the drawings.
Traditional Māori art
Ta moko
Tā moko is the permanent body and face marking by Māori, the indigenous people of New Zealand. Traditionally it is distinct from tattoo and tatau in that the skin was carved by rather than punctured...
), weaving and painting. It was rare for any of these to be purely decorative; traditional Māori art was highly spiritual and in a pre-literate society conveyed information about spiritual matters, ancestry, and other culturally important topics. The creation of art was governed by the rules of tapu
Tapu
Tapu, tabu or kapu is a Polynesian traditional concept denoting something holy or sacred, with "spiritual restriction" or "implied prohibition"; it involves rules and prohibitions...
. Styles varied from region to region: the style now sometimes seen as 'typical' in fact originates from Te Arawa
Te Arawa
Te Arawa is a confederation of Māori iwi and hapu based in the Rotorua and Bay of Plenty areas of New Zealand, with a population of around 40,000.The history of the Te Arawa people is inextricably linked to the Arawa canoe...
, who maintained a strong continuity in their artistic traditions thanks partly to early engagement with the tourist industry. Most traditional Māori art was highly stylised and featured motifs such as the spiral, the chevron and the koru
Koru
The koru is a spiral shape based on the shape of a new unfurling silver fern frond and symbolizing new life, growth, strength and peace. It is an integral symbol in Māori art, carving and tattoos...
. The colours black, white and red dominated.
Carving
Carving was done in three media: wood, bone, and stone. Arguably ta moko was another form of carving. Wood carvings were used to decorate houses, fencepoles, containers, taiahaTaiaha
A Taiaha is a traditional weapon of the Māori of New Zealand.It is a wooden, or sometimes whale bone, close quarters, staff weapon used for short sharp strikes or stabbing thrusts with quick footwork on the part of the wielder. Taiaha are usually between in length...
and other objects. The most popular type of stone used in carving was pounamu (greenstone), a form of jade
Jade
Jade is an ornamental stone.The term jade is applied to two different metamorphic rocks that are made up of different silicate minerals:...
, but other kinds were also used, especially in the North Island
North Island
The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...
, where pounamu was not widely available. Both stone and bone were used to create jewelry such as the hei-tiki
Hei-tiki
The hei-tiki is an ornamental pendant of the Māori which is worn around the neck. Hei-tiki are usually made of pounamu which is greenstone, and are considered a taonga . They are commonly referred to as tiki, a term that actually refers to large human figures carved in wood, and, also, the small...
. Large scale stone face carvings were also sometimes created. The introduction of metal tools by Europeans allowed more intricacy and delicacy, and caused stone and bone fish hooks and other tools to become purely decorative. Carving is traditionally a tapu activity performed by men only.
Ta moko
Ta moko is the art of traditional Māori tattooing, done with a chisel. Men were tattooed on many parts of their bodies, including faces, buttocks and thighs. Women were usually tattooed only on the lips and chin. Moko conveyed a person's ancestry. The art declined in the 19th century following the introduction of Christianity, but in recent decades has undergone a revival. Although modern moko are in traditional styles, most are carried out using modern equipment. Body parts such as the arms, legs and back are popular locations for modern moko, although some are still on the face.Weaving
Weaving was used to create numerous things, including wall panels in meeting houses and other important buildings, as well as clothing and bags (keteKete
Kete can refer to:* afro-carib drums* a minor Kazakh Jüz "horde", numbering ca. 50-60,000* USS Kete * Kete, Pembrokeshire 51.69° N 05.18° W* Māori bags* Cocaine paste, a Peruanian slang name...
). While many of these were purely functional, others were true works of art taking hundreds of hours to complete, and often given as gifts to important people. Cloaks in particular could be decorated with feathers and were the mark of an important chief. In pre-European times the main medium for weaving was flax, but following the arrival of Europeans cotton, wool and other textiles were also used, especially in clothing. The extinction and endangerment of many New Zealand birds has made the feather cloak a more difficult item to produce. Weaving was primarily done by women.
Painting
Although the oldest forms of Māori art are rock paintings, in 'classical' Māori art, painting was not an important art form. It was mainly used as a minor decoration in meeting houses, in stylised forms such as the koruKoru
The koru is a spiral shape based on the shape of a new unfurling silver fern frond and symbolizing new life, growth, strength and peace. It is an integral symbol in Māori art, carving and tattoos...
. Europeans introduced Māori to their more figurative
Figurative art
Figurative art, sometimes written as figurativism, describes artwork—particularly paintings and sculptures—which are clearly derived from real object sources, and are therefore by definition representational.-Definition:...
style of art, and in the 19th century less stylised depictions of people and plants began to appear on the walls of meeting houses in place of traditional carvings and woven panels. The introduction of European paints also allowed traditional painting to flourish, as brighter and more distinct colours could be produced.
Explorer art
Abel Tasman
Abel Janszoon Tasman was a Dutch seafarer, explorer, and merchant, best known for his voyages of 1642 and 1644 in the service of the VOC . His was the first known European expedition to reach the islands of Van Diemen's Land and New Zealand and to sight the Fiji islands...
's expedition of 1642.
Sydney Parkinson
Sydney Parkinson was a Scottish Quaker, botanical illustrator and natural history artist.Parkinson was employed by Joseph Banks to travel with him on James Cook's first voyage to the Pacific in 1768. Parkinson made nearly a thousand drawings of plants and animals collected by Banks and Daniel...
of Captain James Cook
James Cook
Captain James Cook, FRS, RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer who ultimately rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy...
's ship Endeavour
HM Bark Endeavour
HMS Endeavour, also known as HM Bark Endeavour, was a British Royal Navy research vessel commanded by Lieutenant James Cook on his first voyage of discovery, to Australia and New Zealand from 1769 to 1771....
produced the first realistic depictions of Māori people, New Zealand landscapes, and indigenous flora and fauna in 1769. William Hodges
William Hodges
William Hodges RA was an English painter. He was a member of James Cook's second voyage to the Pacific Ocean, and is best known for the sketches and paintings of locations he visited on that voyage, including Table Bay, Tahiti, Easter Island, and the Antarctic.Hodges was born in London. He was a...
was the artist on HMS Resolution in 1773, and John Webber
John Webber
John Webber was an English artist best known for his images of early Alaska and Hawaii.Webber was born on 6 October 1751 in London, educated in Switzerland and studied painting at Paris....
on HMS Resolution in 1777. Their works captured the imagination of Europeans and were an influence in the 19th century movement of art towards naturalism.
Cook's artists' paintings and descriptions of moko
Ta moko
Tā moko is the permanent body and face marking by Māori, the indigenous people of New Zealand. Traditionally it is distinct from tattoo and tatau in that the skin was carved by rather than punctured...
sparked an interest in the subject in Europe, and led to the tattoo
Tattoo
A tattoo is made by inserting indelible ink into the dermis layer of the skin to change the pigment. Tattoos on humans are a type of body modification, and tattoos on other animals are most commonly used for identification purposes...
becoming a tradition of the British Navy.
Nineteenth century Pākehā art
Early 19th century artists were for the most part visitors to New Zealand rather than residents. Some, such as James Barry, who painted the Ngare Raumati chief Rua in 1818 and Thomas KendallThomas Kendall
Thomas Kendall was a New Zealand lapsed missionary, recorder of the Māori language, schoolmaster, arms dealer, and Pākehā Māori.-Early life: Lincolnshire and London, 1778-1813:...
with the chiefs Hongi Hika
Hongi Hika
Hongi Hika was a New Zealand Māori rangatira and war leader of the Ngāpuhi iwi . Hongi Hika used European weapons to overrun much of northern New Zealand in the first of the Musket Wars...
and Waikato in 1820, did not visit New Zealand at all but painted his subjects when they visited Britain.
Landscape art
Landscape art
Landscape art is a term that covers the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, and especially art where the main subject is a wide view, with its elements arranged into a coherent composition. In other works landscape backgrounds for figures can still...
was popular amongst early colonisers, with prints used to promote settlement in New Zealand. Notable landscape artists included Augustus Earle
Augustus Earle
Augustus Earle was a London-born travel artist. Unlike earlier artists who worked outside Europe and were employed on voyages of exploration or worked abroad for wealthy, often aristocratic patrons, Earle was able to operate quite independently - able to combine his lust for travel with an...
, who visited New Zealand in 1827-28, and William Fox
William Fox (New Zealand)
Sir William Fox, KCMG was the second Premier of New Zealand on four occasions in the 19th century, while New Zealand was still a colony. He was known for his eventual support of Māori land rights, his contributions to the education system , and his work to increase New Zealand's autonomy from...
, who later became Premier. As colonisation developed a small but derivative art scene began based mostly on landscapes. However the most successful artists of this period, Charles Goldie and Gottfried Lindauer
Gottfried Lindauer
Gottfried Lindauer, also known as Gottfried or Bohumir Lindaur was a New Zealand artist of Czech descent famous for his portraits. Many prominent Māori chiefs commissioned his work, which accurately records their facial tattoos, clothing, ornaments and weapons. The other artist known for these...
were noted primarily for their portraits of Māori. Most notable Pākehā
Pakeha
Pākehā is a Māori language word for New Zealanders who are "of European descent". They are mostly descended from British and to a lesser extent Irish settlers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, although some Pākehā have Dutch, Scandinavian, German, Yugoslav or other ancestry...
artists of their period worked in two dimensions; although there was some sculpture this was of limited notability.
Photography in New Zealand
Photography in New Zealand
New Zealand photography began in the mid-19th century when photographers first documented the country's natural beauty and people. Alfred Burton, of the Dunedin Burton Brothers, also travelled through many of the Pacific islands near New Zealand with the P&O Shipping line, in the early days of...
also began at this time and, like painting, initially concentrated mostly on landscape and Māori subjects.
Creation of a distinct New Zealand art
From the late 19th century, many PākehāPakeha
Pākehā is a Māori language word for New Zealanders who are "of European descent". They are mostly descended from British and to a lesser extent Irish settlers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, although some Pākehā have Dutch, Scandinavian, German, Yugoslav or other ancestry...
(white New Zealanders) attempted to create a distinctive New Zealand style of art. Many, such as Rita Angus
Rita Angus
Rita Angus was a New Zealand painter born in Hastings. Along with Colin McCahon and Toss Woollaston, she is credited as one of the leading figures in twentieth century New Zealand art...
, continued to work on landscapes, with attempts made to depict New Zealand's harsh light. Others appropriate Māori artistic styles; for example Gordon Walters
Gordon Walters
Gordon Frederick Walters was a Wellington-born artist and graphic designer who is significant to New Zealand culture due to his representation of New Zealand in hisModern Abstract artworks.- Education :...
created many paintings and prints based on the koru. New Zealand's most highly regarded 20th century artist was Colin McCahon
Colin McCahon
Colin John McCahon was a prominent New Zealand artist. During his life he also worked in art galleries and as a university lecturer...
, who attempted to use international styles such as cubism
Cubism
Cubism was a 20th century avant-garde art movement, pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture...
in New Zealand contexts. His paintings depicted such things as the Angel Gabriel
Angel Gabriel
Angel Gabriel may refer to:*The Archangel Gabriel*The Angel Gabriel , an English galleon that sank off Pemaquid, Maine...
in the New Zealand countryside. Later works such as the Urewera triptych engaged with the contemporary Māori protest movement
Maori protest movement
The Māori protest movement is a broad indigenous rights movement in New Zealand. While this movement has existed since Europeans first colonised New Zealand its modern form emerged in the early 1970s and has focused on issues such as the Treaty of Waitangi, Māori land rights, the Māori language and...
.
Māori cultural renaissance
From the early 20th century, politician Apirana NgataApirana Ngata
Sir Apirana Turupa Ngata was a prominent New Zealand politician and lawyer. He has often been described as the foremost Māori politician to have ever served in Parliament, and is also known for his work in promoting and protecting Māori culture and language.-Early life:One of 15 children, Ngata...
fostered a renewal of traditional Māori art forms, for example establishing a school of Māori arts in Rotorua
Rotorua
Rotorua is a city on the southern shores of the lake of the same name, in the Bay of Plenty region of the North Island of New Zealand. The city is the seat of the Rotorua District, a territorial authority encompassing the city and several other nearby towns...
.
Late Twentieth and early Twenty-First Centuries
The visual arts flourished in the later decades of the 20th century, with the increased cultural sophistication of many New Zealanders. Many Māori artists became highly successful blending elements of Māori culture with European modernism. Ralph HotereRalph Hotere
Hone Papita Raukura "Ralph" Hotere is a New Zealand artist of Māori descent . He was born in Mitimiti, Northland and He is widely regarded as one of New Zealand's most important living artists...
is New Zealand's highest selling living artist, but other such as Shane Cotton
Shane Cotton
]Shane Cotton is a major New Zealand painter. Born in Upper Hutt with Ngapuhi iwi affiliations, he studied at the Ilam School of Fine Arts in Christchurch, graduating in 1988. He then lectured at Massey University in Palmerston North....
and Michael Parekowhai
Michael Parekowhai
Michael Parekowhai is a New Zealand sculptor, of Nga Ariki, Ngati Whakarongo and European descent. He makes a broad range of work, across a range of media that intersects sculpture and photography...
are also very successful. Many contemporary Maori artists reference ancient myths and cultural practices in their work such as Derek Lardelli, Lisa Reihana, Sofia Minson
Sofia Minson
Sofia Minson is a contemporary New Zealand oil painter of Māori , Swedish, English and Irish descent. She was born in Auckland, New Zealand and spent her childhood living in Samoa, New Zealand, China and Sri Lanka due to her father's engineering project management work...
, Te Rongo Kirkwood
Te Rongo Kirkwood
Te Rongo Kirkwood is a Māori heritage artist from Auckland, New Zealand, known for her glass art, particularly in fused and slumped glass.Her works have won recognition in a range of competitions and exhibitions, including being selected as one of 33 finalists in the Australian Ranamok awards and...
, Robyn Kahukiwa, Aaron Kereopa, Rangi Kipa, John Miller
John Miller
-Politics:* John Miller , Governor of North Dakota, 1889–1891* John Miller , Governor of Missouri, 1826–1832; U.S. Representative from Missouri, 1837–1843...
, Kura Te Waru Rewiri
Kura Te Waru Rewiri
Kura Te Waru Rewiri is a Maori painter. She has exhibited extensively in New Zealand and internationally since 1985. She experiments with techniques such as colour and layering to convey thoughts on the current trends of the Maori culture, both politically and socially.-Symbolism:Kura uses symbols...
, Tracey Tawhiao, Roi Toia, Shane Hansen, John Bevan Ford, Jennifer Rendall, Todd Couper, Manos Nathan and David Teata.
Art organisations
Creative New ZealandCreative New Zealand
The Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa is the national arts development agency of the New Zealand government, investing in artists and arts organisations, offering capability building programmes and developing markets and audiences for New Zealand arts domestically and internationally...
is the national agency for the development of the arts in New Zealand.
The National Art Gallery of New Zealand was established in 1936 and amalgamated into the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is the national museum and art gallery of New Zealand, located in Wellington. It is branded and commonly known as Te Papa and Our Place; "Te Papa Tongarewa" is broadly translatable as "the place of treasures of this land".The museum's principles...
in 1992.
The Auckland Art Gallery
Auckland Art Gallery
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki is the principal public gallery in Auckland, New Zealand and has the most extensive collection of national and international art in New Zealand...
is New Zealand's largest art institution with a collection numbering over 15,000 works, including major holdings of New Zealand historic, modern and contemporary art, and outstanding works by Māori and Pacific Island artists.
Art schools
New Zealand has three university-based fine art schools: Elam School of Fine ArtsElam School of Fine Arts
The Elam School of Fine Arts, founded in 1890 by John Edward Elam is a part of Auckland University. Students study degrees in fine art with an emphasis on a multidisciplinary approach.-History:...
at the University of Auckland
University of Auckland
The University of Auckland is a university located in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest university in the country and the highest ranked in the 2011 QS World University Rankings, having been ranked worldwide...
was founded in 1890, the University of Canterbury
University of Canterbury
The University of Canterbury , New Zealand's second-oldest university, operates its main campus in the suburb of Ilam in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand...
school of fine arts founded in 1950 and Massey School of Fine Arts originally founded in 1885, but was not officially a university institution until 2000. There are also several other tertiary level
Higher education
Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
fine arts schools not affiliated to universities.