Entry is free.
The Gallery is open daily 10.30am - 4.30pm.
Exhibitions in our two gallery spaces change three or four times a year and feature artworks on loan and from our collection.
The portraits in this exhibition were all created by the Christchurch-based artists known as The Group, in the middle decades of last century.
Image: Caroline Oliver, 1940, Leo Bensemann, Private Collection
An exploration of the role portraits play in family history through 17th and 18th century paintings from the Rokeby collection.
Image: Unknown artist, Untitled (Lady with a Pointer Dog) oil on canvas, private collection
Shannon Novak uses the language of geometric abstraction and colour to create portraits of people who have inspired and influenced him - his mentors, heroes and family members – from Swiss-German artist Paul Klee, to leading scholar of Maori art, Jonathan Mane-Wheoki. A synesthete, the portraits in Leitmotif reflect the relationship between sound, colour, form, time, space and social connections, while questioning our preconceptions of a ‘likeness’ within portraiture.
The title, Leitmotif refers to a short piece of music used to introduce a character, place or idea to the audience. Interacting with each other through the course of say, an opera, these leitmotifs reveal the presence of a particular person – in the same way Novak’s portraits can be seen to introduce us to the aura or energies of each individual.
This exhibition has been in development since 2012, and we are excited to share with you Novak’s unique perspective on portraiture.
Exhibition Information:
Listen: The accompanying music for the portrait Jonathan Mane-Wheoki can be listened to and downloaded free here.
Read: Art on the synesthetic spectrum, Richard E. Cytowic, M.D., MFA. Written to accompany Leitmotif and provides an explaination on Synesthesia and how it manifests in Novaks work.
Download: Instructions for the augmented reality portrait Roy de Maistre can be downloaded here.
In 2014 Melvin Day generously donated nine self-portraits to the New Zealand Portrait Gallery. Spanning fifty years of his work, these previously unseen self-portraits reflect Day’s shift in style from his early cubist works to his fauvist period and then to his later more realistic work.
Day was at the forefront of developments in abstraction and cubism during the 1940s and 1950s and it was during this time that he painted seven small, intense self-portraits. Rather solemn and introspective, these works are very personal explorations of the self.
Day painted two more self-portraits before he died in 2015. Self-Portrait after Stroke, painted in 2009 after Day had suffered a stroke, can perhaps be seen as a poignant meditation on mortality.
Melvin (Pat) Day 1923 - 2016
This exhibition showcases self –portraits from the New Zealand Portrait Gallery’s permanent collection. A self-portrait is the artist depicting him or herself. The classic self-portrait pose, the artist at work with paint brush in hand can be seen in the paintings by Beverley Shore-Bennett and Susan Wilson. However, artists also capture themselves to highlight a moment in time. Nick Cuthell’s self-portrait depicts himself and his arrival in London while John Badcock’s Self-Portrait 6-2-11 was painted in one day on a whim.
Artists often place clues to their personalities within the depictions of themselves and Nigel Brown’s Self-Portrait with Hat is a perfect example of this as he surrounds himself with a number of objects.
A self-portrait is the ultimate study of one’s self, and the intense concentration of capturing the depiction is often captured within the image but the viewer can be left wondering if the artist is looking at themselves or the viewer.
The biennial Adam Portraiture Award is New Zealand’s premier portrait prize.
Image:Sisters (André Brönnimann)
The New Zealand Portrait Gallery is a non-profit, public gallery that aims to provide a perspective on New Zealanders and our place in the world. We see the gallery as a place for exploring identity and understanding who we are.
This is a small selection of the Portrait Gallery’s new portrait acquisitions from 2015. The Gallery acquires work through various means, primarily gifted or sponsored portraits.
We are always looking to expand our collection of portraits. A gift of a portrait to the New Zealand Portrait Gallery helps to build and develop a representative collection of portraits of people who have contributed to the development of our nation, or who represent our culture in some interesting or important respect, created by artists of distinction. Donors who wish to give a portrait should approach the Registrar for further information. Our collection is growing as portraits are donated and sponsored.
