It's time for a new divider in our Art History folder ready for our final topic: Modern New Zealand Art.
You'll all have a write on workbook for this term, but of course there will be hand outs too, so keep the hole punch at the ready Harriet.
This term, the blog posts will represent each section of the topic, therefore no weekly posts but instead, summaries of the work for each section.
I hope this will work for you, we can review the process as we go - let me know.
This post is a prelude to the topic - background research for CSI investigations.
What do we need to know before we get onto the exciting stuff?
Well, before the 1930s in New Zealand, artists were stuck in a 19th century rut.
Landscape was the favourite subject here in 'Godzone'. Based on the British style, it was perfect to record and idealise picturesque views to send back to the Mother Country, England.
Artists such as Goldie (not the Rapper!) and Lindauer (not the wine, Brooke) recorded the lifestyle and faces of significant Maori people, but their work was still designed for European tastes and illustrated Maori Chiefs as 'noble savages'.
European culture was seen as superior to Maori and no effort was made to recognise or celebrate the rich visual traditions of the indigenous people.
Painters were hanging onto traditional ways of working and had no real knowledge of the exciting world of Cubism, Abstraction and Expressionism which was all the rage in Europe.
Finally, during the 1930s and 40s NZ art critics began to demand greater attention to local issues and pictures about honest, rural life.
Of course, another factor was World War II, making this tiny country more nationalistic and patriotic. Thus, NZ Regionalism in art was born.
Our attention will be focussed on the following artists:
Rita Angus - her painting 'Cass' 1936, was voted NZs favourite in 2006
Colin McCahon - he's the one to watch. Also take note of the fabulously exciting book by Charles Cotton, "Geomorphology of New Zealand". Colin McCahon, and his wife, received this as a wedding present, (better than a toaster I guess), and it changed the way McCahon was to observe and depict the land.
All these artists, along with Toss Woollaston develop their own individual characteristics but collectively, they represent a breath of fresh air to NZ art - Regionalism. Depictions of Isolation and Loneliness and most importantly, freedom from British traditions.
Extra information for your big brains.......
Also worth noting and 'Excellence' material information in a Context question, is the impact and influence of William Saunderson La Trobe.
In 1922, he began a scheme to encourage art teachers from England - not more of Mrs Gray I hear you groan- but wait, there's more....
La Trobe Scheme aimed to improve the cultural significance of NZ art, (of course, completely ignoring the traditions of Maori cultural history!).
The teachers he wooed to NZ fair shores brought new and exciting ideas like
Post Impressionism, the influence of Cezanne, Gauguin and plenty of expressive brushwork and dazzling colour.
The two key imports were: firstly Robert Nettleton Field and later on Christopher Perkins. Their work encouraged young artists to find their own methods of expressing what exactly made a NZ landscape - the use of local subject matter with symbolic meanings.
They also taught modern ideas of flattened space, strong outlines and simplified forms.
Both Toss Woollaston and Colin McCahon were profoundly changed as artists because of the La Trobe Scheme and in turn, their work has deeply impacted on the NZ artists we will be considering this term.
So there you go, a little extra gem of knowledge to use, when the going gets tough in a NZ art Context question.
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