Modernism in New Zealand

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Modernism in New Zealand

Wednesday, 21 May 20146.30pm

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MODERNISM in New Zealand at the outset was defi ned by confl ict, displacement and quite literally a clash of cultures. World War II was the catalyst for modernist thinking and practice to take root in New Zealand and effect critical change. Swept up by the impending war, fl eeing the Nazi jackboot, or a desolated post war Europe, a hardy band of cultured refugees arrived in New Zealand from the late 1930s to the early 1950s – strangers in a strange land – and set about redefi ning the cultural landscape of New Zealand. Educated in Rotterdam, Vienna or Prague, familiar with ideas of the Bauhaus, New Objectivity, Surrealism and the latest thinking in architecture and design, this small group of infl uential émigré artists bought new ideas to

what was then a cultural backwater of the British Empire. Most importantly, they saw New Zealand with fresh eyes.

The infl uence Frank Carpay (1917–1985), Vlad Cacala (1926–2007), Frank Hofmann (1916–1989), Ernst Plischke (1903–1922), Theo Schoon (1915–1985), Rudolph Gopas (1913–1983) and many others spans architecture, design, photography, applied arts and art teaching. These emigres were in effect a cultural ginger group… a catalyst for what would become an iconic period of change and self-determination in the visual arts.

These artists hit the ground running, engaging with local artists and dazzling them with new concepts and arguments. At a distance of some seventy years the contemporary viewer marvels at how quickly these displaced

but determined individuals resumed their practice and made vital links with New Zealand artists eager to embrace the latest international thinking into their own practice. For every Theo Schoon there was a Gordon Walters: a young, enquiring artist; bursting with and receptive to new directions.

This catalogue also celebrates the role of signifi cant others – the collector and the dedicated supporter. Rodney Robertson’s collection of New Zealand modernism is a tribute to the eye of a singular collector. Likewise the Theo Schoon archive assembled, held and protected by William Vance stands as a testimony to those lone individuals who intercede to ensure our cultural heritage is not lost for future generations.

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Inside front cover: Frank Hofmann, Composition with Cactus, 1952 (detail), vintage gelatin silver print. Lot 274.

Inside back cover: A.R.D. Fairburn, Study of Maori Rock Drawings (detail), vintage screenprinted fabric mounted to board. Lot 251.“Strictly speaking New Zealand doesn’t

exist yet, though some possible New Zealands glimmer in some poems and in some canvases.

It remains to be created – should I say invented – by writers, musicians, artists,

architects, publishers.”

ALLEN CURNOWFIRST YEARBOOK OF THE ARTS

IN NEW ZEALAND, 1945

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ws700 art+object winter14 adCƒ.indd 1 1/05/14 9:02 PMAO722FA Cat78 text p-1-24.indd 4 6/05/14 1:02 PM

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Ralph Hotere Vidyapati’s Song

acrylic and dye on unstretched canvas, 1975

$257 950

Michael Illingworth Fertile Fig and Timepieces

oil on canvas, 1967 $137 765

Milan Mrkusich Painting II (Blue)

acrylic on canvas, 1972 $125 455

A new record price for the artist’s work at auction.

Important Paintings and Contemporary Art

Catalogue Highlights 3 April 2014


Colin McCahon Clouds No. 7

synthetic polymer paint on Steinbach, 1975

1095 x 730mm $263 810

Colin McCahon Black White Landscape

enamel on hardboard, 1959 675 x 440mm

$146 560

Allen Maddox Rhythm Grid

oil on canvas, 1976, 1630 x 2345mm

$64 485

A+O’s first major art catalogue of 2014 included the cutting edge collection of the Strip Club 2004 – 2014 and a superb selection of major works by Colin McCahon, one of which Black and White Landscape dating to 1959 could be described as a ‘lost’ work, being unrecorded on the www.mccahon.co.nz database. At auction it was one of six works which sold for in excess of $100 000. The overall sale resulted in one the highest clearance rates in the company’s history and the highest sale total for the 2014 New Zealand autumn auction season.

Prices realised include buyer’s premium.


Donald Melville Antiques

Closing Auction

After trading fi ne antiques at his Lake Road premises for the past 40 years Donald Melville has decided it is never too late to change. The auction will include numerous pieces of English and European furniture, copper, pewter, ceramics, stoneware and other items. This is the last opportunity to own a piece of this well-known dealer’s inventory.

Saturday 24 May at 2pmOnsite at 360 Lake Road, Takapuna.

Auction commences at 2.00pm.Viewing daily from May 20

Catalogue online from May 12


SHOWROOM31 Crummer Rd, Ponsonby

31 Crummer Road Ponsonby, Auckland, New Zealand Phone +64 9 360 4290 [email protected] www.katalog.co.nz


Contact:

Leigh MelvilleManager, [email protected] 354 4646021 406 678 (cell)

A+O’s second New Collectors catalogue of 2014 will feature the collection of former Ikon Gallery Director Don Wood. His collection includes signature prints by Gordon Walters, Pat Hanly, Colin McCahon, Don Binney, Philip Clairmont and many others.

Pat HanlyThe Kitescreenprint, 4/5title inscribed, signed and dated ‘71510 x 520mm$3000 – $5000

New Collectors Art25 June 2014Entries invited until 29 May


preparefor the best…

For tickets and further information visit:melbourneartfair.com.au

Wednesday 13 August Vernissage

Thursday 14 August Friday 15 August Saturday 16 August Sunday 17 August

The Melbourne Art Fair is presented by the Melbourne Art Foundation, a not for profit organisation supporting living artists and contemporary art.

6pm

11am11am10am10am

10pm

6pm8pm6pm5pm

-

----

Venue Partner Government Partners Official Hotel PartnerMajor Partners

MAF_Art+Object_ad_002.indd 1 02/05/2014 15:04


Chester Nealie Book Fundraising Auction

24 June 2014

A+O is pleased to present and host this important New Zealand ceramics event. Funds raised from this auction will go towards supporting the publication

of a high quality career monograph celebrating Chester’s 50 year career as a potter. Numerous

artists have contributed works including Graham Ambrose, Don Thornley, Bruce Martin, Anneke Borren, Stanley Palmer, Rick Rudd, Kate Newby

and Nigel Brown.

Chester Nealie Large Bottle

woodfired, salt glazed celadon signed and dated 2010

H.450mm $1500 – $3000

Ruth Butterworth Collection

24 June 2014

Ruth Butterworth is a former Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Auckland. Her collection, assembled over more than thirty years

reads like a survey of New Zealand studio ceramics including fine examples of the work of Len Castle, Warren Tippett, Bronwynne Cornish, Peter Alger and many of the leading practitioners of the period.

Complimentary entries are invited until May 29th.

Len Castle Blossom vase

jun glaze over tenmoku H. 530mm

$6000 – $8000



Contact:

James Parkinson [email protected]

09 354 4646 09 306 6193 (DDI) 021 509 550 (cell)

EX 23 ARCHIVE AUCTION

From 1985 to 1997 Wellington based leather goods design

label EX 23 supplied NZ and Australian fashion retailers with handmade leather belts and bags that defined street culture on both sides of the

Tasman. In June the designer’s final archive offered in as new condition will be available for

sale at ART+OBJECT.


a r c h i t e c t u r e t o l i f t t h e s p i r i t

w w w . b o s s l e y a r c h i t e c t s . c o . n z


Important Paintings and Contemporary Art

7 August 2014Entries invited until July 11th

Billy Apple Sold acrylic on canvas signed 2145 x 1525mm $55 000 - $75 000

Provenance: Collection of The Future Group, Auckland.

Illustrated: Francis Pound, Forty Modern New Zealand Paintings (Auckland, 1985), pl. 3.

Peter Siddell View towards Mt Eden from Vicinity of Belle Vue Rd acrylic on hardboard title inscribed, signed and dated 1978 verso 460 x 905mm $60 000 – $80 000

Provenance: Private collection, Auckland.


Contact:

Ben Plumbly Director, Art [email protected] 09 354 4646 021 222 8183 (cell)


Asian and Decorative Arts including Arts & Crafts

Ceramics from an Auckland Collection

September 2014Entries invited

Contact:

James ParkinsonDirector

[email protected] 354 4646

09 306 6193 (DDI)021 509 550 (cell)

Giulia RodighieroAsian Art Specialist

[email protected] 354 4646

A rare and important Emile Galle Scent bottle with enamel decoration

and sterling silver top with early Galle

signature $15 000 – $25 000


NZ and International Studio Ceramics

September 2014Entries invited

Contact:

James [email protected]

09 354 464609 306 6193 (DDI)021 509 550 (cell)

Lucy Rie coffee set Stone ware with manganese glaze,

sgraffi to banding to the exterior and white tin gazed interior Circa 1960

impressed LR seal mark$6000 – $8000



Modernism in New Zealand

Auction

Wednesday 21 May at 6.30pm 3 Abbey Street, Newton, Auckland

Preview

Thursday May 15 6.00 – 8.00pm

Viewing

Friday 16 May 9.00am – 5.00pm Saturday 17 May 11.00am – 4.00pm Sunday 18 May 11.00am – 4.00pm Monday 19 May 9.00am – 5.00pm Tuesday 20 May 9.00am – 5.00pm

Wednesday 21 May 9.00am – 2.00pm

Opposite: Guy Ngan, Blue Formation No 6. Lot 254.


The Rodney Robertson Collection of New Zealand design, studio ceramics and art

Lots 1–131 and 250 –262

RODNEY ROBERTSON is without doubt one of New Zealand’s most well known and regarded collectors. As the co-founder of New Zealand’s decorative arts destination Art and Industry Rodney has serviced a New Zealand and international clientele of afi cionados and collectors of the fi nest and rarest 20th century design and rarities. The collection in this catalogue refl ects Rodney’s interest in New Zealand, Maori and pan-Pacifi c modernism and was assembled over twenty fi ve years form sources as varied as auction house catalogues, private collections and spontaneous discoveries. The collection has been housed at his secluded coastal retreat. The 1950s bach itself presented as a veritable museum of New Zealand mid-century design and applied art

Rodney is regarded as an expert in the fi eld and has been invited on numerous occasions to lecture on New Zealand and international design at Universities, Museums and societies across New Zealand and abroad. Rodney’s keen eye and inexhaustible approach to research led to many of the ‘fi nds’ featured in this catalogue – some of which are amongst the rarest and most sought after examples by the leading lights of New Zealand modernist design.

Rodney’s collection is a prime example of the crucial role played by collectors in making connections and vital attributions of hitherto unknown or ‘lost’ works and providing guardianship for future generations of new collectors and enthusiasts.

CERAMICS

1. Juliet Peter stoneware rectangular platter decorated with Tiki hand forms. Incised initials and original label to the base. L. 520mm. Provenance: Martin Hill Collection.$300 – $400

2. Juliet PeterStoneware rectangular platter decorated with three koru forms. Incised initials to the base. L. 510mm$200 – $400

3. Ted DutchSmall Signaller fi gure, black stained porcelain with red, yellow and blue enamelled discs, signed.H. 110mm.$400 – $600

4. Ted DutchPrototype Signaller fi gure, black and colour markers on cardboard, signed. H. 125mm.This is the fi rst Signaller fi gure Ted Dutch ever made.$200 – $400

5. Ted DutchSignaller fi gure, black stained porcelain with red, blue and yellow highlights (damaged), signed.H. 230mm$400 – $600

6. Ted DutchSmall Signaller fi gure, black stained porcelain with red, yellow and blue enamelled discs, signed.H. 95mm$300 – $500

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7. Ted DutchMassive Signaller column, with applied Signaller fi gures around the central rectangular plinth, with red, yellow and blue enamelled discs and highlights (minor chips). H. 340mm$1000 – $2000

8. Ted DutchBlack oxide glazed ceramic tile with two applied Signaller fi gures and red, blue and yellow enamelled highlights, signed. 155 x 155mm$700 – $1000

9. Ted DutchRed glazed ceramic tile with applied Signaller fi gure and yellow and blue enamelled highlights, signed. 155 x 155mm$700 – $1000

10. Ted DutchCeramic tile with applied Signaller fi gure and control tower, red, yellow and blue enamelled highlights, signed. 155 x 155mm$600 – $800

11. Ted DutchLarge stoneware monochrome Signaller fi gure, signed. H. 265mm$800 – $1200

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12. New Zealand Railway Crown Lynn tea cup and saucer, both stamped with Crown and N.Z.R. $100 – $200






18. Rick Rudd Bottle, 1989 Pinched and coiled, raku fired with white crackle glaze to the interior. Exhibited: Rick Rudd True to Form, Sarjeant Gallery, Whanganui, 1996. Illustrated on page 16 of the catalogue. H.357 x 250 x 235mm $1000 – $2000

19. Roy Cowan Large rectangular platter with stylised plant and koru design. Incised initials to the base. W. 440mm $300 – $500

20. Elisabeth Lissaman Small dish with a wax resist leaf design. D.110mm $30 – $50

21. Roy Cowan Tall ovoid stoneware vase with blue salt glaze and incised geometric decoration. Incised initials to the base.H.480mm $800 – $1200

22. Roy Cowan Large ovoid vase with blue and green salt glaze with incised geometric decoration. Complete with original cork lid. Incised initials to the base. H.380mm $600 – $800

23. Roy Cowan Large ovoid vase decorated with geometric and sun motifs in blue and brown salt glaze on a pale blue ground. Incised initials. H.350mm $500 – $800

24. Juliet Peter Ovoid stoneware vase with blue and green salt glaze, decorated with incised geometric rondel and sun forms in a checker pattern. Incised initials to the base H.300mm Provenance: Martin Hill collection $300 – $500

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25. Warren Tippet Large and impressive lidded stoneware jug with applied scroll handle, tenmoku over ash glaze with a wax resist stylised leaf design. Impressed potter’s cipher to the base. H.420mm $800 – $1400

26. Muriel Moody Three stoneware salt glazed stylised doves raised on a wooden plinth. 280 x260mm $800 – $1200

27. Len Castle Stoneware ovoid vase with ash glaze with pieced stoneware lugs with rope binding. Impressed initials to the base. H.290mm $400 – $800

28. Pat Perrin Stoneware onion pot, with poured glaze to the surface, original cork stopper pierced at the shoulders for suspension and with original rope attached. H.300mm $300 – $500

29. Wi Taepa An impressive ovoid stoneware vase cut away and reducing to the foot ring. Decorated with a wheku head with protruding tongue in high relief. H.280mm $1000 – $1500

30. Wi Taepa Stoneware vase of gourd type from with deeply incised koru and geometric decoration. H.300mm $500 – $1000

31. Manos Nathan Ipu Waiora Vessel in black terra sigillata, hand built carved and burnished earthenware decorated with a manaia head in side profile. L.410mm $1500 – $2500

32. Anneke Borren and Owen Mapp Lidded stoneware vase, made in the form of a bamboo stalk with three blackened bamboo handles, wax resit geometric decoration in black on a charcoal ground. Original label affixed to the base. H.400mm $400 – 4800

33. Anneke Borren and Owen Mapp Stoneware lidded bowl with wax resist stylised floral decoration on a charcoal ground. The lid with three blackened bamboo handles. H.340mm $400 – $800

34. Anneke Borren and Owen Mapp Stoneware lidded bowl with wax resist geometric decoration in black on a charcoal ground. The turned kauri lid inlaid with a decorative bronze rondel with koru and scroll designs. Original label affixed to the base. H.160mm $350 – $500

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35. Leo King ‘Aura’ spherical slip cast orb with black glaze with a flattened white glazed upper surface decorated with radiating bands. Original Leo King label affixed to the base. D.250mm $400 – $600

36. Leo King ‘Aura’ slip cast flattened spherical bowl with black glazed exterior, the interior with white glaze and decorated with radiating bands. Signed to the base. D.300mm $400 – $600

37. Leo King Spherical slip cast orb with black glazed exterior, the hollowed interior with grey and white glaze. D.230mm $350 – $500

38. Leo King Spherical slip cast orb with black glazed exterior the flattened top section glazed in bands of pale brown and white. D.170mm $300 – $500

39. David Brokenshire Two large ovoid floor vases, each with umber pigmented textured surface pierced with small circular apertures to the upper section. Impressed mark to each $800 – $1200

40. David Brokenshire Stoneware tapering cylindrical vase, textured brown glaze with multiple piercings. Potter’s cypher mark to the base. H.430mm $400 – $600

41. Pat Perrin An impressive floor vase with textured surface, hollowed open aperture to the centre. H.640mm $800 – $1200

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42. Doreen Blumhardt Rare stoneware table with tenmoku glazed top, the umber pigmented base made in the manner of Korean Shilla pottery with multiple piercings. H.400mm x D.340mm Provenance: Doreen Blumhardt Collection. Sold at Dunbar Sloane Wellington, July 2010 $400 – $800

43. Doreen Blumhardt Rare stoneware table with tenmoku glazed top, the umber pigmented base made in the manner of Korean Shilla pottery with multiple piercings. H.400mm x D.340mm Provenance: Doreen Blumhardt Collection. Sold at Dunbar Sloane Wellington July 2010. $400 – $800

44. Doreen Blumhardt Rare hanging light with conical top numerous hanging discs with inlaid glass glazed turquoise panels. H.700mm Provenance: Doreen Blumhardt Collection. Sold at Dunbar Sloane Wellington July 2010. $500 – $800

45. Doreen Blumhardt Pair of rare coral series stoneware outdoor tables Provenance: Doreen Blumhardt Collection. Sold at Dunbar Sloane Wellington 2010. $1000 – $1500

46. Rick Rudd Bottle, pinched and coiled clay raku, fired. H.370mm $300 – $500

47. Rick Rudd Pod vase, pinched and coiled clay, raku fired. H.220mm $100 – $200

48. Rick Rudd Large impressive spiral vase, pinched and coiled clay, raku fired. H.480mm $800 – $1200

49. Paul Maseyk Lyall Drinkwater, Transgender vase 2 Wood fired terracotta. Title inscribed. H.580mm $500 – $1000

50. Tony Fomison Rare terracotta hanging form made as a stylised wheku head surmounted by a portrait bust. Pierced for suspension. Made at Driving Creek railway, circa 1985. Minor restoration. $1500 – $3000

51. Simon Engelhard Stoneware pedestal bowl decorated with a fish design. Signed with initials to the base. D.200mm $200 – $400

52. Simon Engelhard Stoneware dish painted with a stylised tree design, small hairline crack. H.140mm $50 – $100

53. Frank Carpay for Crown Lynn Ferris Wheel. Six hand decorated earthenware dishes on wire framework Provenance: Douglas Lloyd Jenkins collection, Art and Object March 2011 Exhibited: Auckland City Art Gallery 1950’s show (1991); Western Lights: Art and design In West Auckland 1945-1980 (1994); Hawkes Bay Museum Frank Carpay Crown Lynn and beyond (2002) $2500 – $5000

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54. Crown Lynn Biscuit blank vase of cylindrical form, thrown by Ernest Shufflebotham with painted banded decoration by Royal Oak potteries. Incised number 46. H.180mm $200 – $400





59. Dorothy Thorpe Rare collection of twelve wine glasses and four tumblers, hand decorated in sterling silver on crystal $300 – $600

60. Dorothy Thorpe Milk jug and sugar basin on a tray, hand decorated in sterling silver on crystal $100 – $200

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70. Jose Bribiesca Rare Chess Set. 32 pieces in chromed steel with coloured and inset Perspex on glass chessboard. Individual pieces of variable dimensions, height of tallest 73mm; chessboard measures 405 x 405mm $1500 – $2500

SCuLPTuRE

71. John Middleditch (attributed) Carved kauri Maori modernist tekoteko figure raised from a naturalistic base. H. 1700mm For a similar smaller stylised female figure by John Middleditch see Group Architects by Julia Gatley, p.134 $1500 – $3000

72. A composite standing mania figure. H.500mm $200 – $400

73. Peter Sauerbier Aotearoa Bronze Tiki figure, modelled holding standing holding a patu. H.600mm $1000 – $2000

74. Edgar Mansfield Animism Sculpture in bronze issuing from a green marble and ebonised wood base. H.560mm $1000 – $2000

75. Edgar Mansfield Animism Sculpture in bronze issuing from a cast composite base H.680mm $800 – $1500

76. Theo Jansen untitled abstract figural form Nine ceramic tiles mounted on board. 460 x 460mm $500 – $1000

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61. Levi Borgstrom Carved wood spoon, original label affixed to the base $200 – $300

62. Richard Cadness Pair of stoneware bottle vases with tenmoku glaze. Impressed initials to the base of each. H.420mm $400 – $600

62A. Richard Cadness Two stone ware bottle vases. Impressed initials to the base of each. H.420mm $400 – $600

63. Elizabeth Fraser Five 1970s turned wood boxes, each with cloisonné enamel top $200 – $400

64. Seventy four volumes of NZ Potter $500 – $1000

65. John Crichton (attributed) Trivet stand of fish form, blackened metal with cane handle $100 – $200

66. Ruth Castle Onion basket, dye and natural cane. H. 450mm $80 – $120

67. New Zealand 1950’s kauri bowl together with a leaf shaped dish. $100 – $200

68. Four Delware and Ceraware copper backed enamel dishes with Maori cave art designs after Theo Schoon $80 – $120

69. Four Ceraware copper backed enamel dishes with Maori cave art designs $80 – $120

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FuRNITuRE AND RELATED ITEMS

77. A rare New Zealand 1940 Centennial Exhibition oversize coffer. The front carved with the Centennial insignia to the centre and haehae and pataki notching framed by four tiki figures with paua shell eyes, the front carved with a pare form with tiki and manaia, the sides with wheku head handles and further haehae and pataki notching raised on four block legs carved with manaia in low relief. W. 1000mm $1500 – $2500

78. New Zealand 1950’s oak telephone table with slat seat raised on triangulated tapering legs. $200 – $400

79. Bob Roukema for Jon Jansen Wingback lounge chair raised on a four point base with tapering cylindrical legs, and later Sanderson floral upholstery $2500 – $4000

80. Bob Roukema for Jon Jansen Wingback lounge chair raised on a four point base with tapering cylindrical legs, and blue velour upholstery $2500 – $4000

81. Garth Chester Curvesse bent plywood chair, rare original prototype model without feet $4000 – $6000

82. 1950’s side table with blue laminate top $100 – $200

83. Ces Renwick for Airest Bahama lounge chair and matching ottoman. Made circa 1955 $1000 – $2000

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84. John Crichton Standard lamp, red painted tubular metal with adjustable shade. H. 1310mm $250 – $500

85. Jon Jansen Rare standard lamp with blackened tubular steel three legged base with wooden ball feet, the original raffia shade supported on a tapering cylindrical wooden support. H. 1640mm $500 – $1000

86. John Crichton Pair of cane Java chairs with blackened tubular steel legs on original nylon glides. D. 630mm $300 – $500

87. Jon Jansen Table lamp with three tubular blackened steel legs with wooden ball feet and original tapa shade raised on a tapering oak support. H. 540mm $400 – $800

88. John Crichton Side table blackened tubular steel three legged base with a triangulated top with crackle paint finish. $300 – $500

89. John Crichton Side table blackened tubular steel three legged base with a triangulated top with crackle paint finish. $300 – $500

90. John Crichton [attributed] Plant stand, the plaster planter housed in a woven cane surround with blackened wrought iron three legged support. H. 410mm $100 – $200

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99. John Crichton A rare circular side table with mosaic tiled top, raised on a tubular metal support and four splayed legs. D.600mm $2000 – $3000

100. John Crichton Rare counter poised side lamp, anodised aluminium with brass legs and ball feet. This lamp is made in the manner of early 1950s table lamps made by the important Swiss born architect Otto Kolb. $400 – $800

101. John Crichton (attributed) Pair of wall lights in red and blue aluminium with saucer form shades. Made in the manner of wall lights made by the Italian designer Gino Safatti $200 – $400

102. Tattersfield Maori Legend all wool rug decorated with a tukutuku panel design. L.1360mm $300 – $500

103. New Zealand 1950’s coffee table of rectangular shape with white tiled mosaic shelf and glass top, raised on four blackened metal legs. L. 1150mm $400 – $800

104. John Crichton Rare 1950s uplighter lamp with spun red anodised aluminium shade held on three aluminium rods Provenance: Previously in the Mike Zero collection. H.1710mm $400 – $800

105. Rare 1950s uplighter lamp with spun gold anodised aluminium shade held on three aluminium rods Provenance: Previously in the Mike Zero collection. H.1790mm $400 – $800

91. New Zealand made 1950’s oak sideboard with a single drawer above a cupboard flanked by cupboards with metal rondel handles raised on blackened tubular steel legs. L. 1400mm $600 – $1200

92. David Trubridge Body Raft 1998, steam bent wych elm with pegged joints. This rare variant of the Body Raft is one of only two known examples. 2100 x 780 x 620mm $6000 – $8000

93. John Crichton Turned kauri bowl original label affixed to the base “designed by John Crichton interior designer”. D. 200mm $100 – $200

94. John Crichton Rare turned kauri pestle and mortar original label affixed to the base (repaired). D. 180mm $100 – $200

95. John Crichton Turned teak salad bowl original label affixed to the base. D. 340mm $200 – $400

96. John Crichton Turned kauri salad bowl. D. 390mm $150 – $250

97. John Crichton Turned kauri salad bowl. D. 300mm $100 – $200

98. John Crichton A large and impressive tiled mosaic wall charger in brown, apricot, ecru, aqua, white and blue tiles. D. 560mm $2000 – $4000

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95

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116. Theo Jansen Bronze horseman sculpture. H.600mm $600 – $1200

117. Theo Jansen untitled abstract stone and marble sculpture. Artist label affixed to the base. H.230mm $100 – $200

RuGS AND TExTILES

118. Georgia Suiter Sea and Sky 1976 Wall hanging in wool wrapped rods in in blue, green and brown. 1260 x 1330mm. An almost identical example illustrated on the cover of Craft New Zealand. The Art of the Craftsman, Doreen Blumhardt and Brian Brake, 1981 $2000 – $4000

119. Georgia Suiter Hand woven floor rug in blue, brown and green wool. Signed on an original label attached to the underside. Provenance: Previously in the collection of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Wellington, orginal collection label attached to the underside. 1960 x 1060mm $350 – $600

110. 1950s standard lamp with tapa shade $100 – $200

111. 1970s four panel room divider screen $100 – $200

112. John Crichton Turned Kauri salad bowl. D.280mm $100 – $200

113. Ruth Castle Woven bowl, Phoenix palm tendrils and Palembang. D.200mm $150 – $300

114. Ruth Castle Hanging basket. H.180mm $50 – $100

115. Theo Jansen Te Wairua Po (The spirit of the night) Carved andesite stone. H.310mm $600 – $800

106. John Crichton Rare Java couch in woven cane Provenance: Previously in the Mike Zero collection $400 – $800

107. unusual 1950s glass top table raised on an aluminium bowl form support held on blackened tubular steel legs. Possibly by John Crichton Provenance: Mike Zero collection $150 – $250

108. New Zealand 1950s minimalist design rectangular pine desk raised on bent wrought iron blackened tubular legs together with a matching 1950s side chair. Provenance: Robertson House Glendowie. Group architect design. Illustrated in Home magazine $500 – $1000

109. Bob Roukema for Jon Jansen A rare dining table suite with solid mahogany quatrefoil top raised on splayed tapering cylindrical legs complete with six ergonomically designed chairs, the legs conforming with those of the table. This is the only known surviving example of this style of table and chairs $2500 – $4000

115

116

122

123 – 130

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120. Vivienne Mountfort Tree roots. Wool in various colours woven in relief on a ply disc. D.1200mm $500 – $1000

121. Jean Ngan Flat weave woollen rug No 1. Hand woven in blue and brown wool . Original label attached. 1610 x 910mm $350 – $600

122. Don Ramage Maori cave art design wool rug. Made in 1972 for the NZ wool commission, woven by Feltex carpets. 1740 x 950mm $1000 – $2000

123. Onehunga Mills Te Ariki woollen travel rug with a tukutuku panel design in green brown orange and white. Original Onehunga Woollen Mills label attached. 1680 x 1450mm $300 – $500

124. Onehunga Mills Te Ariki woollen travel rug with a tukutuku panel design in red black brown and white. Original Onehunga Woollen Mills label attached. 1720 x 1420mm $300 – $500

125. Roslyn Dunedin Textiles woollen manatunga (Maori for keepsake) woollen travel rug with a tukutuku panel design in red white yellow and black. Original label attached. 1660 x 1480mm $300 – $500

126. Onehunga Mills Te Ariki woollen travel rug with a Poutama (stairway to heaven) tukutuku panel design in green white brown and orange, small tear to fringe. Original Onehunga Woollen Mills label attached. 1500 x 1750mm $200 – $400

127. Onehunga Mills Te Ariki woollen travel rug with a tukutuku panel design in black red white orange and yellow. Original Onehunga Woollen Mills label attached. 1600 x 1490mm $300 – $500

128. Roslyn Dunedin Textiles woollen manatunga (Maori for keepsake) woollen travel rug with a tukutuku panel design in red white brown and black. Original label attached. 1460 x 1560mm $300 – $500

129. Onehunga Mills Te Ariki woollen travel rug with a Poutama (stairway to heaven) Tukutuku panel design in green brown orange and white. Original Onehunga Woollen Mills label attached. 1700 x 1480mm $300 – $500

130. Onehunga Mills Te Ariki woollen travel rug with a Tukutuku panel design in red black brown and white. Original Onehunga Woollen Mills label attached 1770 x 1470mm $300 – $500

130A. A pair of Tattersfield Maori Legend all wool rugs decorated with a kowhaiwhai and tukutuku panel pattern in black and salmon. L.1360mm $400 – $800

131. urshala Fenton Wilkes Woven tukutuku style panel in the Poutama (stairway to Heaven pattern) $150 – $300

120 118

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138 137 142

143 141145

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NZ POTTERy FROM OTHER VENDORS

132. Juliet Peter Three-piece stoneware teaset, comprising teapot, milk jug and sugar basin.Incised initials and original label to the bases. W. 200mm $150 – $300

133. Roy Cowan Stoneware platter painted with a sea creature, 1960s. Incised initials to the base. L. 450mm $200 – $300

134. Juliet Peter Set of five dishes with leaf design. D. 140mm $50 – $100

135. Paul Fisher Stoneware slab vase with tenmoku glaze, signed. H. 220mm $200 – $300

136. Roy Cowan Blue glazed stoneware dish. D. 220mm $80 – $120

137. Roy Cowan A large stoneware slab form garden pot the body pierced and incised. H. 920 x 620mm Provenance: Lorraine and Patrick Williams collection, Wellington $1500 – $2000

138. Roy Cowan and Juliet Peter A large stoneware floor vase painted in blue and green with abstract gestural decoration. H. 660mm Provenance: Lorraine and Patrick Williams collection, Wellington $500 – $800

139. Roy Cowan A large and impressive stoneware blue salt glazed floor vase incised with concentric bands and interweaving stylised koru forms. H. 820mm This impressive floor vase was held for many years in Roy Cowan and Juliet Peter’s personal collection. It was then passed onto Lorraine and Patrick Williams the proprietors of Williams Gallery in Wellington. Lorraine and Patrick represented Roy and Juliet in Wellington and had a long standing association and friendship with the potters $8000 – $12 000

140. Len Castle Large stoneware bowl with iron glaze over tenmoku. Impressed initials. D. 325mm $450 – $600

141. Len Castle Large rectangular dish with impressed decoration. Iimpressed initials (hairline cracks repaired). D. 410mm $300 – $500

142. Len Castle Branch vase, with jun glaze over tenmoku. Impressed initials to the base. H. 345mm $1500 – $3000

143. Len Castle A large and impressive discoid vase, potter’s initials impressed to the base. D. 540mm $2400 – $3000

139

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144

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144. Len Castle and Theo Schoon Nineteen high-fired earthenware umber tablets made by Castle, impressed with patterns representing an almost complete dictionary of examples of Schoon’s stamps. The stamps were subsequently deposited at Te Papa, circa 1984. The tablets bear approximately 153 impressions, while 144 stamps appear individual. Various sizes [largest 40 x 110 x 8mm] Provenance: Len Castle collection, sold in the inaugural contemporary Art+Object auction May 3rd 2007 $8000 – $10 000

145. Ruth Castle Rare hanging form, fine rattan core dyed with Condys crystals made using a fish basket technique. H. 450mm. This is one of three unique hanging forms that Ruth Castle made in 1960s. $400 – $800

146. Barry Brickell Stoneware vase with tenmoku glaze, impressed potter’s mark to foot rim. H. 210mm $50– $100

147. Peter Stichbury Stoneware charger (repaired). D. 400mm $30 – $50

148. Mirek Smisek Large stoneware charger with tenmoku glaze and wax resist sunflower decoration, impressed initials to the base. D. 390mm Provenance: Martin Hill Collection auction, lot 138 $250 – $500

149. Mirek Smisek Salt glazed stoneware jug. Potters cypher mark to the base. H.260mm $150 – $250

150. Potter unknown Stoneware floor vase of organic form with multiple apertures and umber pigmented surface. H. 670mm $100 – $200

151. Anneke Borren Earthenware orb form painted with geometric designs, potters cypher mark to base. H. 160mm $300 – $500

152. Robyn Stewart Totem form, dung fired burnished and textured surface with incised koru. H. 520mm $500 – $800

153. Jeff Scholes Stoneware jug with tenmoku glaze. H. 280mm $300 – $400

154. Brian Gartside Large stoneware dish with painted abstract decoration. D. 480mm $300 – $400

155. Richard Parker Glazed terracotta dish, black and white pod pattern design, potters label affixed to the base. D. 290mm $350 – $500

156. Richard Parker Terracotta pedestal dish with yellow and green glaze $250 – $400

157. Richard Parker Cylindrical vase with ovoid vase yellow glazed, potters label affixed to the base. H. 200mm $250 – $350

158. Richard Parker Cylindrical vase with ovoid vase yellow glazed, potters label affixed to the base. H. 185mm $250 – $350

159. Richard Parker Winged vase with drizzled yellow and green glaze, potters label affixed to the base. H. 180mm $300 – $500

160. John Dawson Shino glazed cups and saucers. $100 – $200

161. Duncan Shearer Salt glazed vase. H. 270mm $150 – $250

162. Duncan Shearer Three salt glazed vases of graduated size $200 – $300

163. Duncan Shearer Large ovoid floor vase with lug handles. H. 450mm $300 – $400

164. Rare Royal Doulton Maori Art oversize cup and saucer, hand painted with a Kowhaiwhai design in red and black on a yellow ground $400 – $600

165. Royal Doulton Maori art side plate, hand painted with a Kowhaiwhai design in red and black on a yellow ground. D.175mm $100 – $200

EARLy NZ STuDIO POTTERy AND CROWN LyNN

166. Elisabeth Matheson Paka pottery monochrome blue vase. H.100mm $30 – $50

167. Jova Rancich Small pottery squat vase, with green, blue and red majolica-type glaze. Impressed marks. H. 75mm $100 – $200

168. Jova Rancich Pottery posy vase, with red, green and blue majolica-type glaze. Impressed marks. H. 140mm $350 – $500

169. Jova Rancich Pottery fat body jug with multi-coloured majolica-type glaze. unmarked. H. 130mm $500 – $800

170. Jova Rancich Pottery posy vase, covered in a rich green, blue and brown majolica-type glaze. Impressed marks. H. 200mm $600 – $1000

174165

164

172

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171. Jova Rancich Large pottery handled vase, covered with a cream crackled glaze. unmarked. H. 170mm $300 – $500

172. A rare pair of large Crown Lynn white swans, each with factory painted beaks. Crown mark to the base of each. W.310mm $1200 – $1800

173. A rare small white slip cast Crown Lynn swan with factory painted beak. Tiki mark to the base $350 – $500

174. A rare pair of large white slip cast Crown Lynn male and female swans. Each with impressed mark 170, the female with crown factory mark and the male with Tiki mark to the base. L.310mm $350 – $500

175. Three Crown Lynn slip cast shell vases, shape 553, in mint green, white and pale blue $500 – $800

176. Crown Lynn slip cast pearl lustre shell vase, shape 2067 $150 – $250

177. A pair of Crown Lynn mint green slip cast trough vases, shape 510. L.275mm $200 – $300

178. Crown Lynn slip cast pink basket form vase, shape 507. L.310mm $150 – $250

179. McAlpine yellow glazed fridge jug. H. 225mm $300 – $500

180. Pair of Crown Lynn 1970 stamp design dishes, Tasman Glacier and Maori rock drawing $50 – $80

OTHER NEW ZEALAND FuRNITuRE AND RELATED

ITEMS

181. Bob Roukema for Jon Jansen Rare 1950s armchair raised on tapering legs with original wheat coloured velour upholstery. A similar chair held in the Auckland Museum collection. This style of chair can also be seen in archival photos of the Jon Jansen store as part of the Easter show display $1200 – $1800

182. Set of four New Zealand made 1950s armchairs with red vinyl seats and backs the shaped arms with exposed finger joints. Made for a Group architect designed house in Island Bay View Terrace, Howick $400 – $800

183. A set of six 1950’s side chairs blackened tubular metal framing in blue red and white vinyl $300 – $500

184. A set of four Danske Mobler compass chairs with white vinyl upholstery $500 – $1000

185. Don Furniture 1960’s teak framed armchair reupholstered with contemporary fabric in an orange abstract design on a pale brown ground. $700 – $900

186. Garth Chester A rare Winter’s salon chair with paddle shaped arms raised on tapering cylindrical legs with brass feet, green leatherette upholstery $1000 – $2000

187. Three 1950s armchairs with tubular wrought iron framing with white textured vinyl upholstery $200 – $400

188. A pair of 1950s lounge chairs with webbed seats and backs in the manner of Jens Risom $350 – $500

189. Garth Chester bent plywood Curvesse chair $4000 – $8000

190. New Zealand made 1950s Hans Wegner style plank chair $500– $100

191. New Zealand made 1950s Hans Wegner style plank chair $500 – $1000

192. Oak 1950s coffee table with glass top raised on tree triangular legs $250 – $500

193. Backhouse day bed with black leatherette upholstery and mahogany frame $1200 – $1800

194. John Middleditch Crucifixion, patinated wrought copper figure suspended on a wooden cross. 720 x 520mm $800 – $1200

195. John Middleditch Totem form, patinated copper. Signed with initials and dated 77. H.490mm $500 – $800

196. John Middleditch untitled abstract sculpture in copper with variegated surface together with a watercolour depicting a similar form. Signed and dated 1970. Sculpture W.600mm, Watercolour 380 x 570mm $400 – $600

207

208

170

169

168

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189


197. John Middleditch Abstract copper wall sculpture number 190. 270 x 220mm. Offered together with an archival photograph of the work. $200 – $400

198. Betty Beadle Ten assorted embossed metal discs. Various sizes $100 – $200

199. John Middleditch Indian Mandala Mosaic tiles on board. Title inscribed signed and dated 1982 verso 310 x 310mm $100 – $200

200. John Middleditch Two unfinished watercolour paintings, three sketches and a collection of archival photographs $50 – $100

201. NZ composite moulded tray decorated with Maori Kowhaiwhai patterns. L.370mm $50 – $100

202. Set of six NZ glasses decorated with Maori cave art and weaponry $100 – $150

203. NZ folk art fire bellows carved with a tekoteko figure. H.370mm $180 – $250

204. An Italian Delta Indigenous People collection pen ‘Maori’, limited roller ball edition. In as new condition complete with original box. Edition 689/1642 $300 – $400

205. John Crichton Small mosaic tiled saucer. D. 130mm $30 – $50

206. An unusual New Zealand made arts and crafts style brass and copper jug, the handle decorated with a cut brass outline of New Zealand, the

181 186

190 192 191

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jug inlaid with a fantail and other New Zealand birds in various shades of Paua shell. H. 250mm $300 – $500

207. Louis Boros Symphony Bay of Islands Opus No 2 wool and cotton tapestry title inscribed and signed on original artist’s label affixed verso 1960 x 1410mm Exhibited: ANZ Art Awards, 1987 $2000 – $4000

208. Louis Boros Nights Lights over Rangi wool and linen tapestry title inscribed, signed and dated 1990 on original artist’s label affixed verso. 1830 x 1410mm $2000 – $4000

COLLECTION OF DEL WARE AND CERA WARE

209. Cera Ware decorative plaque featuring Cave Art after Theo Schoon – Opihi River Taniwha Figures, enamel over copper 230 x 155mm $300 – $500

210. Cera Ware decorative plaque featuring Cave Art after Theo Schoon – Ahuriri River Figures enamel over copper. 155 x 283mm $300 – $500

212. Cera Ware enamel on copper plaque with a Maori cave art design after Theo Schoon of a figure paddling a raft. 250 x 250mm $100 – $200

213. Five Ceraware dishes and two coasters, decorated in enamel on copper with Maori motifs $100 – $200

214. Ten Del Ware enamel and copper dishes decorated in enamel on copper with Maori cave art designs. D.100mm $200 – $300

215. Nine Del Ware dishes of triangulated shape decorated with Maori cave art designs $100 – $200

216. Cera Ware plaque decorated with a Maori cave art design. W.120mm $35 – $50

217. Seven Cera Ware coasters decorated with Maori cave art designs, housed in an original turned wood barrel $100 – $200

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210

195 196

212 – 217

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FEW EPISODES in New Zealand Art History were as unlikely as the encounter of Theo Schoon with Maori Rock Art in the 1940s, and few as significant. This chance meeting between an itinerant Dutch artist and a sadly neglected cultural heritage of rock drawings led Schoon to an immediate re-evaluation of his own work with ongoing impact on painting, photography and the applied arts. For Schoon and his associates, especially Gordon Walters, there came a radical change of outlook and approach to their creative work.

Schoon first saw fragments of rock art in the Otago Museum and copies of some of the drawings in the mid 1940s. With his knowledge of modern European art, of Surrealism and the Bauhaus, he was able to see the seemingly ‘primitive’ images with fresh insight. He knew, for example, of the influence of child art on the Surrealists and the attempts to direct modern art away from traditional approaches towards a more intuitive and individual response. It meant moving from matching to making. The conventions of realist painting, like perspective and modelling could be dispensed with. Instead, as in the rock drawings, the imagery could be drawn or painted in two dimensions on a flat surface with no illusionism or attempt at realism. It would be the birth of New Zealand modernism.

Somehow, with no qualifications, Schoon managed to get some funding in 1946 to record the rock art in Canterbury and North Otago for the Canterbury Museum. He reported to Roger Duff, later Director, who viewed the drawings as childish graffiti with no artistic merit. Schoon’s brief was to record the drawings located on limestone bluffs and boulders in areas being farmed for sheep and where the limestone was being quarried for fertilizer by blasting

Theo Schoon and New Zealand Rock Art

Lot 263. Theo Schoon, Self-Portrait, circa 1980.

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drawings irregular, incomplete and fragmented. Schoon’s pragmatic and egotistical solution was to ‘retouch’ them to make the drawings more legible and easier to photograph. In doing so, he had to interpret what was there and in many cases select what made sense to his idea of the work. His photographs are therefore manipulated and have a heightened artistic dimension at the expense of archeological fidelity. Schoon was no archeologist. His ‘copies’ of the rock art are best seen as free interpretations which he has transformed into modernist paintings. Initially with a ‘copy’ of moa drawings at Craigmore Schoon tried to simulate the colour and texture of the originals. Quickly he abandoned that approach in favour of a reductive mono-tonal imagery rendered in flat, hard-edged forms on a smooth grey ground. This procedure gives the imagery the scale and format of modernist European paintings. A reference to Paul Klee in the title of one of his photographs confirms his knowledge of this context.

One feels that he has composed and positioned his rock art motifs against the ground with an awareness of relational composition and of figure ground interaction. By eliminating conventional spatial and naturalistic concerns, Schoon frees his forms to interact across the surface. It is a dramatic advance that lays the groundwork for his own and Gordon Walters’ abstract paintings that follow. until now it has only been possible to see his rock art paintings in a museum context. It is time to see them as they really are – creative art works.

Michael Dunn

– processes that destroyed the drawings. He was to make painted copies of the rock art for the museum and also take photographs. The enormity of the task, involving climbing over considerable areas of barely accessible cliffs and fording fast flowing rivers, like the Opihi and Waitaki, while carrying boards for his paintings and camera equipment – plus provisions for overnight stays in the rock shelters – cannot be exaggerated.

But Schoon was up for it. He was an experienced professional photographer and also a gifted and trained painter with incredible technical skill. Plus he was young, in his early thirties, very strong and totally fanatical in his enthusiasm for the task. With no car, little money, few possessions and the rural postal service as his means of communication with Roger Duff in Christchurch, he was truly a man alone. What he achieved, though controversial, was astonishing in both quantity and quality.

By his letters written on location, by his articles for the media and his promotion of his discoveries to colleagues like Gordon Walters, Dennis Knight Turner and Rex Fairburn he brought the main rock art images, such as the Taniwha Freize at Gould’s Farm, from obscurity to mainstream public attention. Thanks to Fairburn and others using the rock art imagery supplied to them by Schoon for commercial purposes such as wall hangings, coasters and tea towels it became debased maybe but suddenly known and admired.

On location there were numerous difficulties to be overcome. His photographs were hampered by poor and uneven light in the shelters where the rock art was drawn on both walls and ceilings continuously. Also, the limestone surfaces were often granulated and flaking making the

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William Vance Collection of Theo Schoon Cave Art from the period 1946-49

218. Theo Schoon R.Gould Opihi, copy by Theo Schoon, 1946 oil on card title inscribed, signed and dated verso, also inscribed scale 1:4 indecipherable 600 x 760mm $2000 – $4000

221. Theo Schoon Craigmore, Pareora Parts one & two oil on card title inscribed verso 520 x 1300mm, diptych $5000 – $7000

219. Theo Schoon Tongawai Gorge. Albury Park Station Part 1. oil on card title inscribed on verso, also inscribed drawings on single rock in artist’s hand 520 x 650mm $2000 – $4000

220. Theo Schoon Waitohi Composition. Part 2. oil on card title inscribed verso $2000 – $4000

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222. Theo Schoon Giant Dog Shelter – Rockwood oil on card title inscribed verso 525 x 645mm $2500 – $4500

223. Theo Schoon Limestone Valley Road, Tycho oil on card title inscribed verso 520 x 650mm $2500 – $4500

224. Theo Schoon Opihi River II oil on card title inscribed verso 504 x 643mm $2000 – $4000

225. Theo Schoon Carter’s Rockpool. Opihi Riverbed. Actual size oil on card title inscribed verso 520 x 652mm $3000 – $5000

Catalogue note: In the catalogue for the 1985 exhibition at the Robert McDougall Art Gallery, Christichurch a variant of this work is entitled Colonial Church, Raincliff

226. Theo Schoon Ford’s Hanging Rock part 3 oil on card title inscribed verso 523 x 650mm $2500 – $4500

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48



230. Theo Schoon Ahuriri River Waitaki part 2. oil on card title inscribed verso 520 x 650mm $2000 – $4000

229. Theo Schoon upper Totara Valley part 1, reduced 1/6th (canoe prow) oil on card title inscribed verso 520 x 650mm $2500 – $4500

231. Theo Schoon Ahuriri River part 2, copy by Theo Schoon February 1949 oil on card title inscribed, signed and dated verso 518 x 647mm $2000 – $4000

Catalogue note: This image is a reverse image of the previous lot and is dated after Schoon’s period in the field. By early 1949 Schoon had relocated to Auckland, possibly staying with A.R.D. Fairburn. It is probable that this image was painted using a photographic reference which resulted in the image becoming ‘flipped’.

“Mr. Theo Schoon … has spent about three years recording these drawings … In the

course of his travels he has discovered about three times as many as were previously

known. I prophesy that in times to come his name will be remembered with gratitude by generations that have come to appreciate the full value of these primitive works of art.”

A.R.D. FAIRBuRN, 1949

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232. Theo Schoon Ahuriri River. Part 1 oil on card title inscribed verso 520 x 650mm $4000 – $6000

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233. Theo Schoon Earthquakes Duntroon oil on card title inscribed verso 525 x 645mm $4000 – $6000

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234. Theo Schoon Earthquakes Mauruawhenua, Part of Eagle Composition, Actual Size oil on card title inscribed verso 520 x 652mm $2000 – $4000

237. Theo Schoon Kaikoura, Monkey Face Reserve part 1 oil on card title inscribed verso 525 x 650mm $2000 – $4000

235. Theo Schoon Monkey Face Shelter No 1 part 6, Kaikoura oil on card title inscribed verso 508 x 633mm $2500 – $4500

238. Theo Schoon Monkey Face Shelter No 1 Kaikoura oil on board title inscribed verso 650 x 522mm $2500 – $4500

236. Theo Schoon Kaikoura Monkey Face Reserve part 2. oil on card title inscribed verso 520 x 648mm $2000 – $4000

239. Theo Schoon Scargill – Waihari district nearly actual size oil on card title inscribed verso 650 x 522mm $2500 – $4500

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240. Theo Schoon Large Mythic Monster Taniwha, a human figure, and some typical maori designs oil on card title inscribed on signed accompanying photograph by Theo Schoon 510 x 635mm $3000 – $5000

241. Theo Schoon untitled – Cave Drawing Figures oil on card 510 x 633mm $2000 – $4000

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Cave Art Photography by Theo Schoon

242. Theo Schoon Cave Art Sites and Environs 8 large format (250 x 305mm) vintage gelatin silver prints of cave art sites, environs and limestone formations, 2 with annotations by Theo Schoon verso, for example image illustrated above left is inscribed Rocks on South bank of Opihi River, The large Shelter with drawings in the background, photo T. Schoon $500 – $1000

243. Theo Schoon Opihi River Taniwha 14 medium format (203 x 253mm) together with 6 small format (164 x 215mm) vintage silver gelatin prints of taniwha figures and numerous details. All photographs annotated by Theo Schoon verso, many dated 1948 $500 – $1000

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244. Theo Schoon Monkey Face, Kaikoura 5 medium format (203 x 253mm) vintage silver gelatin prints of cave art and environs. All photographs annotated by Theo Schoon verso, for example the image illustrated is inscribed Monkey Face Cave No.1 (centre foreground) Monkey Face Reserve, Kaikoura $200 – $400

245. Theo Schoon Waitaki River 6 medium format (203 x 253mm) vintage silver gelatin prints of Waitaki and Ahuriri River environs. 3 photographs annotated by Theo Schoon verso, for example the image illustrated is inscribed Black Jack Point on the Waitaki River – photographed in 1947 by Theo Schoon $200 – $400

246. Theo Schoon Pareora, Raincliff, Weka Pass and upper Totara Valley 10 medium format (203 x 253mm) vintage silver gelatin prints of various cave art environs and limestone bluffs. 6 photographs annotated by Theo Schoon verso, for example the image illustrated is inscribed Upper Totara Valley Showing various shelters $300 – $600

247. Theo Schoon Cave Art Figures 20 medium format (203 x 253mm) vintage silver gelatin prints of various cave art figures and details from Weka Pass, Waitohi, Hazelburn High Shelter, Craigmore Valley, Duntroon and Totara Valley. 19 photographs annotated by Theo Schoon, for example the image illustrated is inscribed Weka Pass Main Shelter detail study $400 – $800

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248. Theo Schoon Pareora River Bird Men and other Cave Art Figures four small format (164 x 215mm)vintage gelatin prints. All annotated verso by Theo Schoon illustrated clockwise from top left Pareora River Birds, Bird Men and fish; Theo Schoon ‘46 a recent discovery of incised figure resembling Maori Tatoo in Duntroon (catalogue note: this figure is extensively outlined in white ink by the artist); Large human figure “Earthquakes” Duntroon. One of the most fantastic places Theo Schoon ‘47; Glennis, Hazelburn, detail study $800 – $1500

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rock-drawings of Blackler’s high shelter, and in my report to the Department of Internal Affairs he asked me to say: “I can add from personal experience that the number and variety and placing of the figures make it a most difficult job to copy them and they have been copied with incomparable skill”. Surely there can be no better tribute than that to your work’

The archive also includes 85 pages of Theo Schoon’s field notes commencing August 1946 with numerous maps, annotations and illustrations.

The correspondence between the various parties covers a wide range of topics including: selection and payment for cave paintings by vari-ous public museums, the creation of sets of boards for different museums necessitating duplicates, Schoon’s discovery of different types of pigment application as well as incised figures, and perhaps most importantly Schoon’s interpretation of the creation and meaning of the cave art.

The archive also contains an inventory of receipts for batches of cave paintings and photo-

graphs as furnished by the Department of Internal Affairs. Of particular note is extensive correspon-dence between Schoon, Vance, Roger Duff and A.G. Harper, Assistant under-Secretary of the Department of Internal Affairs and others on the question of retouching the images within the shel-ters, a practice which had gone on for many years prior to Schoon’s arrival. The arguments for and against the practice and the difficulty in managing Schoon in the field make for illuminating reading. Of particular note on this topic is a letter dated 12th March, 1946 from H.D. Skinner, Director of the Otago Museum who recounts at least two previous attempts at retouching by his father W.H. Skinner then Commissioner for Crown Lands in Canterbury and Dr. W.B. Oliver.

One important handwritten note by Cliff Brunsden, a Timaru artist and later the founding director of the Aigantighe Gallery details (most probably under instruction by Theo Schoon) the formula for the grey ground of the boards em-

CORRESPONDENCE

The William Vance archive documents the man-agement of the Cave Art project and dates from the early 1940s to the early 1950s. The archive includes correspondence between William Vance, Theo Schoon, Roger Duff (director of the Can-terbury Museum), A.R.D. Fairburn, A.G. Harper (under-Secretary of the Department of Internal Affairs), Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (NZ) relating to filming and screening of newsreel footage of Theo and the caves, D.C. Kidd M.P., H. D. Skinner (Director of the Otago Museum) and various local landowners.

Of particular note is a letter dated October 1st, 1946 from Vance to Schoon in which the for-mer relates his meeting with the artist Gordon Walters and Roger Duff and their impressions of the cave paintings.

Paragraph 3 of the letter reads…’Roger was delighted with the result of your paintings of the

The William Vance Archive of Correspondence, Publications, Articles and Photographs relating to the Theo Schoon Cave Art Project

249. William Vance was born in Lyttelton in 1900 and during his secondary school years began collecting New Zealand books and artefacts. His enthusiasm for this nation’s story led to his graduation from Canterbury College (now university) with a degree in history, and, after a decade as a journalist, to his appointment in the mid 1940s as historical research officer with the Department of Internal Affairs.

Vance’s allotted territory, South Canterbury, was appropriate as he had spent his holidays at Pleasant Point on his uncle’s farm in the limestone country that contains one of the main concentrations of Maori rock art. The nearby Mackenzie Country was a focus of Vance’s interests as a mountaineer and collector of the pioneers’ stories.

Once employed by the department, Vance was able to implement his boyhood dream of protecting the rock drawings. The arrival of Theo Schoon with the same vision, began that fraught but ultimately successful process.

Much of the detail of the project – one of the most extraordinary in the narrative of New Zealand art and ethnology – has not been made public and is recorded in great detail with assiduous documentation of original material in the Vance archive.

It records not just the administrative problems that arose between the free-wheeling Dutch artist and the pernickety New Zealand bureaucracy but also the friendship that arose between Schoon and Vance. The latter enjoyed dealing with difficult people and the former needed a buffer between his visionary drive and a slow moving officialdom. Vance and Schoon complemented each other perfectly.

Schoon went on to diverse artistic pursuits but never lost his grounding in Maori culture. Vance went on to write the standard history of the Mackenzie, dozens of articles and half a dozen books on Canterbury.

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ployed by Schoon: Oil Ground, Ordinary white lead, add 50% China Clay, add turpentine and Raw Linseed oil to the …… Add powder colour mixed with turps as desired

The close nature of the relationship between William Vance and Schoon is revealed across countless letters and an extensive file detailing ad-vances and loans from Vance to Schoon, no doubt to tide the artist over between payments from the Department of Internal Affairs. Vance, as can be deduced from the exchange of letters balanced the demands of an artist in the field with the at times parsimonious attitude of the Govt. Department which refused Schoon’s requests for assistance with transport and even denied the artist a field tent! All the while it is clear that Vance was in no doubt as to the importance of Schoon’s project and the

privations the artist had to endure which ranged from poor weather, difficult conditions, limestone blasting within metres of important cave art sites. Looming in the background is time pressure as a consequence of impending flooding of the Waitaki river as part of the hydro schemes of the late 1940s.

The archive also includes fascinating corre-spondence between Vance, Schoon, the Depart-ment of Internal Affairs and other govt bodies such as Canterbury Museum and the Adult Education Department of the Canterbury university College on the subject of acquiring suites of photographic prints. It is clear Schoon was adamant in owning and not releasing negatives or selling a duplicate set. There was, however clear demand from nu-merous institutions for suites of photographs. Retaining control of the negatives was an avenue

for Schoon to earn some revenue from the sale of photographs after the original sets of paintings had been sold.

Amongst literally dozens of handwritten let-ters from Schoon to Vance one is worth quoting. It is undated, but based on the chronology of cor-respondence was most probably written in January 1947. An excerpt reads: “ I have submitted a short article and some photographs to the NZ. Listener, in which I aimed at introducing this work as a legacy of religious art, backed by an analysis which is getting down to Tin Tacks, rather than the vague and unbased opinions, which Roger (Duff ) has aired so persistently over such a long period.”

PuBLICATIONS

G.B. Stevenson, Journal of the Polynesian Society ( JPS), extract Vol.52, No.4, December, 1943, Waitaki Maori Paintings

G.B. Stevenson, JPS Vol. 55, No.3, Sept, 1946, Rock Paintings at Kokoamo, North Otago

Catalogue of Exhibition of Australian Aboriginal Cave Paintings, London, 1947

W.A. Taylor, Pictographs and Moa Hunters, 1949

Neil Roberts curator, Maori Rock Drawings, The Theo Schoon Interpretations, Robert McDougall Art Gallery, Christchurch, 1985

ARTICLES

The archive contains an extensive collection of published articles and complete typewritten copies of important documents.

Maori Rock Paintings, Memorandum dated 18th November 1929. Prepared by the Dominion Museum, Wellington for the The under – Secretary, Internal Affairs Department. (typewritten copy)

Also another signed W.B. Oliver and dated 28th May, 1929 which includes a typewritten copy of a letter by J.L. Elmore dated 24th September 1916 addressed to Dr Thomson on the subject of tracing and physically removing cave paintings from various sites listed.

Exhibition of Schoon paintings by South Canterbury Historical Society, circa 1948.


Dr. J.D. Elmore, Prehistoric Art, Timaru Herald, October 1916. (typewritten copy)

J.R. Irvine, New Zealand’s Early Artists – Drawings Near Albury, Timaru Herald, December 22, 1936

J.T. Salmon, Report on trip to South Island, 25th to 31st march, 1939, to Photograph Maori Rock Paintings. (typewritten copy)

G.B. Stevenson, Maori Paintings Near Duntroon, the Oamaru Mail, July 20, 1939. A fascinating article which contains the prescient comment, ‘Above a floor of clean dry, light grey sand, some ancient artist, using a mixture of red pigment, probably hematite, and fish or bird oil, had painted a number of crude figures, which, like some of our ultra modern art require a good deal of interpretation, and which have little, if any, resemblance to Maori Art, as we know it in weaving or carving.’

G.B Stevenson was the author of the Journal of the Polynesian Society ( JPS), extract Vol.52, No.4, December, 1943 (see above) which is credited with sparking Schoon’s interest in recording the cave art.

Memorandum for the under-Secretary (Department of Internal Affairs) General File re Maori Rock Paintings, prepared by J.D .Pascoe, 4th March, 1941, (typewritten copy). An important document which compiles all known interaction with the various cave art sites from 1916 until the date of the document, their level of documentation and state of repair.

Roger Duff, Ethnologist, Canterbury Museum, Report On Native Rock Drawings of South Canterbury: Presented to the South Canterbury Historical Society, February 15, 1946. (typewritten copy)

It was this report which combined with the lobbying of the South Canterbury Historical Society of which William Vance was an active member that led directly to the employment of Theo Schoon later in 1946 to record the cave drawings.

Rock Drawings Re-Assessed, Christchurch Press, 10.5. 1947

H.E. Wedde, Ancient Rock Paintings – Discoveries in North Otago, Otago Daily Times, 2.7.46

Maori Rock Drawings – Art of “Doodling?”, Christchurch Press, 10.7.1947

Visit by Dutch Artist –Study of Ancient Art Relics, Southland Times, December 20, 1947

Theo Schoon, Dominion’s Oldest Art Gallery – Pictures in Limestone Caves, The Weekly News, January 7, 1948. Article illustrated with Taniwha image – see lot 240

Ancient Rock Drawings Found in Southland, Southland Times, January 10, 1948

Timaru Herald, various cuttings dating from 1943 to 1951 on the subject of the Cave drawings, their recording and preservation including the announcement on February 12, 1949 of an exhibition at the Canterbury Museum of the Schoon Cave drawings and an address by the artist.

A.R.D. Fairburn, Polynesian Cave Drawings published in Home & Building, June-July 1949. The article includes a telling quote,“Mr. Theo Schoon (who is a very fine painter in his own right) has spent about three years recording these drawings … In the course of his travels he has discovered about three times as many as were previously known. I prophesy that in times to come his name will be remembered with gratitude by generations that have come to appreciate the full value of these primitive works of art.”

W.A. Taylor, Rock Paintings of Canterbury, The Plainsman, January 1, 1950

New Zealand Cave Drawings in Danger, N.Z. Listener, April 13 1951

David Grace, Mystery of Cave Murals – Art of the Maori, The Weekly News, October 6, 1952

Gerard O’Regan, The shifting place of Ngai Tahu rock art, Ngai Tahu Maori Rock Art Trust, circa 2009

PHOTOGRAPHS

Approximately 20 small vintage gelatin silver prints of 65 x 110mm dms depicting various cave art sites including Hart’s farm Waitohi, Hazelburn Blackler and Doghead Rock Cave. An annotation reads Photographs taken in 1918 by Mrs Carlow of rock drawings in Mr Hart’s farm. This date is supported by a letter dated March 13, 1946 by G.H. Carlow addressed to William Vance which notes that the photographs were taken in 1917 or 1918.

A suite of approximately 22 small (dimensions variable) vintage gelatin silver prints depicting cave art field trips including William Vance in the period 1948 – 50 to locations such as Ahuriri River, Earthquakes, Pareora and Gould’s Shelter.

Also a vintage gelatin silver print (165 x 215mm) depicting an exhibition of Schoon cave art paintings by the South Canterbury Historical Society, circa 1948.

$1500 – $2500

William Vance (far right) leads an expedition into cave art territory in his trusty Buick, late 1940s.


250. Theo Schoon untitled – Maori Cave Art Figures relief print on butchers paper 285 x 385mm $1000 – $1500

251. A.R.D. Fairburn Study of Maori Rock Drawings vintage screenprinted fabric mounted to board 640 x 800mm $3500 – $5000

Rodney Robertson Art collection

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252. Dennis Knight-Turner Painting No. 6 oil on board title inscribed, signed and dated 1952 355 x 340mm $5000 – $7000

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253. Don Driver Two Part Relief mixed media title inscribed, signed and dated 1974 verso 560 x 1130mm $3000 – $6000

254. Guy Ngan Blue Formation No 6 oil on board signed and dated ’75, title inscribed on original artist’s label affixed verso 600 x 600mm $3500 – $6000

255. Robert Ellis To the City Centre oil on canvas title inscribed, signed and dated 1966 Ex10 No 16 verso 915 x 610mm $4000 – $7000


257. Greer Twiss Long Shadow cast bronze with applied cellulose lacquer pigment title inscribed, signed and dated 1970 to the underside 570 x 210 x 250mm $2500 – $4000

256. John Weeks Still Life with Jug, Vase and Plate collage 290 x 350mm $2000 – $4000

259. Eileen Mayo The Tree screenprint, artist’s proof VIII title inscribed and signed 480 x 300mm $800 – $1500

260. Eileen Mayo Moths on the Window screenprint 10/35 Title inscribed and signed 560 x 340mm $800 – $1500

261. Don Ramage Abstract Composition screenprint 515 x 860mm $200 – $400

262. The Original 4 Square Man commercial art sign (section) oil on board 420 x 330mm $300 – $500

258. Edgar Mansfield The Rime of the Ancient Mariner screenprint 6/25 signed, title inscribed on original John Leech Gallery label affixed verso 290 x 210mm $400 – $700

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Photography

263. Theo Schoon Self-Portrait, circa 1980 C-type print 305 x 210mm $1000 – $2000

Illustrated: Michael Dunn, The Art of Theo Schoon, Art New Zealand No. 25, 1982, p.22 also this catalogue, p.44

264. Michael Dunn Theo Schoon on Location at Waiotapu, 1965 gelatin silver print 305 x 305mm $750 – $1250

265. Theo Schoon Opihi River View – Looking North vintage gelatin silver print, circa 1947 title inscribed and signed photo T.Schoon verso 235 x 285mm $1500 – $2500

267. Theo Schoon untitled – Waiotapu Mudpool Study gelatin silver print 275 x 275mm $2000 – $4000

266. Theo Schoon untitled – Waiotapu Mudpool Composition with Fern C-type print from original medium format Kodak Ektachrome colour transparency, image circa 1966 312 x 312mm $2000 – $4000

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268. Theo Schoon untitled – Large Waiotapu Mudpool Study C-type print, image circa 1966 300 x 600mm $2000 – $4000

269. Theo Schoon untitled – Reflection, Refraction & Abstraction gelatin silver print 305 x 305mm $1500 – $2500

271. Barry Woods The very thought of an anniversary gives me a headache gelatin silver print (1960) title inscribed verso with Barry Woods, Palmerston North stamp applied 390 x 320mm $200 – $400

270. Steven Rumsey Barry Woods at Retouching Desk (1953) gelatin silver print 280 x 375mm $200 – $400

Illustrated: Gordon H Brown, The Elusive Modernist Steve Rumsey’s Camera Club Photographs 1948 – 1964, Art New Zealand 108

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272. Frank Hofmann Hofmann House, 75 Bell Road, Remuera (designed by Vernon Brown), Auckland, 1948 vintage gelatin silver print 225 x 290mm $2000 – $3000

Exhibited: From Prague to Auckland The Photographs of Frank Hofmann (1916-89), curated by Leonard Bell at the Gus Fisher Gallery, The university of Auckland, 26 August – 29 October 2011.

Illustrated: Leonard Bell From Prague to Auckland The Photographs of Frank Hofmann (1916-89) Auckland university Press, 2011, p.37

Literature: Leonard Bell, ibid, pp. 35-38.

273. Frank Hofmann Waikato Heads vintage gelatin silver print title inscribed, signed and dated 1965 verso; original Auckland Photographic Society Merit award dated 8/4/65 affixed verso 300 x 370mm $3000 – $5000 274. Frank Hofmann

Composition with Cactus, 1952 vintage gelatin silver print title inscribed and signed verso, original Photographic Society of New Zealand, 4th National Salon, Auckland, 1955 affixed verso, annotated as Champion Print 355 x 285mm $4000 – $6000

Exhibited: From Prague to Auckland The Photographs of Frank Hofmann (1916-89), curated by Leonard Bell at the Gus Fisher Gallery, The university of Auckland, 26 August – 29 October 2011.

Illustrated: Leonard Bell From Prague to Auckland The Photographs of Frank Hofmann (1916-89) Auckland university Press, 2011, p.10, entitled Reversal Design

Literature: Leonard Bell, ibid., p.11

Photographs from the Estate of Frank Hofmann

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275. Frank Hofmann Hella Hoffmann at Treaty House Waitangi, Summer 1966/67 C-type print on Ilford Cibachrome paper title inscribed verso 385 x 385mm $3500 – $5500

276. Frank Hofmann Kiri te Kanawa vintage gelatin silver print on Kodak Royal paper title inscribed, signed and dated 1965 verso 370 x 300mm $4000 – $6000

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Further Art

277. Theo Schoon untitled – Maori Thigh Tattoo Design screenprint, circa 1971 260 x 185mm $500 – $800

278. A.R.D. Fairburn Study of Maori Rock Drawings vintage screenprinted fabric mounted to board 650 x 614mm $800 – $1500

280. Geoffrey Fairburn Decorative Gourd in the manner of Theo Schoon incised and stained with a rhythmic motif to the neck and anthropomorphic figures to the body h. 450mm $300 – $500

281. John Middleditch Painted construction acrylic on board with wrought copper inset title inscribed, signed and dated 1983 verso 600 x 600mm $350 – $700

279. Geoffrey Fairburn untitled – Rhythmic Figures watercolour and mixed media on paper signed G.E. Fairburn 360 x 405mm $500 – $800

Provenance: previously in the collection of the artist’s estate

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282. Russell Clark Tainui graphite on paper title inscribed 315 x 510mm $2000 – $4000

283. Russell Clark Wellington Harbour watercolour, circa 1938 – 40 signed $6000 – $9000

Illustrated: Michael Dunn, Russell Clark, 1905 – 1966 A Retrospective Exhibition, (Robert McDougall Art Gallery, 1975), p.33

Catalogue note: When exhibited in the 1975 retrospective exhibition the work was dated 1938. Subsequent research suggests the ship depicted is the light cruiser HMNZS Achilles. The New Zealand National Collection of War Art includes a gouache of, as it was then, HMS Achilles, by the artist Frank Norton. The passage below is quoted from Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand

New Zealand’s first significant military action in the war was

when HMS Achilles, one of New Zealand’s two light cruisers, became involved in the hunt for the German warship Admiral Graf Spee which had sunk nine British merchant ships. Eventually, with two other cruisers, the Achilles intercepted the German warship and attacked it on 13 December 1939. The Admiral Graf Spee fled into the neutral port of Montevideo, uruguay, but eventually the commander took it out of the harbour and scuttled it. Four men had been killed on the Achilles. When the ship returned to New Zealand in early 1940 there was a huge welcome.

The National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa also houses a photograph by Sydney Charles Smith entitled HMS Achilles at Aotea Quay, Wellington with the date given as the late 1930s.

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MERVyN WILLIAMS began his career as he intended to continue, setting his sights on the standards established by the international modernist movement. In the mid-late 1950s, remarkably while still a teenager, he was painting highly sophisticated abstract pictures that recall mid-twentieth century European abstractionists such as Vieira de Silva, Georges Matthieu and Victor Pasmore. In these early gouaches, Williams was exploring purely painterly matters, totally at odds with the emphasis on landscape and the local found in the work of his contemporaries. (Remember that abstract art was not a common sight in New Zealand at the time, and most of the artists who turned to abstraction did so only after working through representational or semi-abstract styles.) The accumulation of loose patches of colour and confident linear marks generates a complex, ambiguous, ‘floating’ sense of space – a pictorial world that is primarily optical in the sense that it draws the eye of the viewer in and around and about, without representing an actual or physical space.

The idea of testing and manipulating the eye of the viewer is central to the style known as Op Art, to which Williams turned in the 1960s, conjuring forth, out of flat painted forms, an impression of three-dimensionality and a wealth of dazzling optical effects. Williams has said that

‘there is something about Optic art that appeals to a more innocent side of ourselves’,1 and this is supported by the fact that, in contrast to the hostility that greeted most twentieth century avant-garde movements, the compositions of Bridget Riley, Victor Vasarely, Richard Anuszkiewicz and others, quickly sparked a fashion that spread beyond the cloistered world of ‘high art’. Op Art gave modernist abstraction a new twist, jazzed it up and converted its aspirations into something less esoteric and metaphysical – something more easily appreciated and in line with the new mood of the 1960s, the rise of popular culture and progressive social movements. For Williams, it represented the perfect mix of rigorous abstraction and egalitarian appeal.

In 1960-70s New Zealand, however, the reception for Op Art was muted to say the least. Williams’ desire to make crisp, pristine, vibrant images that were about the act of perception itself, was shared by only a few others, notably Ray Thorburn and Gordon Walters (and it is significant that Walters invited Williams to exhibit with him in a two-person show in Christchurch in 1984). yet the results can now be appreciated as some of the most radical and resplendent New Zealand paintings of the period.

Ed Hanfling

1 Mervyn Williams, conversation with the author, 30 April 2012.

284. Mervyn Williams Artifice gouache on paper signed and dated ’59, title inscribed verso 490 x 610mm $2000 – $4000

285. Mervyn Williams Maxim acrylic on linen on board title inscribed, initialled and dated ’71 verso 685 x 770mm $5000 – $8000

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287. Milan Mrkusich Monochrome Green acrylic on board, 13 sections title inscribed, signed and dated ‘77 verso 712 x 405mm $8000 – $12 000

Provenance: Private collection, Auckland

286. Roy Good untitled – Painting No.9 PVA and varnish on canvas signed and dated R.G. ‘69 915 x 765mm $4000 – $7000

Exhibited: Roy Good, Barry Lett Galleries, Auckland, 1970


288. Colin McCahon Dark Landscape synthetic polymer paint and sawdust on board, circa 1965 original Peter Webb Gallery label affixed verso 300 x 300mm $20 000 – $25 000

Provenance: from the collection of Bob Harvey


289. Colin McCahon’s Letterbox From the artist’s residence at 10 Partridge Street, Grey Lynn, Auckland 545 x 180 x 380mm pigment over tin letterbox $12 000 – $18 000

Provenance: from the collection of the artist Paul Hartigan, acquired by him in 1989

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COLIN MCCAHON’s letterbox sits at the crossroads of a modernist Duchampian readymade, collector fetishism, artist homage and the iconization of McCahon as New Zealand’s greatest 20th century artist – a position which renders his signature an emblematic brand in its own right – a Pacific Picasso. Like the French master whose signature has moved from the canvas to the Citroen car, McCahon’s distinctive use of type has entered the realm of the commercial signifier in the form of a dedicated typescript created by designer Luke Wood in 2003. The McCahon font has subsequently been used for exhibition design and even a fruit juice label. The font designer has stated that the move from the canvas into ad land was a nervous one for him, but he noted that McCahon is on record as citing rural roadside fruitstand signs as being examples of the New Zealand vernacular that can be read into his work.

Paul Hartigan is another artist who has mined this territory: the intersection of conceptual art thinking with the quotidian signs of the street. Hartigan is perhaps most well known for utilising that most high profile of all signage materials: neon. As an artist Hartigan has located his practice within a diverse range of ‘non art’ materials with neon being just one that sits outside the descriptor, oil on canvas. If any artist can be said to

be alert to the power of the sign it is Hartigan. Works such as Pathfinder which adorns the exterior of the Govett Brewster, Whipping the Wind, Wellington and of course the ebulliant Colony located at the university of Auckland School of Architecture have themselves become visual reference points both on our streets and in our public galleries.

It is in this context that the artist freely admits having coveted this humble letterbox since first seeing it in the collection of an art world colleague in the 1970s, “the first time I saw this I thought it was a complete knock out. I begged the owner at the time to give me first right of refusal if he ever thought of selling of it. More than a decade later I got the phone call. I became so obsessed with this ‘McCahon’ that I had to create the work Temple in 2006. It shows the letterbox as it has sat in my studio for over 20 years.”

The studio is of course the world famous in Auckland, Snake Studios where Hartigan works surrounded with vintage neon, artwork, artist trades with colleagues and a fantabulous collection of kiwiana, Fun Ho!, Crown Lynn and the plain interesting. Hartigan is an artist whose work is informed by a collector’s sensibility. He is well known to the staff of auction houses and is regarded as an authority on many key areas of New Zealand cultural production.

Paul Hartigan, TEMPLE 2006, pigment print, edition of 50.

In most cases he is years ahead of the collecting curve.

Today the artist is selling this piece to assist in funding a future project, currently under wraps. He is more than philosophical about the parting, “selling something like this treasure creates a range of emotions, but I am excited about a new collector experiencing such a unique piece that somehow to me sums up the New Zealand experience. I hope that it gets them thinking and gives them the pleasure it has given me for the last twenty five years.”

Hamish Coney

Quotes from a conversation between Paul Hartigan and Hamish Coney, May 2014

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290. Guy Ngan Habitation #237 cast bronze on marble base signed and dated 1999 with artist’s impressed mark 180 x 180 x 150mm $8000 – $12 000

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291. Guy Ngan Animated Colours screenprint 3/50 title inscribed, signed and dated 1973 (2009) 990 x 690mm $1600 – $2500

292. Don McAra untitled – Abstract Tower Forms oil on canvas mounted on board signed and dated ‘65 1230 x 1550mm $2000 – $4000

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293. Freda Simmonds Red Cliffs, Kerr Point oil on board signed and dated ’66, title inscribed verso 440 x 745mm $1500 – $2500

294. A.M. Stevens Painting “R” oil on canvas mounted on board title inscribed, signed and dated 1973 verso 555 x 655mm $500 – $1000

295. Andre Brooke Composition No.1 oil on board 830 x 1000mm $1000 – $1500

296. Andre Brooke Still Life No. 4 oil on board title inscribed and signed verso 900 x 590mm $1500 – $2500

297. Roderick David Finlayson untitled – Kumara Harvest at Pukehina watercolour and graphite on paper initialled RDF and dated 1930 400 x 250mm $500 – $800

298. Patrick Mace Hutchison untitled – Symbolic Composition watercolour signed P.M. Hutchison 390 x 580mm $500 – $800

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299. John Crichton On the Beach watercolour signed and dated 1954, title inscribed verso 540 x 405mm $1000 – $2000

300. Violet Jolly Little Miss Muffet watercolour, circa 1950s signed 515 x 590mm $400 – $600

301. E. Mervyn Taylor Profile woodblock print and linocut, edition of 40 title inscribed and signed, original Hutt Art Society Collection label verso 320 x 220mm $1000 – $1500

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302. Geoffrey Fairburn Early Morning watercolour signed G.E. Fairburn, title inscribed, signed and dated 1960 verso 350 x 240mm $500 – $800


303. Geoffrey Fairburn Flag Day II watercolour and gouache on paper signed G.E. Fairburn, title inscribed, signed and dated 1985 verso 198 x 285mm $500 – $800


304. Geoffrey Fairburn Tropical Landscape watercolour title inscribed, signed G.E. Fairburn and dated 1960 verso 390 x 285mm $600 – $1000


305. Geoffrey Fairburn untitled – Abstract Composition watercolour signed and dated 1990 verso 395 x 290mm $600 – $1000


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306. Buck Nin untitled – Still Life etching signed and dated ‘62 310 x 205mm $200 – $400

307. Ross Ritchie Christ oil on board signed and dated ‘63 610 x 580mm $500 – $800

308. Sam Cairncross Clouds Over Ruapehu oil on board 500 x 570mm $500 – $1000

309. Ted Dutch Two Figures lithograph, 12/25 title inscribed, signed and dated ‘70 500 x 655mm $400 – $600

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Auction No. 78

Modernism in New Zealand21 May 2014 at 6.30pm

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Signed as agreed:

To register for Absentee bidding this form must be lodged with ART+OBJECT by 2pm on the day of the published sale time in one of three ways:

1. Fax this completed form to ART+OBJECT +64 9 354 46452. Email a printed, signed and scanned form to: [email protected]. Post to ART+OBJECT, PO Box 68 345 Newton, Auckland 1145, New Zealand

Lot no. Description Bid maximum (New Zealand dollars)

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265. Theo Schoon Opihi River View – Looking North

vintage gelatin silver print, circa 1947


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Jose BriBiesca Don ramage a.r.D. FairBurn Juliet Peter roBert ellis roy gooD eileen mayo John Weeks Don Driver roy coWan garth chester BoB roukema John crichton len castle moDernism in russell clark

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DleDitch eliZaBeth matheson mirek smisek richarD Parker JeFF scholes anneke Borren roByn steWart Peter stichBury milan mrkusich Barry

Brickell Jean ngan vivienne mountFort georgia suiter theo Jansen Da-viD truBriDge ces renWick eDgar mansFielD Peter sauerBier steve rum-sey Dorothy thorPe levi Borgstrom simon engelharD tony Fomison

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Documents

Modernism in New Zealand