When I started writing this, it was midnight in Paris but back in NZ it was a bright cheerful 11 o’clock in the morning. I had spent 24 hours crossing from one hemisphere to the other, and was left struggling with a conflicting body clock, unfair currency conversions and aRead more
When we were developing the Collecting Contemporary exhibition, I unconsciously developed a secret soundtrack – a mix-tape, if you like – of music that came to mind as I thought about the various works in the show. It was Jason Greig who, quite unknowingly, got me started on this track.Read more
Photographer Andrew Ross has said that ‘frontier societies like New Zealand [lack] the visible evidence of our history. It gets nipped in the bud…[and] you hardly get any sense of what has happened more than ten years ago.’ You only have to look at his work in the Collecting ContemporaryRead more
One of the most rewarding stages of the treatment is the varnishing of the painting. The new varnish layer returns the colours of the painting to the saturation and depth which were intended by the artist and it is when we feel like we are on the home stretch ofRead more
For the opening reception of the refreshed Te Papa art exhibition Collecting Contemporary held on February 22 2012, Taualuga: The Last Dance, 2006, a performance work by Samoan/Japanese artist Shigeyuki Kihara was presented. Staged in the gallery where the Collecting Contemporary exhibition is displayed, the performance was realised alongside theRead more
One of the highlights of the updated Collecting Contemporary exhibition is the inclusion of three important works by contemporary New Zealand artist Jim Allen (born 1922). The three works – Small worlds, Tribute to Hone Tuwhare, and Space plane, environment no. 1 – were originally made for an exhibition atRead more
We have had a very busy start to 2012, we have been working to have Poedua ready for display in March and preparing a number of paintings for the upcoming touring exhibition Angels and Aristocrats. After the painting was re-stretched following the structural treatment, the old restorations including overpaintRead more
Over the last couple of weeks, we have been busy installing an updated selection of works in the Collecting Contemporary exhibition on Level 5. Collecting Contemporary is an exhibition featuring some of the contemporary New Zealand art works that Te Papa acquired between 2006 and 2011. Read more about CollectingRead more
The varnish removal is finally complete! The detail of the brushwork in the Poedua’s face and hair have been revealed and we are one step closer to getting this painting ready for display. During the varnish removal we discovered a damage on the stretcher which meant that we needed toRead more
The Art team here at Te Papa are saddened by the news that contemporary New Zealand artist Don Driver passed away yesterday morning in New Plymouth. Although Don had been ill for some time, this sort of news always catches you off guard. Te Papa has a considerable number ofRead more
Hello. Matthew O’Reilly, Framer of Paintings, returning to the subject of Poedua, and particularly, her lovely frame. This is my second post about the conservation of the frame. The first one was in June, and it dealt with understanding the frame and its history well enough, and identifying the questions to beRead more
The young Queen avidly recorded details of her wedding to her ‘precious Angel’ in her journal, including descriptions of her wedding attire and her whirling emotions. On the evening of her wedding she confided: ‘My dearest dearest dear Albert… his excessive love and affection gave me feelings of heavenly love and happiness, I neverRead more
The varnish removal of Poedua is progressing slowly and painstakingly and we are now almost halfway through this important part of the treatment. As we have mentioned before, removal of discoloured varnish can have a dramatic effect on the overall balance, colour and depth of a painting. Because discoloured varnishesRead more
Hello everyone, we are back with our fortnightly updates on the treatment of John Webber’s Poedua. We are progressing slowing with the cleaning of the painting. At this stage, the cleaning involves the varnish removal and the removal of overpaints (later additions by a previous restorer). Today’s blog post willRead more
With the recent death of Len Castle, New Zealand has lost one of its greatest potters who developed a long and innovative approach to clay that can be bound up in the search for national identity. Castle began working with clay from 1947 experimenting with commercial clays and Westmere beachRead more
