Te Papa is home to Aotearoa New Zealand’s national art collection, which includes work by pioneering artists such as William Hodgkins, John Gully, and Grace Joel. As only a small portion of the collection can ever be on display at one time, a new project from Te Papa Store canRead more
In this excerpt from Back of the Painting, a new book from Te Papa Press that takes a literal look behinds the scenes of famous paintings in New Zealand galleries, Conservator Paintings Linda Waters uncovers a mystery: the unfinished portrait of a young boy.Read more
Adam Art Gallery Collection Officer Sophie Thorn writes about her experiences behind the scenes handling the work of Colin McCahon.Read more
Dr Mark Stocker, Curator Historical International Art, looks at a remarkable print of drunken excess in the collection by 17th century Spanish artist Jusepe de Ribera.Read more
Aurelia, Paddy and Isaac visited Te Papa’s conservation team to find out all about picture framing and paper and painting conservation.Read more
Around 1945, Rita Angus painted a man sitting in an armchair, next to a table of books and a bunch of flowers. Nothing too strange so far, right? Except that there is a devil in a long purple robe creeping up behind him. Not to mention the huge spider crawlingRead more
Earlier this year I travelled to Auckland Art Gallery with one of Te Papa’s masterpieces, Colin McCahon’s Northland Panels, 1958, which is the centrepiece of the exhibition Modern Paints Aoteraroa. This was the first time in 25 years that the iconic painting has travelled to another institution, and the firstRead more
Yiyan Wang, Professor of Chinese at Victoria University of Wellington discussed the life and work of artist Shi Lu. Who is the artist? What does his art tell us?Read more
China Lecture and Symposium, Thu 15 May, 2pm–8pm, Te Papa Face to face with Shi Lu Working on the exhibition Shi Lu: A revolution in paint has been a revelation for me. Ever since my Uncle traveled to China in the 1980s, bringing back memorabilia from the Friendship shops, teachingRead more
This blog provides an excellent opportunity not only for us to share with you, but for you to share with each other. How do you use our museum as a learning resource? What do you find to be best practice? Why are museum and gallery experiences important for your tamariki? Our second storyRead more
