October 24, 2016
Lindauer exhibition a gift for the future
An exhibition of Maori portraits at Auckland Art Gallery is being described at a gift to future generations.
The almost 150 worked were painted by Bohemian-born Gottfried Lindauer from his arrival in New Zealand in the 1870s until his death in 1926.
Curator Ngahiraka Mason, who has written a book telling the stories behind 67 portraits and eight genre paintings, says a special opening for descendants of the those he painted demonstrated the strength of feeling the pictures generate still.
She says by commissioning the paintings or allowing their images to be recorded, they created a link to the future.
"They have left the most generous legacy, their image. We can come to their image in the 21st century and see many layers of their hitori and their whakapapa. So we have this layer upon layer of our knowledge and our history going back and foirth across time," says Ngahiraka Mason.
The Maori Portraits: Gottfried Lindauer's New Zealand iruns until February and entry is free.
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