Dealer and Public Galleries in New Zealand


Contrast the role of dealer dealer galleries and public art museums in New Zealand.

Art galleries came into existence during the 19th Century. Prior to that, people either owned art or saw it in churches and palaces. In the 19th century, with the rise of the middle classes and the merchant class, saw the need for public education in the arts through collections of art. The two different kinds of galleries in New Zealand are the public galleries (national and regional) and dealer galleries, and they have a different role as art museums.

The public galleries:

are open expressly for 'the public good'.
Do not sell the artworks but rather exhibit the works to the public to entertain and educate, therefore exhibit work by artists who are more established.
For example, Auckland city gallery Profile states:

*to attain a high level of unpaid media profile for individual exhibitions and the overall exhibitions program.
Play a role in preserving cultural heritage by collecting and conserving art works as well as running exhibition programs.
For example, Auckland city gallery objectives states:

*to present exhibitions by Maori or of specific interest to Maori audiences and to consult with Haerewa in achieving this objective.
*to reflect Auckland's status as a centre of Pacific Island culture.
*to reflect cultural diversity in the exhibitions program at all levels.
May provide extensive documentation with catalogues to explain the art works and exhibition.

Whereas, in comparison, the Dealer galleries operate on a buyer/seller basis, ie. A business operation.
Have a profit motive and function on a monetary basis.
Support the artist artistically and financially.
Display and promote the work of an artist and ensure that the public has the opportunity to view the works.
Act to bring artist to public notice.
Promote artists through an opening evening where invitations are sent to clients. This is followed by an exhibition of the work.
Do not normally provide extensive written explanation of the works as this would be too expensive.
Usually hold exhibitions of current work that the artist has most recently produced.
While the public galleries are the traditional root for developing art and its education, today dealer galleries form the major exhibiting arenas for art in New Zealand. The art dealer believes that art has a commercial value, while the public galleries maintain its education functions within the community.





What did the originators of the La Trobe Scheme hope to accomplish, and what new directions in New Zealand art did those teachers who were appointed under the Scheme initiate or give rise to?

The early part of the 20th Century saw a decline in art education and the quality of art production in New Zealand. Art schools had fallen into decline during WWI, e.g. Dunedin art school was closed, as there was a perception in wartime that art was unnecessary. WWI triggered ideas that art education should be organized through the Education Board. In 1919 William Saunderson La Trobe was appointed as Superintendent of Technical Education for the Dominion.
*In 1922 La Trobe instituted a scheme to import teachers from England. The aim was to improve standard of art instruction.
*The first emphasis of the La Trobe Scheme was on skills rather than artistic merit.
The second emphasis was to produce teachers who could pass on knowledge of the 'applied' rather than 'fine' arts as there as a perceived need for industrial designers rather than painters and sculptors.
*Its general aims were to improve the standard of art education; to establish training for future art teachers; to provide leadership in cultural affairs.

Some innovative teachers who were appointed under the Scheme initiate or give rise to new directions in New Zealand art.
Robert Nettleton Field was one of the key La Trobe Scheme imports. In 1925 Field was appointed to the King Edward VII Technical College in Dunedin as an art instructor. His works introduced unfamiliar style, Post-Impressionism, to New Zealanders. Christ at the Well of Samaria (1932), contains stylistic features like energetic brushstrokes, Gauguin-like figure composition, faceting and fragmentation of form, Fauvists' colour usage and jewel-like colours used expressionistically.
*Field's students were encouraged to find their own direction through imagination and experimentation.
*1937*39 Colin McCahon attended Field's classes. Field provided a model for McCahon’s lifestyle as a professional artist. Toss Woollaston was influenced by Field's work. It was from Woollaston and McCahon that new directions in landscape painting developed.
*Field made a strong impact on New Zealand art between 1925 and 1932. But he was more influential as a sculptor that as a painter.

Christopher Perkins was perhaps the most important La Trobe Scheme import in terms of his painting and theorizing and his influence on subsequent generations of artists. *Perkins was not only influential as a painter but played an active role as an art critic and commentator in Art New Zealand.
*He used methods employed by Gauguin, Cezanne and Post-Impressioniism which he communicated to New Zealand artists and the wider public. The exhibition of his works, rather than his teaching, was Perkins* main channel of influence.
*He called for an indigenous/New Zealand school of painting. His reasons were based on three ideas: use New Zealand's 'marvelous light' to portray local conditions and sharp landforms; use local subjects; avoid using European examples.
#These theories are evidenced in his Cezanne-influenced work, Taranaki (1931).

The impact of the Scheme was considerable, as it played a considerable role in the development of a national art. The scheme re-invigorated the local art scene and stimulated a younger generation of artists. The artists provided an important link with European modernism and exposed their students to new ideas. The artists fueled the critical debate about New Zealand art by contributing to magazines and journals.





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