Monday 2 April 2007

New Zealand's 10 greatest paintings

I was going to try to write something incisive about the list of NZ's 10 greatest painting chosen by a group of NZ's visual art luminaries in this week's Listener. I wasn't sure what I wanted to say, but I knew I wanted to squeeze the phrase 'a sad indictment' in there somewhere.

As it is, I've decided to just post the list for posterity, so one day when I'm old and and frail and looking back fondly on the riches that life has presented to me, I'll be able to mull over what people thought about painting in this country in early April, 2007.

  • 'Māori rock art' (date unknown), proposed by Andrew Paul Wood
  • Petrus van der Velden, 'A waterfall in the Otira Gorge' (1891), proposed by David Eggleton
  • Rita Angus, 'Cass' (1936), proposed by Jenny Harper
  • Frances Hodgkins, 'Kimmeridge foreshore' (c. 1938), proposed by Mary Kisler
  • Colin McCahon, 'French Bay' (1956), proposed by Peter Simpson
  • Micahel Smither, 'Christ driving the money lenders from the temple' (1972), proposed by Stuart McKenzie
  • Philip Clairmont, 'Window' (1978), proposed by Martin Edmond
  • Philippa Blair, 'A man's tent is like a god's temple' (1982), proposed by Tessa Laird
  • Julian Dashper, 'Mural for a contemporary house 4' (1988), proposed by Robert Leonard
  • Shane Cotton, 'Red shift' (2006-07), proposed by Jim Barr and Mary Barr.

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