Living Portraits: Mata Raurangi

Gottfried Lindauer (1839–1926) and Charles F Goldie (1870-1947) are New Zealand’s most renowned colonial portrait painters of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Their portraits continue to captivate viewers today as much as they did when they were first created more than 100 years ago.

These portraits are cherished and celebrated by descendant communities, and their ongoing involvement with the portraits has provided a rich layer of knowledge and narrative that continues to add to the importance of these images. In this regard, descendant communities have contributed to a new way of viewing these paintings as living portraits with living connections to people today. This exhibition includes contemporary art works by artists who share an association to the people depicted whereby their contemporary artworks reaffirm genealogical ties and the enduring nature of both Gottfried Lindauer and Charles F Goldie’s paintings. Elsewhere, the events, deeds and histories of the portrait subjects are expanded upon through the incorporation of watercolour paintings and early photographic works that add to this conversation about the life and times of the sitters depicted.

Living Portraits: Mata Raurangi engages with Aotearoa New Zealand’s cultural heritage and the importance of people, while offering new insights and perspectives on historical portraits made anew by the contemporary art expressions of descendants today.

Artwork credits: 

Gottfried Lindauer
Eru Tamaikoha Te Ariari 1903
oil on canvas
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of Mr H E Partridge, 1915

Aimee Ratana (Ngāi Tūhoe)
Hinepukohurani 2007
Framed photographic print
Collection of the artist.