The Art of the Untrained Artist in Colonial New Zealand

Abstract

The thesis investigates the art of the untrained artists working in New Zealand between 1840 and 1880. It surveys the range of their artistic skills and achievements in order to make visible artists and art that have been largely unrecognised. It also assesses the contribution that this art has made to the cultural and artistic history of New Zealand. In doing so, it questions the usefulness of standard approaches to New Zealand art. It concludes that an appropriate assessment requires a broader approach which is able to take into account the varied aspects that untrained artists' work offers as a consequence of its being outside the mainstream. The art of the untrained artists offers not only unique and personal visual records of colonial life but also vivid and evocative images, and unconventional means of depiction which have a link with twentieth century modernism, and in particular with key twentieth century New Zealand landscape painters. These issues are surveyed in four broad artist categories: settlers, surveyors, military, and women artists. Within each category, a representative selection of artists and their works is considered, with the intention of offering a substantial picture of not just the context of production of the art works but also the individual circumstances and motivations that prompted people to make art during the colonial period which was for them characterised by social and physical upheaval. The thesis shows that the art of the untrained artist in colonial New Zealand offers a unique vision and artistic achievement which have not previously been fully recognised and which make a significant contribution to New Zealand's cultural history.