New Zealand Art Print News

The Fishbomb Prints - Frizzell & Son street art collaboration

2012-05-24T14:41:00.000+12:00

Just when you thought you had finally untangled NZ artists known as Frizzell (see our helpful Frizzell disambiguation article) along came Dick and Otis' street art collaboration, the so called "Fishbomb" series they painted under the moniker "Frizzell & Son". This intergeneration collaboration between Dick "the godfather of NZ pop art" (as he was bemused to be introduced as on TVNZ's Good Morning progamme recently) and Otis, one of NZ's best known street artists, came about on the occasion of the recent Blockbusters exhibition held at Saatchi & Saatchi Gallery in Auckland.

Courtesy of The Area you can watch the creation of this series of graffiti style paintings in the above video of Dick & Otis Frizzell painting at The Area April 29th 2012.

There are four 'fish bomb"prints available, editions of 50 with the Frizzell & Son logo beneath the image. Signed by both artists and numbered by hand. They feature in our growing collection of street art at NZ Fine Prints.

Kahawai Graffiti style painting by Frizzell & Son (Otis & Dick Frizzell) - limited edition prints now available here

How Robin White learned to make prints

2012-05-15T14:13:00.000+12:00

Robin White Self-Portait Print
This is me at Kaitangata | Screenprint
Credit: Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki 1979/66

In 1981 Dame Robin White was living near Dunedin at Portabello on the Otago Peninsula. The series of silkscreen (screenprint) prints that White was in the process of completing are now some of NZ's most famous and valuable editions (see previous article on the record price for a NZ print at auction) - a roll call of instantly recognisable works such as "A Buzzy Bee for Siulolovao" (1977), "Florence and Harbour Cone" (1975) and "Mangaweka" (1974). In addition to her reputation as a painter White's silkscreens, taken together with the prints of E. Mervyn Taylor and Gordon Walters, are the most significant bodies of work by New Zealand artist printmakers.

In part of an interview she gave with Alistair Taylor for the long out of print monograph Robin White: New Zealand Painter published in 1981 I was delighted to find White telling the whole story of how her printmaking progressed from where she had just "mucked around around with a few things" at teachers' college to producing what are now among the most sought after editions for collectors of New Zealand prints.

The story of how her printmaking practice evolved was recounted in such illuminating depth (and with plenty of fascinating detail for printmakers about the technical challenges of mastering the screenprinting method) that I asked Dame Robin her permission to re-print verbatim the questions and answers from the interview in NZ Art Print News. She very kindly gave me her permission and I am extremely grateful to her to be able to share this unique insight into NZ printmaking history with our readers. I hope publicising this wonderfully candid discussion of how she began and developed her printmaking pratice will be an inspiration to other NZ printmakers because through reading this discussion you quickly realise that even for such a revered printmaker in the NZ canon the journey to artistic and technical mastery of the printmaking medium had to start at the very beginning - and cross many practical and inspirational hurdles along the way.

Perspective: Robin White talks to Alister Taylor*

Alister Taylor: And then, in 1970, you began producing editions of screen prints. How did all that come about, because in some circles you're best known for your prints?

Robin White: I'd done a little bit at school, but not very much, so it was at teachers' college that I explored screen printing in a little more detail. Not to a very great extent, but I mucked around with a few things, then thought nothing more of it. I was at Bottle Creek doing a series of drawings and watercolors and oil paintings of state houses surrounding the school. At 3.30pm school would finish, and I'd stay on, after all the kids had left. School was empty, and I used to sit in the grounds and draw the hills surrounding the school, for a couple of hours until the sun went. Then I'd go home. Initially the hills were bush clad and parts of them were being bulldozed and in square geometric kinds of shapes. The hills in Wellington are very sensuous, much more so than the hills down near Dunedin. These hills where I live now are ancient looking, whereas the hills in Wellington really go up and down, they're very lively-looking. And the stark geometric houses in front of the hills had quite an attraction for me. I began drawing them and painting. It struck me that these images might work well as a mass produced kind of item. Just as the houses themselves were mass produced. And that got me thinking about how you would reproduce an image: what's the best way? From there, I thought I'd look into screen printing again. So I did that. But in fact the first print I did wasn't one of those Porirua things, it was the Boatsheds at Paremata, which presented quite a simple format. Just a plain hill, a very lovely kind of simple solid shape. And then the elongated shape of the boat sheds in front. So that was my first print. And then I did the Mana Railway Station after that, and then went back to Porirua, and did some prints of the houses and shops there.

Alister Taylor: Did you do the prints as a completely separate thing from your painting, or complementary to it?

Robin White: As a completely separate thing. I've always thought of prints being completely separate. Initially, there's an idea; it may be the Mana Railway Station. If I do a drawing of it, or a painting, or a print, they're all separate, even though they're of the same image. They're all different inasmuch as each medium requires a different approach, a different way of translating the image. I conceive them separately; like the Mana Railway Station. The first image I produced of that was a screen print, then about eight months later I started a painting.

Alister Taylor: So the drawing isn't necessarily a preparation for the painting?

Robin White: In some ways it's a coming to terms with it, but always the painting presents its own battle, its own requirements. And a print is never a reproduction of a painting. It makes its own demands, it has its own life, its own thing going for it. This whole idea is becoming more and more pronounced in my work. Like this latest print I've done - Mere and Siulolovao - there was no preparation for that, the print developed almost as a painting. I did a linear drawing, a sort of basic format for the print, but I didn't do a complete drawing, not did I do any colour rough for it; the print was worked out as I went. When I started off the initial planning for that print, it involved something like 32 colours. It ended up with an awful lot more, because I changed the colours as I went. I overprinted and I reprinted some of the areas as I saw the print develop. So the prints are becoming more and more like paintings in a way.

Alister Taylor: Have your prints changed all that much technically since you started?

Robin White: Very much so. Well, obviously to start with, with the very first prints. I was not only trying to put an idea down on paper, but I was also trying to find out how to print. I was restricted by my own limited knowledge of screenprinting.

Alister Taylor: You hadn't learned that at Teachers' College as part of the course?

Robin White: Only the very basics. What I hadn't come to terms with at teachers' college was the problem of precision in registration. Nor had I bothered about the kind of paper to choose really - that sort of thing. So my first prints were pretty hairy, technically. I was using cotton organdie stretched over the screen, and cotton organdie is pretty coarse; and I was using Heatset dye, which is a water-based screen printing dye for printing onto fabric. The effect was really nice, but it had certain disadvantages. The coarseness of the cotton organdie on the screen, and the kind of semi-transparency of the ink I was using gave a really nice feeling of the screen on the paper; you can see the grain of the organdie. That was rather nice. But I was working with a very limited range of colours because of this problem of registration. I hadn't really figured out a good system to use, it was really just a trial and error thing. I was just making mistakes and figuring out how to put the mistakes right, and that's how I learned. The first print, that one of the Boatsheds at Paremata, had only about six colours, I think, and the Mana Railway Station had about seven: they got a little bit more complicated as they went along. As I solved some of the problems with registration, I started to use more colours, but this provided a problem, because the ink I was using was water-based - it tended to soak into the paper and I got problems with shrinkage, which again presented more problems with registration. So I had to devise ways of placing objects side by side, and using lines to cover the inevitable discrepancies in registration I was getting. Generally I was very limited, so I did two things to solve these problems. I really looked into the business of the kind of paper I was using and started to use a much heavier paper, and I also changed to using Morrison's oil base screen printing ink, which is more stable on the paper - it doesn't make the paper buckle or do funny things; it has a much more bland kind of finish, sort of opaque. Its finish is not as lively, perhaps. It's different, much thicker and more 'painted'. But the result was that I could increase the number of colours, which in turn means the complexity of the print increased. I was given a lot more freedom.

Alister Taylor: And how did you solve the problems of registration finally?

Robin White: Well, the problem of shrinkage almost vanished. However, unless you've got a temperature-controlled working area (which I don't have), your paper will vary in size according to the temperature and humidity of the day. You anticipate these kinds of things happening. So when you cut the stencils you allow for the colours to overlap in some places, and you put a few lines here and there where you might have trouble, and you hope for the best. The results are never perfect. There are always some mistakes.

Alister Taylor: And they add to the individuality of the print anyway.

Robin White: Right. I mean, you just have to be philosophical about certain things. You've got to say this is a hand-produced item which is bound to have certain defects which are consistent and therefore an acceptable part of the print. When I became more confident I upped the number in each edition. The first edition had about 15 prints, and now I produce 50 - well, I aim at getting about 50 good prints from an edition, usually. I don't always make it. Depending on how complex the print is and how many mistakes I anticipate in the course of the print, I choose somewhere between 80-100 sheets of paper to start with, so I'm printing about 80-100 prints and from these I try to get 50 good ones.

Alister Taylor: That must take a hell of a long time to produce, in terms of hours, apart from the pre-production work and conception.

Robin White: Some more than others. This last one I started in the beginning of March and worked on it full-time and finished it about the first week of April, so it took me well over a month - working every day, eight hours a day or sometimes more.

Alister Taylor: Why do you spend that amount of time on a print?

Robin White: Once I start on a print I've got to keep going. It's not like a painting. I can't stop and go and do something else and then come back to it. What I do is have the whole thing basically worked out in my head, but I make a note on a piece of paper of more or less what each run will be. In order to keep that sense of consistency going in my head, I've got to work on a print from beginning to end without a break, otherwise I'm afraid of losing the thread of what I'm doing. A decision you make about one colour at the beginning of a print may not have repercussions until towards the end of the print, so just to keep that thread of consciousness - and to keep control of it - I've got to keep going with it. Especially considering the complexity of some of the ones I'm doing now. That last one I did was a hair raiser! If you make a mistake with colour you can go over it and reprint it but if you get one colour off register it throws the whole thing. You build up a sense of tension, and that tension in itself creates a kind of close relationship between yourself and the work, which is good.

Alister Taylor: And the sort of decisions you make along the way means that you wouldn't want it to go to anyone else to be printed?

Robin White: No. One print has been printed by someone else (the Print Club edition of Allan's Beach) and I still don't think of it as my print.

Alister Taylor: It's a basically simple print too, in terms of numbers of colours and complexity.

Robin White: Yes. The kind of print I've just done could never be printed by anyone else but me, because decisions are being made as I go. OK, I have the basic scheme in my head, but there are a million minor decisions which are continually being made and changed and redone and rethought as I go.

Alister Taylor: Any other reason why you prefer to make your own prints?

Robin White: Yes, for example in prints involving large areas of landscape sometimes I paint directly on to the screen with shellac; when I'm building up textured areas, like the large Hoopers Inlet print, there are areas on the print where I paint directly on to the screen; that's something no-one else could do for me really.

Alister Taylor: What's the purpose of painting directly onto the screen, to change the image as you go along?

Robin White: One of the technical advantages of painting directly on to the screen is that you don't have to change the stencil. If you've got an area with three different colours, you can print the first colour over the whole area, block out parts of it, print the second, block out a greater part, and print the third colour. The alternative is to produce three separate stencils, but by painting directly on to the screen, somehow the effect is much more together. And it's also that you feel very much closer to the whole process - to what's happening. The final image has a sense of immediacy and closeness. Screenprinting can be repetitive, boring work. What makes it interesting is this kind of close contact with the final image. The fact that you're seeing it evolve, not as a preconceived idea, but as something growing organically of its own accord as it goes.

Alister Taylor: So in effect you'll carry on making your own prints rather than getting someone else to do them?

Robin White: I think so.

*Excerpt from an interview with Robin White by Alister Taylor, published in Robin White, New Zealand Painter, 1981, reproduced with the kind permission of Robin White 2012.

1938 review - Rita Angus portraits "harsh and unpleasant", Cass "too plain altogether"

2012-05-09T11:26:00.001+12:00

In a delightful twist to a well worn narrative from NZ's art history NZ Art Print News discovers that the first critic to review Rita Angus's "Cass" heartily disliked the artwork that would become "New Zealand's favourite painting".

"most unpleasant spot", the painting is "too plain altogether"

The usual version of the Rita Angus story is that Angus's famous New Zealand painting Cass appears "exhibited in the National Centennial Exhibition of New Zealand Art [in 1940], signalling critical recognition for her work."*

However listed under her married name "Rita Cook" the exhibition two years earlier of "Cass" and "Mountains Cass" at the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts annual exhibition was in fact recognised with a scornful critical review published on page 6 of Wellington's Evening Post newspaper 1 October 1938.**

"Rita Cook gives two portraits. One is very harsh and unpleasant in colour, and the other is a plain statement with little to support it. The landscapes which have been taken from the most unpleasant spots are too plain altogether. They are so busy too, every mark on the hillside and railway station being given full prominence, and all backed by raging skies. Why should Nature be made to appear so unrelenting?"

What would become half a century later New Zealand's most popular painting was not even referred to by title. When the National Library kindly emailed this writer a copy of the exhibition catalogue so we could identify the actual titles of the paintings Rita "Cook" had submitted, we couldn't believe that of all Angus's landscape paintings to be condemned in such harsh terms it just happened to be the painting recently voted NZ's favourite. The four paintings exhibited by Angus were "Cass", "Mountains Cass", a portrait of "Harvey Gresham esq" and one listed simply as "Portrait" that was not for sale, presumably a self-portrait.

The full review is fascinating reading, discussing significant mid twientieth century NZ artists who had submitted work that shows how their art was seen at the time by a reviewer who clearly saw themselves as part of the established order. The reviewer struggles unsuccessfully to fit the work of the modern artists into the development of New Zealand art and decides that not only have the painters failed to acheive their alleged objective copying overseas trends but the experimentation has led to "in some cases the ability to use paint… to have unaccountably vanished."

THE ACADEMY EXHIBITION

DEPARTURE FROM ORTHODOXY

When the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts was founded some fifty years ago, it was by men and women who, after battling with Nature, wished to devote some time and attention to the higher things of life. Theirs was a vigorous culture of a high standard, built on a sound British tradition, and the foundation of the Academy was with the object of enlarging and fostering this culture.

Art in New Zealand has largely remained traditional, as a visit to the academy's fiftieth annual exhibition which is now open will show. So far nothing new has evolved, and even that which is termed "modern" is not new. It is simply imitative of work being done abroad. But the fact that New Zealand art has hitherto been built up on tradition is no detriment. It is good to have been built up on a sound tradition brought first hand to this country by artists such as Petrus Van der Velden and James Nairn, but it would be pleasing to be able to point at the same time to signs of the beginning of a distinctive school of New Zealand art. That, however, cannot as yet be done, although by the time the academy has centennial celebrations perhaps a different story will be told.

In the meantime there are hundreds of young people attending classes in New Zealand's schools of art, but very few seem to emerge with distinction. Between the artists who have gained a standing in New Zealand and the younger painters there is a big gap. If there were more true amateurs in the realm of art in the Dominion, and not so many who endeavor to make a precarious living out of art, the best might develop more fully and continue the good work commenced so well in days gone by.

The annual exhibition of the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts is representative of the work of artists right throughout the Dominion. Most of the artists who usually exhibit are doing so again this year, the two most noticeable exceptions being Sydney L. Thompson and H. Linley Richardson, both of whom are abroad at the present time. It is a pity that they were unable to send something for the jubilee exhibition so as to make it absolutely representative of the Dominion's art. The present exhibition reaches a high standard, and gives an impression of brightness and vitality. The grouping of the pictures in panels is a distinct aid to serious scrutiny, since the continuous line line usually adopted can become very monotonous.

The most important oils are hung in the main gallery and occupy the north wall. Groups of brilliant watercolors are arranged on the two south walls. The pictures in the smaller galleries have been grouped according to outlook, and some of the very fine drawings in No.5 gallery should not be overlooked.

The centre panel confronting the visitor on entering the main door is very rich in colour, with a dignified portrait of Professor J. Hight by Mrs Elizabeth Kelly, M.B.E., occupying the place of honour. This difficult subject has been treated with restraint; character is given to the sitter, and the scarlet academic gown is not allowed to detract from the portrait.

Mrs Elizabeth Kelly is a very consistent artist who has not been led astray by the many phases of experimentalism which has taken so many off the right track. She has gone on successfully doing her work and advancing year by year. Honour does not come easily to artists in this country and all New Zealand was gratified when the distinction of M.B.E. was granted this year to this well-known painter. No.65, "Miss Edith Maes", is another example of Mrs Kelly's work. It is simple in composition, fine in colour, and contains all that feminine charm which is essential to a portrait of a woman. This work has been hung in the Royal Academy Exhibition, and received a silver medal when hung in the Paris Salon. That versatility belongs to this painter is shown in No.68, "Autumn, Christchurch". The facade of the Museum provides a very picturesque subject, well handled. The colour is a delight, quiet greys with the bright tints of the autumn leaves as accents.

Cecil Kelly, of Christchurch, exhibits an oil painting of houses in sunlight which will be one of the really bright spots of the show. It is lovely in colour and carried through with consistency and charm. No.68, "Sunlit Headlands", by the same artist, is not quite so happy. The sea somehow refuses to fit in, but there is some good painting in the cliffs and foreground.

Nugent Walsh has on this occasion given more oils than watercolors, and very robust oils they are. No.63, "Land Breeze", is vigorous and fresh, with such moving, drifting clouds as one sees on a breezy day. The dark masses of trees are beautifully placed. "A Fordell Landscape" is very well designed and has grace and dignity. No.62, "A Bend in the Road", is well conceived and carried out. It has a definite quality and vitality. These oils bring out the truth of the countryside, and show distinctly that they have been produced by a true lover of nature.

Archibald F. Nicoll always has something to say, and although his works are not large, they are admirable. No.61, "Brown's Farmyard", is well composed, the dark masses of the hayricks forming a fine pattern. A luminous sky is a satisfactory background. No.53, "West Welton Road", an avenue of trees giving shade, makes a very pleasing picture. The whole picture has decorative quality and serenity. "September" has a very vigorous quality. The moving clouds throw shadows on the pasture and this happy arrangement of light and shade sets off the landscape to perfection.

VITAL FIGURE PAINTING

A.H. O'Keefe does not often show in Wellington. His two figure subjects are among the most vital in the whole exhibition. No.35, "Charlie", is delightful in its truth. Here is a boy, quite natural, no attempt being made to dress up, clothes rather in a bundle, hair not carefully brushed. But is it full of life, it is flesh and blood. The colour is lovely, the background harmonizing with the pure greys used in the jumper. "Study in a Mirror" has the same fine sense of colour, but is not quite as successful as "Charlie". The artist knows how to handle paint and sees things in a less conventional manner than many portrait painters.

Basil Honour shows a versatility of subject and his work is always looked forward to in these exhibitions. He has a remarkable ability and tackles subjects which are not of an easy nature. The large canvas, "The Cockayne Icefall", is well carried out and rings true. It is a very fine effort, the feeling of depth in the abyss very telling. No.87, "Canterbury Hills", reveals careful observation on the part of the artist, and the picture is truly typical of New Zealand. No.88, "Evening, Routeburn Valley", charmingly depicts in colour that peaceful hour of the day, and "Puponga", with its colour scheme of blue and gold, will be a favourite.

Of the two portraits shown by Mrs M.E.R. Tripe, No.77, "The Corner Table", is the more complete. The colour scheme of warm browns is carried well through, the darker colour in the gown being brought out by by the marigolds, repeated again in the brass jug, and the gold stripe in the table cloth. The background is quiet and helpful. No.45 seems to lack solidity, and the drawing of the eyes and mouth are not satisfactory. Three decorations of flowers by this artist have charm and distinction.

J. Cam Duncan shows three small canvases of delightful subjects. They are all carried out thoroughly, and possess a distinction of their own. The colour is restrained, but nothing is lost because of this.

THE WOULD-BE "MODERNS"

Work which will be termed "modern" by many visitors to the exhibition has as far as possible been grouped together. The New Zealand Academy always encourages any work which it feels to be sincere, no matter what the artist's outlook or method of approach may be. Much of what is exhibited in this "modern" group is by artists who, until quite recently, painted in a more academic manner but who have now been influenced by certain artists who are experimenting in new phases of art. "Copyists" rather than "modernists" might be the term to apply to some of them. In some cases it would appear that the subject which has been chased has eluded them: and in some cases the ability to use paint seem to have unaccountably vanished.

John Weeks shows a group of work sufficient enough to show his advance into another school of thought. His work hangs together and is as a whole a very fine colour scheme. No.202, "Afternoon on the Seine", is a pleasing arrangement but lacks the necessary life. It is good in colour and tells its story quite plainly. No.200, "Pots and Paintrags", is very rich in colour, but too scattered. No.202, "Circus Camp, Avignon", and No.198, "Jewish Women Washing", are the two most successful efforts, with good colour and design in both. It does not matter much whether the subject is immediately apparent, the canvas as a whole pleases. In the landscape which has been treated in the same manner the whole truth is lost, it becomes simply a dark mass.

Evelyn Page, whose work in the past was eagerly looked forward to, has also embarked on an adventurous and exciting path. As most of the subjects are of scenes abroad, it would appear that during a recent sojourn outside New Zealand she has been directly under the influence of a painter who has imposed his outlook upon her. While under that influence all is fairly well, but when away from it the results are not so successful. "Charles Brasch", No.173, is quite a vigorous portrait. It is good in colour and well arranged and is painted freshly and courageously. No.174, "Outskirts of Exeter", has consistency, a sense of rhythm, and again good colour. No.172 is the most successful of all. It is full of sunlight, contains life and incident. But this is more of the type of work received from Evelyn Page in the past before she commenced to make Nature conform to her idea of what it should be.

Rita Cook [nee Rita Angus] gives two portraits. One is very harsh and unpleasant in colour, and the other is a plain statement with little to support it. The landscapes which have been taken from the most unpleasant spots are too plain altogether. They are so busy too, every mark on the hillside and railway station being given full prominence, and all backed by raging skies. Why should Nature be made to appear so unrelenting?

Russel Clark's work is disappointing. It would be better if this artist devoted more time to serious study than trying to adopt the outlook of other people. Every work is imitative, and unhappily crude in colour.

Louise Henderson is working out a way which is individual. She simplifies very well and uses the essentials to the best of their advantage. Her colour is good, delicate, but harmonious. Her work has some relation to the subject chosen, but is not too traditional.

Owen Lee depicts the clarity of the New Zealand atmosphere with truth. His work is sound and carefully considered. At the present time one can see the influence of certain mature painters in it, but with such sincerity he must develop along his own lines.

GOOD WATERCOLOURS

The watercolour section of the exhibition is particularly interesting. It is numerically stronger than the oils, and perhaps pictorially, too. This medium suits the New Zealand light, and gives a brilliance which other mediums often lack. There are works which surpass anything shown before and which will give great enjoyment and pleasure to the visitor.

It is good to see the works of one artist grouped together. This allows the onlooker to see whether it is consistent or not. Often one brilliant work appears and that shown later is disappointing. This is not the case with T.A.McCormack. All his watercolours have a fresh quality and sparkle, and each one can stand up to the other. The still life which is centered is a happy starting off for surrounding work. It is beautiful in colour, the lovely colour and shapes of the spiky flowers being well set off by the dark notes introduced by the fruit and leaves, and the delightfully freely-painted plate. On either side are a landscape, and a seascape, both quiet but rich in colour. No.11, "Across the Straits", is very complete and satisfying. The harmony of browns and greys is delightful, the green of the sea being a perfect complement. Distant hills bathed in atmosphere add a feeling of glamour. No.15, "The Poplars", is dignified and serene. It gains considerably through its restraint of colour. No.12, "Geraniums", is crisp and well conceived. The manner in which the foliage is treated is a good lesson to any student. The crystal vase shows quality of texture. Both the cloud subject and the seascape on either side of "Geraniums" have beautiful colour and are very carefully observed. There is great luminosity in the seascape.

James Cook has only two watercolours on exhibition, but No.103, "Les Angles", makes up for lack in numbers. It is a very fine drawing thoughtfully approached and well carried out. One would like to see more of this sort of work by the younger painters in New Zealand.

Nugent Welch shows three watercolors only, fresh and charming. His work is always looked forward to at these exhibitions,

Esther Hope is most successful in her works where the native nikau palms make the motif. They are both very low in tone, but give a feeling of the density and sombreness of our native bush. No.127, "My Garden", is lovely in colour, but rather scattered.

Jean McKay has several flower pieces on view. These are bright in colour and show skill in execution. A little more thought regarding composition would help them along.

Olivia Spenser Bower has used the ballet for subject, and is most successful in "Beau Danube". This has very rich colour and a good sense of rhythm.

Beatrice Seddon shows a bunch of vivid rhododendrons which enliven the end panel.

F.H. Coventry exhibits some scholarly drawings, and Eric Lee Johnston some excellent lithographs.

*[Jill Trevelyan. 'Angus, Henrietta Catherine - Biography', from the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 1-Sep-10]

**This review is one of the many millions of treasures recently brought to light through the superb Paperspast digitisation project at the National Library. NZ Art Print News gratefully acknowledges Paperspast as the source for a scan of the Evening Post that we have transcribed for this article.

How to photograph paintings to make perfect prints - a discussion with Auckland photographer Bret Lucas

2012-05-04T23:05:00.000+12:00

At the Beach, Auckland Artist: Simon Williams
Fine Art Canvas Print 450 x 320mm

Auckland painter Simon Williams' first series of fine art canvas prints has just been published. These superb quality reproductions printed on canvas right here in New Zealand (Simon's new print At the Beach, Auckland is shown at right) are an excellent example of the kind of technically accomplished reproduction that is now possible for NZ artists looking to sell prints of their paintings. We have written recently about the vibrant digital printing scene in NZ but the arrival of Williams' particularly fine quality prints made us realise that we hadn't covered the vital first step in reproducing a painting as a print - the photographing of the painting.

So in this article we talk to Auckland photographer and lighting expert Bret Lucas of Fstopstudios (company motto "Light it Right"!) about how he ensures artists like Simon Williams will be able to create the perfect prints by expertly photographing their paintings at his specialist studio in Penrose. NZ artists contemplating publishing prints will hopefully find the following discussion with Bret a valuable in depth technical explanation covering the techniques and experience that an artist requires from their photographer to ensure they successfully navigate their way over the image capture hurdle on the way to printing the perfect reproduction of an original painting.

Whether the end product is a canvas, offset or digital/giclee print the printing process nearly always now begins the same way with capturing the image digitally. We are very grateful to Bret for taking time out of his busy schedule to explain to NZ Art Print News what a professional photographer considers when photographing paintings at an incredibly high resolution so the artworks can be faithfully reproduced down to the smallest brushstroke like they are in modern reproduction prints.

NZ Art Print News: Photographing the painting correctly is such an important part of getting a good reproduction print or print on canvas.

Bret Lucas: Yes, this is often overlooked by many and it really is the difference between selling a few prints and a lot of prints.

NZ Art Print News: How do you make sure the painting is photographed perfectly? Light and reflection are so problematic. And how do you get a square picture! [I know from photographing prints for our catalogues at NZ Fine Prints that this is really, really hard to do - I sometimes end up having to crop corners off the pictures of the prints at pre-press time!].

How to light a painting so it photographs correctly
(Image courtesy Fstop Studios)

Bret Lucas: It's all about the light and how it's placed and reflected off the art work. All sorts of things come into play including the surface being photographed, the "family of angles", incident and reflective light, the lights depth of field, white balance, just to name a few.

I'll break this down and describe what I mean. Firstly the surface that's been photographed. If the painting or art work has physical depth due to paint brush strokes this can cause a problem with allowing unwanted specular reflections onto the final image. Understanding the family of angles allows the fix. It's a little bit like playing billiards with light. Aim the light at the surface and make sure it doesn't land in your lens when reflected off the artwork. If I'm photographing a large piece of work I'll back the light sources away to allow for the light to have less falloff across the painting. I'll also use an incident light meter to make sure the strength of the light is consistent across the entire surface of the artwork. White balance is also very important when captured a painting. The ideal is to have the colours of the painting the same as the colours in the print or canvas. I have a very good understanding of colour management and this comes in handy to make colours true both in print and on a monitor.

Getting the art work square is another thing that I pay particular attention to. Not only does the camera need to be lined up perfectly both horizontally and vertically to keep all vertical and horizontal lines true, but the distance the camera is to the artwork is equally important. Too close and you end up with a type of barrel distortion, too far away and you get a sort of pin cushioning effect. Both can be corrected in post processing, but why not get it right in camera first. The Hasselblad lenses I use allows for distortion free imagery.

NZ Art Print News: Do you have to take the painting out of the frame?

Bret Lucas: Ideally I'll take the picture out of the frame, but if that's not an option I can work around it as I have a very thorough understanding of light and how it works on surfaces.

NZ Art Print News: Do you photograph in your studio or where the painting is hung?

Bret Lucas: I have a 5000 square foot studio and shoot all types of work from cars and large sets to paintings. I have no problem shooting paintings on location but prefer total control over the environment so favour in studio shooting.

NZ Art Print News: What equipment do you use to photograph paintings?

Bret Lucas: I used to only shoot with a professional DSLR camera and still use it outside the studio but for all work in studio I use a Digital Medium Format Hasselblad camera. It has many times the resolution of a DSLR camera and provides perfect colours right out of the camera. A good example of where a DSLR falls short is how it captures reds, they are often overcooked and look nasty. The sharpness of a DSLR is also a compromise and is soft in comparison to medium format photography. The Hasselblad is the perfect camera to shoot art work and will guarantee perfect results every time. My lighting equipment is Profoto. The colour of the light is perfect from shot to shot and doesn't shift like many other brands of inferior studio lighting equipment.

NZ Art Print News: Once the painting is photographed is further processing of the image required before you hand the file over to the printers?

Bret Lucas: I use a tethered shooting process which involves hooking the camera up to a large monitor and viewing the images on the screen as they are captured. This allows for quick and easy post processing. I'll jump into Photoshop for the last bit of retouching.

Mt Eden View Artist: Simon Williams
Fine Art Canvas Print 450 x 275mm

Bret went on to tell us that although he has always photographed digitally he "found it hard to find professional photographic lighting courses that went into immense detail on lighting. New Zealand and Australia just didn't cut the mustard so I spent 5 years learning light on my own. Four years ago I purchased my own warehouse and now work from the studios I've built on a variety of projects." Bret's dedication to understanding the way that light affects the way a camera photographs a painting certainly shows when you view the brilliant new series of canvas prints from Simon Williams that illustrate this article.

As an artist having your painting photographed correctly by a professional photographer is a critical part of the process of reproducing a painting as a print, particularly with the extremely high resolution giclee prints and prints on canvas that print buyers are becoming used to buying.

More about the artworks from Simon Williams that illustrate our how to photograph paintings article:

Simon Williams has printed a selection of fine art canvas prints of his most admired paintings from a decade of successful solo exhibitions held mainly at Auckland's prestigious International Art Centre. "The contemplative beauty" of paintings by Simon Williams, writes International Art Centre's Director Frances Davies, "quiets the mind and refreshes the soul, reminding us of what we love best about New Zealand". You can purchase Simon Williams' new prints exclusively from the canvas prints collection at New Zealand's favourite art print store.

Lithographic stone discovered in NZ by early surveyors

2012-04-30T11:26:00.002+12:00

SS Waipara loading lithographic stone in Pawa Rika Harbor./Abbey Rocks. N.Z.

Harrison & Sons, Lith. St. Martins Lane, W.C.

159 x 213mm. Lithograph in tints (EPNZ 766).

The scarce print shown here illustrates one of the more interesting and lesser known adventures in early New Zealand printmaking. In the 1860s the Abbey Rocks, midway between the Paringa and Moeraki Rivers on the west coast of the South Island were discovered by two surveyors (Arthur and Docherty) to be of lithographic stone.

In the mid to late 19th century there was increasing demand for printing on NZ subjects beyond simple letterpress. News of the wars fought during the 1860s was crying out for illustration. Grayling's "The War in Taranaki" is notable for this period as it was printed locally rather than published in England and contained several pages of wood engravings.

Within a very short time, however, there was a rapid increase in the number of presses operating in New Zealand. Population growth alone demanded the ready dissemination of news, and though letterpress was still predominant the majority of the pictures drawn, engraved and printed in New Zealand were lithographs. According to Early Prints of New Zealand "lithography was a form of reproduction more easily learned than wood or metal engraving: provided the artist remembered to reverse his subject, or used transfer paper, the process was little more difficult than drawing on paper, and the equipment necessary was less complex and expensive for the printer."

A development company was launched, and a large sum of money spent on cutting and shipping several tons of the polished stone to London. Tests carried out there threw doubts on the quality of the stone, and later experiments nearer home, in the printery of Sands & McDougall of Melbourne, proved the stone to be full of flaws. At the time (1866-67) the Melbourne International Exhibition was open and had attracted several German printers. They were shown the Abbey Rocks stone, but were not prepared to use it, and the venture failed.

The print shows the S.S. Waipara loading stone off the Abbey Rocks. The ship herself fared no better than the enterprise she is pictured in: a West Coast trader, she ran aground ten times and was finally wrecked in 1898. The print is undated, but shows the ship as she appeared between 1867 and 1871, when a third mast was added.

Charming story of a very early colour print with a NZ connection

2012-04-20T11:03:00.000+12:00

The Poa (New Zealand tui; Prosthemadera nova zelandiae) engraved and printed by Robert Laurie. A tale from Early Prints of New Zealand.

This print is a personal favourite and the story behind the picture is one of the most interesting related to any early New Zealand print. Captain James Cook reached England on 30th July 1775 at the conclusion of his second voyage of discovery. Among the items he brought back was a tui, stuffed (rather meagrely) and mounted.

The Poa [Tui] 1776 print by Robert Laurie

The excitement generated by Cook's exploits was infectious, and one of those affected was young Robert Laurie a Scottish designer who was at the time working to perfect a method of printing in oil colours. Laurie seized the opportunity to select for his first print in the new process an item associated with Cook's voyage and his choice is forever associated with New Zealand. In March 1776 he wrote to the Society of Arts, and the correspondence which ensued seems both important and charming enough to be quoted fully.

"To the Honourable Society for the Encouragement of Arts manufactures & Commerce —

My Lords & Gentlemen

your great Encouragement & Zealous Attention for Promoting the Liberal Sciences, imboldens me in my Juvenal State to Attempt something out of the Common way, the which I now lay before the Society for there Judicious Inspection —

As the ingenious & Laborious Works of many Eminent Men, have been ushered into the World, with inelegant & Unexpensive Cutts in them, principally owing to the vast Expence attending the Performanse of them, induced me to Attempt this Method of Engraving, which I have found to Answer my most sanguine Expectation, not only for the Ease they may be Executed with but Also the Expedition, & Consequently less Expence, — In this Manner Animals Plants &c for Illustrating Natural History, may be finish'd very near Nature & in the Proper Colours much Resembling a Drawing, the Plates of which may be repair'd so as to Admit a large Impression.

If this my first Attempt should meet with your Approbation; it will Encourage me under your Protection to proceed on a more Extensive Plan. The Bird here Represented is from one which Capt. Cook brought from between the Tropic's; caught in his last Voyage round the World — the Plate of which I beg leave to lay before your Honourable Society ..."

Laurie, though just twenty, had already received several prizes from the Society, the earliest in 1770 — a silver palette for a figure drawing — and others in 1773, 1775, and 1776 for designs for calico printing. The Society, well disposed towards him, met on March 22nd 1776. The Minutes included the following note:

"Took into Consideration the print of a Bird in Colours from Mr. Laurie Examined the print and plate and read the Letter sent therewith Mr Laurie attending was called in and informed the Committee That the print is done in MezzoTinto That the plate will carry 500 Impressions without repairing and that when necessary the plate may be easily repaired so as to produce any number That a Hundred Impressions may be made in Colour in one Day

That an Engraving on Copper in this manner can be performed in half the Time of a Common Engraving and Consequently afforded at a smaller price and that the printing in Colours may be done by a Common printer having first received Direction from the Artist and as he wishes to divulge the Method for the Benefit of the public is desirous to shew it to any Members of the Society who please to attend

Resolved it appears to the Committee that Mr Lauries Method of making Coloured Mezzotinto Engravings is Ingenious and new and will prove very useful to promote the Knowledge of Natural History

Resolved to recommend to the Society to give a Bounty of Thirty Guineas to Mr Laurie he laying open the Method of doing it for the Benefit of the Public . . ."

Committees moved no more quickly in 1776 than they do today, and it was not until eight months later that Laurie was asked to appear again before the Committee of Polite Arts. The Minutes for 15th November record:

"Mr Laurie attending was called in and gave such Information concerning the Method of etching and Engraving in Mezzotinto in Order to their being printed in Colours as was Satisfactory to the Committee he also explained the method of printing this kind of Engraving in Colours —

Resolved that the Committee be Summoned to meet ... to see the manner in which Mezzotinto Prints in Colour are taken from the Plates . . ."

Promptly at twelve on the 21st November, the Committee met:

"At Mr Smiths Copper Plate Printer in Kings Head Court near Gough Square . . .

The Committee saw the method of taking in Colours from Mezzotinto Plates, as Invented by Mr Laurie, which was performed by Mr Smith who had never executed that kind of work before that morning.

First a Bird from the Plate produced to the Society.

Time required for taking the Impressions as follows

Laying on the Colours 5 3/4 hours

Cleaning the Plate 3 1/4 hours

Under Press 2 hours

Total time 11 hours

The Committee also saw the Impressions taken from a Smaller Plate of a Head entitled Innocence and two impressions of each of these Plates are reserved for the Society . . ."

The members then adjourned until the evening of November 29th when Mr Laurie's letter was read:

"Mr Laurie informs the Committee

That a Copper Plate with an etched or engraved outline, dotted next the Lights, and filled in with Metzo-Tinto Ground, is printed in colours after Nature or from a Picture, by the following Process:

— The Plate being warmed in the usual manner, the colours are applied by means of stump Camel hair Pencils to the different parts as the subject suggests, it is then wiped with a coarse gauze Canvass, any other being improper, it is after that wiped clean with the hand as in common practice and being again warmed is passed thro' the Press.

— The Colours are mixed with the burnt Linseed Oil and those generally used by Painters are proper.

Attested by me Robt Laurie /Etat: 20"

On December 20th 1776 the Committee met to consider the candidates for award, and on January 8th 1777 Robert Laurie attended another meeting of the Committee:

"Mr Laurie to whom a Bounty of Thirty Guineas had been voted for his having disclosed his Manner of printing Mezzotinto in Colours attended gave Satisfaction and received the Bounty."

The Committee also ordered that "one of the Impressions (in Colours) of the Bird be framed and Glazed and the others carefully preserved in the Societys Collection."

It is an interesting sidelight that when Laurie issued the print commercially, he described the award as a 'Premium' of thirty guineas, not a 'Bounty'. A premium was awarded after previous public announcement and was in a sense a prize in competition; a bounty was awarded for items or ideas submitted non-competitively. Using the same plate, Laurie re-issued the print in 1784 and it is believed, produced a third edition at some time between 1784 and 1795 - these later issues bearing new text. Laurie's printing in oil colours, as well as pre-dating George Baxter [George Baxter (1804 - 1867) is regarded as the inventor of colour printing. The Baxter process which was patented in 1835 involved an initial metal keyplate and up to 20 wood or metal blocks to apply each individual colour all printed on hand presses. Baxter mixed all his own oil inks and each colour or layer of oil ink was built up to create a miniature oil painting - art for the masses. Apart from the sale of 'Oil Pictures' his prints were used to illustrate books, his 'Cabinet of Paintings' was the first to be published in full colour.] by almost sixty years and was done from copper plates and not from wooden blocks. Printing in colour did not become established as a normal commercial process until even later in the nineteenth century when lithography was developed so Robert Laurie was almost a century ahead in his methods when he printed the "Poa" print.

Map of NZ based on Cook's Charts

The authors' copy of The Poa was found mounted in a volume of old prints under a house: the stained and dirty book was on its way to the rubbish tip when it was rescued. Enquiry revealed the scarcity of the print, and at the time Murray-Oliver's Captain Cook's Artists in the Pacific, 1769-1779 was published, it was believed only four copies existed.

Subsequent searching has increased the number to ten of which eight are in institutions, and only two in private hands. The present census is:

1. Mitchell Library of the Library of New South Wales, Sydney

An untitled print, inscribed on the back: "Given by Capt. Cook the Circumnavigator to Robt. Laurie — who invented the art of Printing in Oil Colours — of which this plate was the first specimen — and he received from the Society of Arts in the Adelphi a premium and a medal for the same"

This copy, formerly in the possession of Capt. A. W. F. Fuller, was presented to the Mitchell Library in 1963 by his widow. It had been exhibited in 1937 by the Royal Society of Arts, and is believed to be the hand-coloured copy used by Laurie as a guide to colouring the mezzotint plate.

2. The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts Manufactures and Commerce, London An untitled print, framed, one of the two printed before the members of the Committee of Polite Arts on 21st November 1776. (The second copy cannot now be traced.) The mount is titled: Mezzotint by Robert Lawrie (aged 20) Awarded a Bounty by the Society in 1776. The Bird is copied from one which Captain Cook brought back from his last voyage.

This copy is a mezzotint in colour.

3. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington; The British Museum, Department of Prints and Drawings, London

The Poa./Robt. Laurie. Del. et feet./From the Bird which was brought from New Zeeland by Capt. Cook, in his late Voyage round the World. And which Obtained of the Society of Arts, a premium of 30 Guineas.—/Sold at No. 1 Johnsons Court, Fleet Street, & No. 37, Maiden Lane, Covent Garden. These copies are in black and white only, and may have been run to test black inking.

4. The Hocken Library, University of Otago, Dunedin; The Gisborne Art Gallery and Museum; The Rex Nan Kivell Collection of the National Library of Australia, Canberra; Private Collection, Wellington

Mezzotints in colour, from the same plate as the British Museum copy, and bearing the same text.

5. The Dixson Library of the Library of New South Wales, Sydney; The Authors' Collection The Poa./Robt. Laurie. Del. et feet./From the Bird which was brought from New Zeeland by Capt. Cook in his late Voyage round the World. And which Obtained of the Society of Arts, a premium of 30 Guineas.—/London, Publish'd by J. Sharpe No. 20 Portugal Street Lincolns Inn June 4; 1784. Mezzotints in colour

All ten prints seem to be taken from the same printing plate, on the evidence of tiny marks which occur on each. Platemark size is 35.5 x 25cm.

There may have been another issue, no copies of which have been traced. It is listed in: Laurie & Whittle; Catalogue of new and interesting prints . . . 1795.

The Poa bird, drawn from nature, brought back by the late Captain James Cook from the Sandwich Islands, printed in colours, 7/6.

The authors are particularly indebted to the Royal Society of Arts for their permission to quote so extensively from the Minutes of Committees.

The Poa print was reissued by Avon Fine Prints in the 1960s in an edition of 750 prints, these were in a slighter larger size than the original print and all have Avon Fine Prints printed beneath the image.

Shane Hansen - new works at Prints.co.nz

2012-03-30T12:58:00.000+13:00

Shane Hansen

Auckland printmaker Shane Hansen has recently completed some new editions which is exciting news for collectors of contemporary NZ original prints. Artwork from the high profile Maori artist has been purchased in prestigious private commissions such as Air New Zealand's Koru Lounge at Auckland International Airport and a recent painting was included in the landmark Ngaa Pou Whenua show at Waikato Museum in 2011. Hansen's new work is building on a solid back catalogue of sold out print editions including his Friendy tiki series (Pania, Boy and Friendy et al on vintage wallpaper) and screenprints on plywood Te Kereru, Kokako & Aroha, Te Kea Aoraki etc.

Shane Hansen - who is of Tainui - Ngati Hine, Ngati Mahunga descent - says about his new prints "The detail of my mahi [translation from Maori = work, to make], is in its simplicity. Keeping details to a minimum to acheive an image of high impact, depth and meaning is a challenge but I feel the work is stronger because of it. The term less is more is definitely the case with my work and it doesn't mean it is less meaningful."

Waitakere Wairua | 1100 x 550mm | Edition of 35 prints

Waitakere Wairua [translation from Maori = Spirit, Soul)

Based on an artwork for the ‘Living & Learning Centre’ in Henderson, West Auckland. This print represents the cultures, lifestyle and spirit of the Auckland area and also the people that inhabit it. In this print Shane tells us that "The Kokako is a kaitiaki (Maori = "guardian"), watching over the Waitakeres, helping forge a brighter future for the tamariki (Maori = Children). Looking down from the Waitakere ranges towards Rangitoto, the Kokako feels proud and privileged to be part of it all." Archival giclee print in an edition of 35 signed and numbered by Hansen.

Ataahua Tieke (Gold) | 560 x 750mm | Edition of 35 Prints

Ataahua Tieke (Gold)

Hansen says that this print was inspired by an encounter he had with the unique NZ saddleback (tieke),"The handsome saddleback greeted me with surprise in his eyes", he told NZ Art Print News, "The bird seemed to be saying 'Who is this who seeks my attention? You have come, so I will go.'" Tieke belong to the Wattlebird family which includes the kokako and the (extinct) huia. In Maori the word Ataahua means beautiful. Ataahua Tieke is available in two colourways, green and gold (the Gold edition is shown here) in editions of 35 prints.

See all prints by Shane Hansen in the Shane Hansen collection at New Zealand Fine Prints, his work also features in the Maori art collection at New Zealand's specialist art print store.

Blockbusters Exhibition: Promotional screenprint signed by Dick & Otis Frizzell + Mike Weston

2012-03-22T12:03:00.005+13:00

A promotional screenprint has been released for the "Blockbusters" exhibition of new work from Frizzell and Son (Dick and Otis Frizzell) and Weston Frizzell (Otis Frizzell and Mike Weston in collaboration).

In the vocabulary of graffiti art the term Blockbuster refers to a piece where one word occupies the entire wall. The outlined text is predominantly defined by the blacking out of the gaps and negative space. Parasitic of the underlying work, a BLOCKBUSTER envelopes and consumes the surface.

A Blockbuster is also the biggest thing of the summer, the thing everyone has to see.

The Blockbusters screen print is large (A1 size) numbered and signed by Dick Frizzell, Otis Frizzell and Mike Weston.

Just $100 each, edition of 100 - available here (for a very limited time!).

Retro or Vintage? How do we classify prints?

2012-03-19T13:13:00.009+13:00

One of my jobs as the catalogue manager at New Zealand Fine Prints is sorting the latest prints into categories - because we want our customers to quickly and easily find the prints they want to buy when they visit NZ's largest art print shop. We don't expect our customers to always have in mind the exact artwork they are looking for when they start shopping at NZ Fine Prints. If a buyer has a specific print that they are searching for (or are only looking for prints available by a particular NZ artist) - then it's straightforward to search by keyword or alphabetical listing by artist surname. Although we do have a master gallery of all prints in stock at NZ Fine Prints listed in alphabetical order by title we spend a lot of time thinking about how to thematically link prints so that buyers can easily slip into a rich vein of art that is exactly the sort of thing they are looking to buy without having to trawl through every one of the thousands of prints in stock.

Unlike books which come already classified by the publisher and easily organised using the Dewey decimal system prints can be organised easily by artist/photographer/printmaker and by type (such as lithographs or prints on canvas) and by period but much less easily by topic than you might think at first glance. This has been shown recently when trying to decide how to categorise a series of pictures from New Zealand painters and designers that are clearly not contemporary in a fashion forward interior design sense but are a contemporary artwork that is referencing or remixing kiwi culture and especially kiwiana icons. I didn't feel comfortable selling these modern designs such as "Ski NZ" by Image Vault's Paul Ny pictured here alongside the real deal (eg prints of actual work by early NZ graphic designers such as Leonard Mitchell and Marcus King) in case buyers thought we passing them off as genuine historical designs. So we have decided to re-organise the images into two galleries, retro and vintage.

What is the difference between the retro and the vintage collections at NZ Fine Prints? We have decided that vintage means old, classic and authentic. Retro has two meanings in art and design. It is often used as a shorthand to describe a design period more recent than vintage, for instance mid twentieth century furniture such as your grandparents formica table is retro. However we have decided that the second usage of the word to describe contemporary design that is looking self-consicously back to an earlier period (as in the "neo-deco" retro style of designers Terry Moyle and Rosie Louise from NZ's Contour Creative Studio) is a more useful way of categorising the modern prints. Our retro collection is therefore the home of modern designers and artists working in a retro style such as Contour Creative Studio, Paul Ny and kiwiana art specialist Jason Kelly. Whose style could probably also be called "old school", now that makes me wonder if compiling an "old school" collection is a helpful idea as well…

Hundertwasser's Alternative NZ Flag Manifesto

2012-03-12T10:01:00.005+13:00

Flags are a potent national symbol for artists to reference, recycle and re-imagine. Consider Jasper Johns "3 Flags", Jimi Hendrix's "Star Spangled Banner", or closer to home Otis Frizzell and Mike Weston's controversial re-imagining of the NZ Flag as redesigned by a blast from Tame Iti's shotgun. The official NZ ensign has featured in prints such as the relatively straightforward Timo Rannali Aotearoa/NZ Flag print with the words of our national anthem (God Defend New Zealand) in English and Maori superimposed and a more unusual juxtaposition of the flag with a John Dory fish by Auckland printmaker Brad Novak. There are ongoing campaigns to re-design the New Zealand flag to eliminate the Union Jack, most recently a competition was promoted by the late Lloyd Morrison but none has attracted as much long term support as the alternative NZ Koru flag designed by Friedensreich Hundertwasser.

Hundertwasser (1928 - 2000) was one of Austria's most famous 20th century artists also known for his building designs which eschewed straight lines in favour of more organic forms. Hundertwasser visited New Zealand from 1973 and eventually lived here until his death in 2000. His Koru flag is the only non-print that we stock here at New Zealand Fine Prints, because of its importance in our design history we decided we had to have it for sale and it has sold steadily for over ten years now in two sizes, medium and large.

Recently we re-discovered the original long manifesto by Hundertwasser "A Flag of our Own" bundled up with a box of flags. Here it is:

Proposal for a second flag for New Zealand, which represents an unmistakeable identity that combines New Zealand’s age old heritage of nature and the heritage of Maori history with the growing future of a new nation.

The flag symbolizes old and new, history and progress at the same time. This flag symbolizes peace, but not weakness, but the strength of creation moving forward in a courageous engagement.

At a moment in human history with increasing environmental concern New Zealand gives an example to the world because this flag represents peace with nature, human development in harmony with nature. It is the sign of understanding with this everlasting powerful ally. This flag is a symbol of a new age, a big step towards mankind’s responsible evolution.

The fern’s green spiral on white or silver ground starts at the black flagstaff lead taking up the whole width of the flag first decreasing gradually, dividing the flag into diagonal halves, then curling up in to a spiral at the other end of the flag.

The spiral unfurling in a rectangular flag is the image of union of nature and technology, of round and square.

It seems as if the flag contains another flag advancing, streaming, unrolling and opening up in a strange and mysterious wind, a flag which is transformed into another dimension.

It is an image of how matter concentrates and turns into life. Quantity is transformed into energy. It is a symbol of the never ending cycle, a symbol for ever renewing life.

The green is carefully composed of the special earthy deep, lush and fertile greens of the New Zealand bush and farmlands, not occurring anywhere else. This green is the wealth of New Zealand.

The Maori spiral and the sprouting fern symbol combined, the koru, already represent New Zealand in many fields like for instance the Air New Zealand sign.

This flag is unique and cannot be mistaken for any other flag, as is the case with the present flags of New Zealand and Australia, and the flags of many other nations. A recent example of how a symbol was accepted to represent a country with an identity quest similar to that of New Zealand is the maple leaf in the flag of Canada. In Australia too, efforts are undertaken to find a new flag. Let New Zealand be first.

May New Zealand be part of the nations with a beautiful and meaningful and unique flag.

It is an intelligent flag full of joy, it is indigenous, it contains a message, it has a purpose, it is different. It holds the mystery of this remote land. It is a flag to love because it is special, a flag to identify with.

Like a fern sprouting, like a wave of nature, like a flag unfolding.

It is a proud symbol of this nation, representing Maori history, representing the green land and the long white cloud, a true messenger of New Zealand to the world, independent, strong, invincible, full of life and energy, unmistakably New Zealand, a flag of future and age old identity.

This second flag for New Zealand is in no way designed to detract from the Union Jack, the Southern Cross, the British monarchy, the Commonwealth, the British heritage and New Zealand traditions. The fern flag will fly happily together with the official Blue Ensign. It signals that New Zealand has come of age and qualifies as an equal among the nations of this Earth. The koru ensign symbolizes the love of New Zealanders for their country.

Bay of Islands, the 18th of March 1983.

The proposal for a second flag for New Zealand is a beautiful insight into the designer's thinking and the powerful symbolism of the design. Especially interesting to read that Hundertwasser was not actually proposing to replace the official Blue Ensign with the Koru flag.

Weston Frizzell ask "Who are the real terrorists?"

2012-02-28T12:20:00.012+13:00

When news of the arrest of Tuhoe activist Tame Iti under NZ's anti-terrorism laws reached Auckland pop art studio Weston Frizzell they were "really shocked, as were most people who knew Tame". There has been a long and artistically productive collaboration between the veteran Maori activist and the two artists who collaborate as Weston Frizzell, Mike Weston and Otis Frizzell.

With a series of four prints Weston and Frizzell are asking "Who are the real terrorists?". Weston says "The government were looking for a chance to flex their new draconian laws that had been created in response to US foreign policy bullying and Tame copped the full force of it."

Yeah Right

“Yeah Right” is a satirical adaptation of the popular Tui Beer advertising campaign that uses sarcasm in a humorous social commentary. In this artwork Mike Weston and Otis Frizzell present their version of Tui’s iconic ad, substituting an AK47 assault rifle for the usual perch branch. In Yeah Right, Tutu replaces both the Tui Beer branding, and also the social statement that is usually featured in the Tui beer billboard.

Dr Tutu is the name Tame Iti adopted when DJing on his various alternative radio slots. It features in the title of works Tututables, and Tututime 2004, and the logo featured on the painted canvas works exhibited. In Maori, (and most if not all Polynesian languages also) Tutu has a multiplicity of meanings such as ‘revolution’, ‘to meddle’, ‘arson’ and ‘sedition’. Tutu and the glyphic logo formed by the inverted numerals 22 (see below) have been recurring motifs in Weston Frizzell’s work since 2004. The message it conveys relates directly to the arrest of Tame Iti and other Tuhoe members under the terrorism suppression act. If it were spelled out it might read: “A terrorist revolution? Yeah, right.” Yeah Right is a fine art archival inkjet print on Hahnemule 100% cotton rag paper, edition of 180.

Pa Ke Ha Ke

“I fully support the redesign of the flag,” Otis Frizzell told Wellington's Capital Times after Iti desecrated the NZ flag with a shotgun blast before the Waitangi Tribunal in 2005. “Whether it was right or wrong [Iti] was redesigning it in his own special way. The bullet holes in this work represent what Tame did to the flag." Edition of 180 prints, handprinted then signed and numbered.

The term Pakehake contains two possible meanings. In Maori the addition of the suffix ke transforms Pakeha into an expletive, a curse , an insult. Additionally Pake means flag and Hake means torn, thus the title ‘Torn Flag’. Pa Ke Ha Ke is Weston Frizzell's new version of the New Zealand ensign complete with bullet holes.

Dr Tutu feat. Tame Iti

The print "Dr Tutu featuring Tame Iti" is a combined image of four paintings from the 2004 exhibition at Mike Weston's "The Area" gallery. From left to right Whenua, Aotearoa Not for Sale, Horimoni and Tututime. Weston and Frizzell conceived an imaginary contemporary scenario where no colonisation had occurred and devised a number of graphic motifs and symbols such as you might find on road markings or signs or perhaps corporate branding responding to this notion.

Mike takes up the story "I was approached by an American couple who wanted to record a spoken word project with Tame. I made four pieces for an art / CD package. I figured it wasn’t going to be a big seller but had some potential to go the distance if it was leaned more in an art direction so I started jamming ideas for a special package CD which ultimately ended up being an art exhibition concept, with a CD attached to each artwork." Mike continues "I had an idea of illustrating Tame’s face in the style of the 4 square man, in a nod to Dick Frizzell's Grocer with Moko, so I called my good mate Otis Frizzell, who I’d been managing on and off for a few years, to do the illustration of that and he nailed it so well that I asked Otis to collaborate on the art side of it 50:50 with me. We found ourselves enthusiastically throwing paint around all over the place, jamming a lot of ideas, running them past Tame to make sure he was alright with it, and mostly he was and we made four series of canvasses each in editions of 22, presenting visual representations of each of the musical works [also available for download at Amplifier] on the CD."

The first time Otis had met the Tuhoe Maori activist was back in the 1990s. Frizzell had become friends with a group of hip hop artists, including DLT and Che-Fu during the time Frizzell was performing as half of hip hop duo MC OJ and the Rhythm Slave. DLT and Che-Fu would take international artists to a Marae on Tuhoe land, in the eastern North Island for what Otis describes as “a taste of true Maoriness - we’d give them a dose of old school Maori – it is pretty awesome to be a European and be invited in there.”

The translation of the Dr Tutu persona into visual forms such as the inverted "22" came about as Weston was using the "I Ching regularly as a kind of metaphysical guide and mirror during this time". Weston repeatedly found himself at "the 22nd hexagram passage, Pi (or Grace). The sentiment expressed in the Wilhelm translation “things should not unite abruptly or ruthlessly” seemed to fit the bicultural nature of the musical collaboration very well, and the coincident 22, resonated with the Dr Tutu name of the project. Of course there’s the additional Catch 22 reference. It stuck." Weston also says, "I noticed that the number 22 revolved 180 degrees created a glyphic logo that evoked a double Manaia, a Maori influenced Hindu Arabic form that in an abstract sense embodied many of the ideas of bicultural collaboration we were working with."

Frizzell and Weston started putting that symbol on artworks that spoke of those issues - beginning with the 88 canvasses in the Dr Tutu show. The inverted 22 also appears on prints outside of the series of works discussed in this article, such as Behave and Four Seasons Winter. Says Weston "I figured it would stick in peoples' minds because they would be wondering why it was upside down".

Give it Back

The full line up of the "We are" letter paintings were prepared to show at Auckland's "Original Art Show" in 2010 when Weston Frizzell were the featured artist guests. In "Give it Back" the letters are arranged to spell the word "Urewera". This print is available in a tiny edition of just, you guessed it, 22 - the message regarding Tuhoe's land in the Urewera is to "Give it Back".

It is significant that Otis Frizzell's collaboration on the Dr Tutu project with Mike Weston established the new working relationship that evolved into the now high profile Weston Frizzell pop art brand.

Art doesn't happen in a socio-political vacuum, our visual culture is shaped by and responds to current events. We hope the art buying public will show their support for artists such as Weston and Frizzell who are responding thoughtfully and creatively to current events in Aotearoa/New Zealand by purchasing prints from the Weston Frizzell series of contemporary editions.

New series of vintage NZ posters released

2012-02-17T10:02:00.010+13:00

More vintage posters from famous NZ graphic designers have been released for sale today by New Zealand Fine Prints.

Artistic flair, clever typography, arresting images and print-making skill was all demonstrated by graphic artists such as Marcus King and Leonard Mitchell, early 20th century graphic designers (or commercial artists as they would have been called at the time) designing posters for clients such as the NZ Tourist and Publicity Department. (I have previously written a brief history of how vintage posters in New Zealand fit in to the global story of poster art design and modern day collecting.)

The work of these designers is now recognised as classic imagery of the period by contemporary graphic artists. However with original vintage posters now scarce, expensive and sometimes in poor condition New Zealand Fine Prints has been working hard to compile a collection of re-issued vintage posters from New Zealand. We started with vintage ski-ing posters such as "Winter Sports at Tongariro National Park" and "Coronet Peak, Queenstown, New Zealand", then vintage travel and tourism posters for specific travel destinations such as "Mitre Peak, Milford Sound" or New Zealand generally, for example "NZ - for your next holiday". We are pleased to announce today you can now buy posters that advertise new destinations like Timaru along with a non ski-ing Mount Cook advertisement, the delightful "Mt Cook: For Summer Joys", that accompanies this article. Also check out new vintage botanical posters published by the Reuben Price Gallery such as the New Zealand Tree Fern (almost certainly the work of Marcus King) and the stunning Mountain Daisy by a (so far) unknown designer - let us know if you think you know whose work it is please in the comments below.

NZ Fine Prints' latest vintage series also focuses on transport and vintage advertisements for NZ companies, we loved the aviation poster "Go by Tasman Road" (advertising TEAL - Tasman Empire Airways Limited) re-published in 2011 by Capper Press and now have new shipping posters in stock today such as "The New Zealand Shipping Co Ltd - to SOUTHAMPTON and LONDON via PANAMA" which features a picture of the "Rangitata" (but also mentions the other ships on the line, the Rangitiki and Rangitane). Since the 1970s we have stocked prints of early New Zealand immigrant ships (for instance the majestic Lancashire Witch ship's portrait by marine artist Thomas Dutton) that are popular with genealogists researching their family history and we are sure that people whose families first came out on the NZ Shipping Company's "Royal Mail Line" "modern motor vessels" will enjoy owning a vintage poster featuring the boat their ancestors who emigrated to NZ came out on.

This vintage series also begins the project of re-printing classic advertisements from 20th century NZ that we think are the best examples of well known brands combined with superb graphic design. We think "New Zealand Apples: The Empire's Star Turn" (design based on a painting by Edward Cole) which features a young woman (possibly Zealandia from the Coat of Arms) wrapped in the New Zealand flag is the perfect retro decoration for the kitchen or dining room. Greggs "Club Coffee" poster from Dunedin that is "Packed in Fancy Canisters" is a genuine piece of NZ retro design should be popular with cafe owners too.

We'll see how sales of this latest series of vintage posters goes, hopefully there will continue to be a growing demand for a wider range of vintage New Zealand posters. Then we can begin work on the next vintage series as we have some exciting vintage themes and subjects that are as yet unexplored! Please let us know about your favourite vintage posters too so we can make sure that there aren't any examples of classic NZ design that we have missed in our series of poster re-prints over the past few years.

Introduction to Early Prints of New Zealand by D.G. and E.M. Ellis

2012-02-13T11:17:00.003+13:00

One of the first books from the back catalogue of our publishing company, Capper Press, a publisher of NZ histories, early travel and exploration books (as well as prints) to be converted into digital format is the standard reference work on early NZ prints by the founders of Avon Fine Prints, Don & Enid Ellis. We have not yet decided on the best way to make this classic introduction to collecting antique NZ prints available again (it has been out of print for 20 years), but while we sort through the myriad of ebook formats it's been a pleasure re-reading the author's introduction to Early Prints, first published in 1978.

Introduction

Purpose
A print for the purposes of this work is defined as a commercially produced pictorial plate having no text on the verso, and no text other than title and imprint on the face. Illustrations as such are not included.

Date Limit
The date limit is 1875, except where the print concludes a series begun before 1875, or is thought of sufficient importance to warrant inclusion — a purely personal choice.

Index
The Index is the key to the whole work. Entry is made from all information on the face of the print, and items may be traced under artist, title, engraver, publisher, etc. Subject entries are nominal.

Portraits
Portraits, except as part of a series (e.g. the atlases to voyages) have generally been excluded, as they are already covered in Nan Kivell's Portraits ... (see Bibliography )

Natural History Plates
Natural history plates have been included in the form of a preliminary checklist only.

Artist's Prints
"Artist's Prints" are not included. Original etchings, engravings and litho-graphs produced by the artist himself in limited editions have been regarded as non-commercial.

Because photo-lithography, a purely mechanical reproduction process, had become common by the 1870's, the upper date limit was arbitrarily set at 1875. Some later prints have, however, been included: 1875, strictly enforced, would have omitted among others Barraud and Gully, which are the first names to come to many minds when New Zealand prints are mentioned.

Arrangement is basically chronological, except where adherence would break a series of related works: for example, Buller's History of the Birds of New Zealand is described in one section, though publication dates range from 1873 to 1905. It may be helpful to indicate the method of approach used to compile this checklist. Hocken's Bibliography of New Zealand Literature was consulted to identify all books mentioned as including illustrations, and these books were then examined. This meant that books in which illustrations were not specified could have been missed. Next, by courtesy of the Librarians, permission was obtained to examine both the picture and book collections of the Hocken and Alexander Turnbull Libraries. Finally, prints and books in a number of private collections and smaller institutions were examined. Most gaps were filled by this method, though there must still be omissions.

Purist cataloguing enters a print first under the final executor, i.e. an engraver is regarded as the interpreter and of- more importance than the artist. Nevertheless, it was decided to record the separately-issued print first under the artist's name where known, with additional entries for the engraver, etc. Prints in books are fully described in the entry under author and title of the book. In all cases the index is the quick reference key.

The entries show as closely as possible the wording which appears on the print: typographical limitations have precluded the use of dipthongs and superior letters. Oblique lines indicate line endings. Emendations have been kept to a minimum, and are indicated by the use of square brackets. Sizes in centimetres give height before width.

The word print is used as a generic term, and is to be understood as meaning the particular item under discussion at any time. Because of the difficulty of finding a single word to describe the craftsmen producing blocks or plates by various methods, the word engraver applies, regardless of whether the person concerned was engraver, woodcutter, lithographer, aquatinter, or etcher. Notes on artists, engravers, etc. have been included where possible, and this additional information is indicated in the index by the use of bold type for the reference number. Additional notes have been included for the author, as distinct from the artist, for several books: insight into the reason for the use of particular views may depend on knowledge of who wrote the book and why it was written.

It is often impossible to assign a print to a particular artist or engraver: during the nineteenth century it was usual for such firms as Day & Haghe, Smith Elder, and Hullmandel, to employ numerous engravers, several men frequently working on a set of plates for one book. The section at the end of the book is to be regarded as a preliminary checklist only for the natural history plates of New Zealand interest. The decision to include scientific plates at all was made reluctantly in view of the authors' lack of competence in these fields. Yet a dividing line was difficult to draw when such items as Buller's Birds, and Featon, Hetley and Harris' books on New Zealand flowers had clearly to be included. It is to be hoped that someone with the necessary training to identify New Zealand flora and fauna will take up the task at this point.

No compilation of this nature is the work of one person alone, and thanks are due to many. Whilst it must necessarily be an invidious act to single some persons out, special thanks are due to the Librarian and Staff of the Alexander Turnbull Library; Mr M. G. Hitchings of the Hocken Library, University of Otago, and his Staff; Miss P. French, Auckland Public Library; Miss Suzanne Mourot, Mitchell Library, Sydney; Sir Alister and Lady Mcintosh, and, above all, to Mr A. A. St. C. M. Murray-Oliver, who, in addition to locating rare material and giving advice over a long period, checked the final manuscript and made many valuable suggestions incorporated in the final text. The painstaking care and skill of the compositor and printer deserve specific mention. Without the help, information, and constant encouragement of these people, this book could never have been written.

D. G. and E. M. Ellis Christchurch

Lester Hall prints now in stock

2012-02-08T12:28:00.005+13:00

Lester Hall is one of NZ's most politically aware artists. Hall first systematically investigated the themes of Maori/Pakeha relations and history in his early 2000s "Hoaries and Whities" series but it is his development of these ideas into his "Aoteroaland" series that has seen him become one of the highest profile contemporary printmakers in NZ.

In Aotearoaland, Lester says, "a "third space" is created, outside the dogmatic stupidity and hypocrisy of exclusively Maori or Euro frameworks and a blended outcome is searched for. Not sameness but unity and identity. I believe the idea of separate development is outrageous controlling of outcome for individuals who otherwise would make fine lives for themselves in a culturally hybrid frame of reference." Hall thinks that we have been slack in mining our own countries rich historical past for heros and and legends, chiefs such as Hongi Hika who was a "master strategist, a highly intelligent man, a brilliant commander, a desperado…it's exciting real Boys Own adventure stuff. But were we told stories about him? No, we were told stories about Geronimo and General Custer" (interview with the Northern Advocate Feb 2010).

He has been accurately described by Northland's Stingray magazine as an "artist provocateur", they quoted Hall saying "The old myths of popular New Zealand history need to be aired and flung out as silly and not realistic". He says "The artworks are my map into my subconscious and back out through the historical narrative that lies just beneath the veneer of our daily life."

Lester Hall's prints have caused controversy over the use of Maori images (similar to the debate about Goldie paintings being reproduced as prints - see our previous article on the ongoing Goldie prints controversy) and exhibitions have attracted letters of complaint and accusations of being offensive. However Hall's art is not always shocking or provocative, as he says he "sometimes paints tough ideas in pretty colours in an attempt to bring more and more Pakeha Kiwis especially, to the scary conversation of who we all are." Hall's kiwiana prints like the popular "Miss Kiwiana" are much lighter in tone than some of his more radical artworks.

Hall paints and makes prints from his house/studio in the Far North, a large corrugated iron shed with an apartment like interior that has featured in interior design magazines.

After the gift buying frenzy NZ Prints re-opens after the Xmas break

2012-01-13T14:50:00.006+13:00

Xmas is always simply hectic. The sheer volume of gifts to be carefully packaged and dispatched on time not just in NZ but around the world makes it a real test of our systems. We make mistakes occasionally but our dispatch team will always try all alternatives to keep the customer (or gift recipient) happy if something has gone wrong. Xmas 2011 was Prints.co.nz's busiest ever with orders volumes up around twenty percent on 2010 albeit with a slightly lower average order amount meaning only a modest increase in print sales by dollar value.

After safely navigating through the Xmas gift season (our busiest time of the year) it was lovely to receive some complimentary emails that had been sent to our customer service team while New Zealand Fine Prints was closed for the Xmas/New Year holiday. Our favourite this year was the gift buyer who emailed us back "Thank you heaps. This picture brought tears of happiness to the recipient. Print is top quality, beautifully packaged with prompt delivery". Art is such a wonderful product to be selling - and to be spreading NZ's artistic culture onto walls everywhere with every print we sell is part of what gets us to work in the morning.

After a very eventful eighteen months in Christchurch with the ongoing earthquakes and our distribution and gallery moving from our home in Hereford St for nearly 50 years due to the quakes we look forward to 2012 being more benign for our staff and their families. This writer is looking forward to working on a series of NZ artist and print-maker profiles for NZ Art Print News (starting with controversial printmaker Lester Hall) and we are cataloguing our latest series of vintage NZ advertising posters, plus new prints from Dick Frizzell, Greg Straight, Fane Flaws and prints of landscape paintings by Wellington painter Ernest Papps.

And on a completely different note one of our staff snapped this incredible example of a NZ vernacular wooden picture frame while on holiday in the Marlborough Sounds. We are not sure if the framing style is one that would have a broad appeal in the framed wall art market today - but full marks for workmanship and dedication.

NZFP's gift voucher research results

2011-11-21T12:58:00.006+13:00

When a newly married couple who had been given two $200 gift vouchers for their wedding present visited NZ Fine Prints to redeem their vouchers they happened to casually ask Ben what was the most common voucher value that we sold for wedding presents. It wasn't a statistic that we actively measured and it sparked a debate as to whether customers purchased vouchers of different amounts for different occasions - and what was the average value of the gift vouchers we sold anyway?

Customers have been able to buy email gift vouchers (pictured at left) through Prints.co.nz since the mid 1990s and traditional postal gift vouchers have been sold by NZ Fine Prints for longer than anyone working here now can remember (given that prints are the perfect arty gifts from NZ we have been delivering the physical prints as gifts since the 1960s).

It didn't take us long to realise that it was impossible to determine what gift occasion the vouchers were being purchased for - we might have been able to work this out for each separate voucher by analysing the messages sent to the gift recipient but A) We don't retain the gift message on file and B) this wasn't appropriate privacy wise as the information would not be collected for this particular purpose!

However we have worked out our most commonly given gift voucher/certificate is for $100 (although Stats 101 is a long a time ago for this writer we think this number is called the mode). The average amount over the last ten years has been a gift of just over $80, although we can see trend for higher value vouchers over this time - probably simply due to inflation or perhaps the higher value of prints that we now stock (our average sale amount has actually trebled over the past ten years). We sell the most gift vouchers in the two months leading up to Xmas, however January is also the season for weddings in NZ so the month after Xmas is also pretty close to pre-Xmas levels. As an aside paper is the traditional first wedding anniversary gift - something that we are yet to work out a good marketing campaign around (and we have been thinking about this gift buying occasion for years) but many newly weds are already aware of this tradition without our help! We think the neat thing about the couple's choosing a print as their first anniversary gift is that it is a purchase that can be made for both of them and the decision made together, it's an present they can choose together and give it to themselves so they can both enjoy it equally...

There is an almost even split between vouchers being delivered via email and by post. In fact over 2011 we have delivered around 60 postal gift vouchers for every 40 email ones, it seems an email voucher is great when you have left buying the gift to the last minute but a physical voucher through the mail (or at the presentation) is simply a more tangible gift.

And the answer to the question that we asked most often by people buying gift vouchers....the average time from delivery to redemption is just 15 days!

The annual Xmas gift-wrap debate at NZ Prints

2011-11-04T09:50:00.000+13:00

The tyranny of choice...

Behind the scenes in late October one of the most important aesthetic decisions of the year takes place at NZ Fine Prints. Yes, we have to choose the colour of the gift-wrap that we are going to use for Christmas! Our gift-wrap requirements are pretty special, it has to be light (because of the cost of delivering by airmail around the world when we are charged by weight), acid free (so it does not affect the paper the prints are printed on) and suit the festive occasion for which the buyer is giving.

This decision always creates a surprising amount of heat around the office. In the conservative corner there are strong voices supporting green and red to be used as "traditional Xmas colours", the libertarians want the gift purchaser to choose at checkout time and the warehouse manager wants blue because it is his favourite colour!

We also were faced with finding a new supplier for our gift wrap this Xmas season because the earthquakes in Christchurch closed down our normal source. Thanks to the delightfully named "Gold Wing" packaging wholesalers in Auckland (with the rather charming company motto: "They are like trees growing beside a stream, trees that produce fruit in season") we have our 48 boxes of Christmas wrap on the courier to us today. And this Xmas gifts will be wrapped in …. gold!

List of sold out Tony Ogle editions since 2000

2011-10-18T15:35:00.000+13:00

With an output of only 3-5 handmade editions annually Tony has not been very prolific despite a career spanning 30 years so far. We get lots of enquiries about whether particular Tony Ogle prints that no longer appear in Tony's collection at Prints.co.nz are still available. Usually these are the result of people ogling (hee hee) a print they have seen that they would like to buy for themselves. Unfortunately the answer is always no, because once an edition has sold out Tony never does another edition of the same print. Below is a summary for collectors by year of Tony's sold out editions from the last decade - it is safe to assume all prints dated before 2000 are sold out.

2008
Fisherman's Cove

2007
Crimson Ridge
Matapouri Bach

2006
Tawharanui
Back Beach Bach
Days End

2005
Cathedral Cove Reserve

2004
Whale Bay Raglan
Red Couch' - Whangapoua Beach

2003
First Sight - Pohutukawa Point
Hahei Hideaway
Days End Te Henga
Kauwahaia Island & Erangi Pt O'Neills

2002
Rawhiti Coastline
Cabbage Trees - Waewaetoria Island
Hahei Pa & Islands

2001
Heaphy Track Nikau
Surf Check - Hot Water Beach
Ihumoana Island - Te Henga
Back to the Bach

2000
Great Barrier Summer
Century Agave
Piha Sunset

"Okiwi Crossing" Printmaker: Tony Ogle 600 x 360mm

All prints currently available from this talented NZ printmaker (including his latest releases in 2011) are listed in the Tony Ogle collection at NZ's specialist art print store. The next edition to sell out will almost definitely be "Okiwi Crossing" (shown here), we have only two A/Ps (the rare artist proofs) left in stock today.

Robyn Kahukiwa receives Maori Arts Board award

2011-09-13T16:27:00.000+12:00

Robyn Kahukiwa

The Māori Arts Board of Creative New Zealand holds the eponymous Te Waka Toi awards ceremony at Wellington Town Hall each year.

Last Saturday 3 September 2011 painter and printmaker Robyn Kahukiwa was awarded the prestigious Te Tohu Toi Ke award (the award for making a difference) for "challenging and broadening perceptions of Maori art". Her official citation lauded her 30 year career "challenging and broadening perceptions of Maori art" through the "creative innovation and international profiling of contemporary Maori art and issues ". It's a recognition of Robyn's contribution to Maori art and New Zealand art generally and all of us here at New Zealand Fine Prints would like to congratulate her on this honour.

According to maorinews.com the annual Creative New Zealand Te Waka Toi Awards are the only national Maori arts awards to celebrate all art forms. Established in 1986, they recognise achievement in areas including writing, composition, oratory, performing, object and visual arts. Two scholarships are also awarded to emerging artists.

Te Waka Toi is the Māori Arts Board of Creative New Zealand. We read with some amusement on the Creative NZ website that the Maori Arts Board claim to be responsible for the "development of Māori art and artists in New Zealand" - apparently through its role in "investing in contestable funding" developing "initiatives" and the delivery of "tailored programmes". We thought that the people responsible for the ongoing development of Maori art and artists in New Zealand were the collectors who purchased their artworks enabling them to keep being creative...

Landscape to Kiwiana - 50 years of print publishing in NZ

2011-09-07T12:17:00.002+12:00

New Zealand Fine Prints have been at the forefront of shaping NZ's visual culture since the 1960s. Fifty years ago buying prints in NZ meant choosing between imported images of famous paintings like Rembrandt's "Night Watch" or framing one of the occasional colour supplements from the NZ Weekly News.

Prints by early NZ landscape painter Charles Heaphy were popular
decoration in the mid twentieth century

In the 1960s the growing appreciation of New Zealand art led to both the opening of dealer galleries and a desire to look back at how painting had developed in New Zealand. Writers such as Tony Murray-Olliver were beginning to compile biographies of significant early NZ artists and the reproduction of prints of the most important paintings he unearthed were issued by the Alexander Turnbull Library - beginning with the so-called "Queen's Pictures" (a set was given to the Queen), the Heaphy views of Wellington and Nelson Haven. Avon Fine Prints began re-issuing limited edition prints of the early views of settlement by artists like Barraud, O'Brien and Earle that had been used by the colonising companies to advertise to new settlers the delights of new towns such as Dunedin and Christchurch.

New Zealanders began to decorate with landscape art that deepened their affinity with the land in which we lived and enjoyed looking back to our comparatively recent pictorial history with historical prints that showed the early days of settlement. The 1980s saw art publishing companies such as the Capper Press produce the first series of avowedly contemporary prints in consultation with the new breed of gallery curators, prints by artists such as Gordon Walters, Peter Siddell and Gretchen Albrecht sitting alongside the early NZ landscapes in their catalogues. For the first time commercial galleries such as the Peter Small Gallery (who were printing all those wizard infested Lord of the Rings posters under license) began producing contemporary decorative prints by NZ artists - the Jane Evans series proving particularly popular.


C.F. Goldie published prints of "A Good Joke" in the 1920s but it wasn't until the 1970s that self-publishing by NZ artists took off.

It was in the late 70s and early 80s that artists for the first time began self-publishing reproduction prints of their work (C.F. Goldie's 1920s hand-signed prints of A Good Joke shown here being a notable exception). Grahame Sydney, Brent Wong and Peter Beadle sold thousands of prints and NZ Fine Prints began distributing prints on behalf of these artists as well as our own published prints (under the Avon Fine Prints and Capper Press monikers). Dunedin Public Art Gallery, the Hocken Library and Christchurch Art Gallery joined the Alexander Turnbull Library in publishing several series of prints of artworks from their collections alongside the exhibition posters that were for many years often the only examples of an artist's work available as a print. (It was around this time that the Christchurch Art Gallery sold over 3000 copies of a Colin McCahon retrospective exhibition poster showing "Tomorrow will be the Same" despite its shocking pink border).

NZ Fine Prints' stockroom in the mid 1990s

By the late 1990s NZ Fine Prints were receiving artist submissions of new work on a weekly basis, by the early 2000s changes in printing technology and the distribution of framed pictures with NZ scenes by contract artists began changing the market again as picture framers and galleries began losing market share to the new breed of design stores and furniture outlets - and to the internet as Prints.co.nz meant print buyers could easily buy their art prints directly from New Zealand Fine Prints and have them delivered wherever they were in NZ or around the world.

Kiwiana art from Matt Guild

The last few years has seen an increase in the supply of prints at both the top end (handmade editions by artists such as Tony Ogle and Dick Frizzell and large high quality prints on canvas) and in the swift rise of a new category of "kiwiana" - prints as pictures rather than "art", even comprising simple typography and kiwi images that closely imitated current artistic trends and with a fashion forward seasonal popularity that is a long way from enduring fine art but which fits with a trend to more frequent updates to contemporary interior design. Artists such as Matt Guild whose work "Hamilton Beach Milkshake" is shown at left proudly call themselves "kiwiana artists" without the negative associations that this term might once have had (see our previous article here on the changing meaning of kiwiana).

The story of the next decade of art publishing in NZ will be about changes in printing technology increasing the supply of available images, the re-sale of quality works by contemporary printmakers at increasingly higher prices and a more urban feel to contemporary artworks - prints that will still sit alongside the NZ landscapes empty of people that have been in vogue for the last half century.

"Rita and Douglas" at the Christchurch Arts Festival

2011-08-21T08:27:00.001+12:00

Jennifer Ward-Lealand stars as painter Rita Angus in "Rita And Douglas"

The story of the relationship between painter Rita Angus and composer Douglas Lilburn presented the audience at the Rudolf Steiner School auditorium last night with the delight of seeing the superbly cast Jennifer Ward-Lealand working flawlessly with the effortlessly sophisticated pianist Michael Houston as they balanced beautifully a two handed piece of contemporary NZ theatre. What a treat to see these two on stage together.

However the enjoyment of watching two extremely talented performers wring the most out of their material was tempered by writer Dave Armstrong's sole reliance on Lilburn's meandering music to respond to Angus's paintings and her words written in letters to Lilburn. This meant the audience were unable to gauge the true nature of the relationship at the core of "Rita and Douglas" - was the depth of feeling that Angus had for Lilburn being reciprocated, tolerated or rejected? Without knowing where the writer placed the artist-composer relationship on the continuum that stretches from Angus being the one night stand of twenty years before that kept coming back to haunt Lilburn or the long distance soul mate of an equally introspective and self-obsessed composer the play was difficult to enjoy.

What was easy to enjoy were the superb costumes designed by Nic Smellie that were made by Sheila Horton and Elizabeth Gibbons with the assistance of textile artist James Flynn from the Bowerman School of Design. With Angus's unflinchingly honest self-portraits creating a vivid picture how we imagine the painter in our mind's eye (like Picasso in his Breton stripes) to see famous ensembles such as what Rita is wearing in her "Self Portrait Smoking" so faithfully recreated was an unexpected delight.

Thanks to the support of the Estate of Rita Angus we were treated to watching a large number of paintings projected behind the performers, at one point the projector wildly bounced around as a 4.0 earthquake rocked the auditorium but neither performer reacted to the 15 second shake in a display of pure professionalism. The paintings of Rita Angus are always enjoyable to see but the occasional recycling of some landscape images was disconcerting as unless it was a portrait of Angus or Lilburn crucial to the unfolding tale of their relationship there didn't always seem to be a connection between the repeated paintings with the recitation by Ward-Lealand of a particular passage from one Angus's letters.

No-one who appreciates the contribution of Rita Angus to the visual arts of New Zealand or who admires the work of Douglas Lilburn is going to be disappointed by "Rita and Douglas" but perhaps writer Dave Armstrong's affinity and admiration for what he calls "two of this country's greatest artists" meant he created a piece of theatre that an ardent fan would enjoy rather than working the material into a play that despite the richness of subject and talent was just a little too earnest (and even with the enlivening earthquake) a little too soporific as well.

Favourite part of the play for this reviewer? When Angus writes that there is no way that Lilburn will ever be allowed to buy "Cass" and other of her favourite paintings from her - and that perhaps there will be prints available one day that he could purchase instead!

Kiwiana art features at NY's new Kiwiana Restaurant

2011-08-12T11:20:00.000+12:00

Chef Mark Simmons

The kitchen at NY's new Kiwiana restaurant

Recently New Zealand chef Mark Simmons chose kiwiana art specialists NZ Fine Prints to supply the artworks for New York's brand new Kiwiana Restaurant.

Prints chosen to decorate his new restaurant that showcases NZ's cuisine and culture had to be delivered to New York within a tight timeframe before Kiwiana's opening night in August 2011.

Born and raised on a sheep farm in New Zealand Simmons was amusingly described in a recent US interview as "the former Top Chef contender with the dreamy New Zealand accent". After a stint at NY restaurant's Public and then a role as executive chef at Melt Simmons has decided to open the first kiwi restaurant in New York - "Kiwiana".

According to Simmons "Kiwiana is about combining the rich cultural and culinary traditions of New Zealand in a friendly and welcoming space". The cuisine at Kiwiana is inspired by native New Zealand ingredients such as the horopito pepper and our national dishes such as hokey-pokey ice cream. The food incorporates elements and techniques Simmons acquired during his travels, starting in Australia, through Japan and on to the United States. Kiwiana features a variety of lamb and seafood dishes with a New Zealand twist - such as as manuka and marmite braised baby back ribs with squash purée , Milo-rubbed venison loin with potato cake, baby leeks and cola-braised cherries and raspberry lamington with whipped coconut cream and hokey pokey brittle.

Lamingtons (Image courtesy of Kiwiana)

So next time you are in New York and want to take your American friends out for a kiwi style feast of superb NZ cuisine check out Kiwiana - 847 Union St, Brooklyn, NY 11215, their website is http://www.kiwiana-nyc.com.

And for the record Simmons chose the following kiwiana prints from our kiwiana art collection - a large vintage style canvas by Paul Ny called "Kiwis can Fly", "Highway 80" by Grant McSherry and "Four Square Store at Sunrise" by Bill MacCormick.

What we know about an artwork's history changes our enjoyment of it

2011-08-03T11:01:00.000+12:00

This morning we watched an insightful and entertaining look at why people like original paintings better than an identical forgery. In this TED talk Paul Bloom argues that our beliefs about the history of an object change how experience it. And not just as an illusion but a deep measurable change in the way our brain feels pleasure viewing art.

How do we respond when the artworks may look the same but they have a different origin? Pyschologists have argued that we care so much about origins because we are snobs, as Bloom says "we are focused on status". So owning a handmade limited edition print is more prestigious than owning a reproduction of the same image because there are always going to be fewer original prints available to buy. Although Bloom doesn't doubt that this does play some role he believes humans are also to some extent "natural born essentialists". He means we don't just respond to art in the way that we see it, our response is also conditioned on our beliefs about "what they really are, where they came from, what they are made of, what their hidden nature is". You can own something that looks exactly the same as another artwork but it doesn't have the same history so your respond differently to it.

Bloom quotes Christchurch philosopher of art Denis Dutton (whom we have featured in NZ Art Print News previously) who wrote "the value of an artwork is rooted in assumptions about the human performance underlying its creation". Bloom's argument would be that owning an orginal print (which is the product of a creative act, knowledge of materials and technical skill) means the buyer will get a deeper pleasure from owning it than a poster of the same print. If they were told that it was not an original print their pleasure in owning it would diminish (a case in point is Dick Frizzell's Mickey to Tiki lithograph which was reproduced with the edition number 5/50 on it, occasionally we have been contacted by people given this print as a gift whose pleasure in the gift is lessened when they are told that it is a reproduction although it looks identical to the original print).

It's an interesting question if choosing artworks with a meaningful history - even if they are "reproductions" - can have still give you a deeper pleasure. For instance if you collect only prints by quality artists or fine examples of the best paintings from New Zealand. NZ Fine Prints try and stock only meaningful artwork, we have never understood the part of the market where custuomers are looking to buy art to "match the curtains". I guess this touches on the prestige or snobbish element of art ownership alluded to by Bloom as a motivation of buying artwork for your home or office because your choice of art is a way of demonstrating to others your degree of artistic sophistication or level of art appreciation. But for Prints.co.nz making a distinction between meaningful art and pure decoration is a way of helping us decide what we choose to stock at a "fine art" print specialist.

Prints by Greg Straight get NZ Fine Prints recommendation

2011-07-30T06:36:00.000+12:00

NZ Printmaker Greg Straight


Pop Art Tiki by Greg Straight [Edition of 100]

Recently contemporary New Zealand printmaker Greg Straight (pictured left) was profiled by Kiaora magazine's Matt Philp (Straight's "Neon Tiki" graced the cover of the inflight magazine for Air New Zealand in June 2011). “Art and design used to be very clearly distinct but these days there’s far more of a crossover. I think my generation is more open to that. But fine art takes itself too seriously sometimes, which is why I like pop art. I love the idea of taking objects from everyday life and putting them in a gallery.”

Greg is at the forefront of the movement that is finally adding a contemporary urban sensibility into the visual arts in New Zealand. “It’s a real challenge with kiwiana though, because everyone has had a stab at it,” he told Kiaora's Philp “You have to find ways to put a new twist on it and keep it contemporary. That might mean breaking the thing down into geometric shapes and using bold colours."

Straight graduated from the University of Auckland's Elam School of Fine Arts majoring in print making. A fine art printmaker who also works as a T-shirt graphic designer for streetwear brands such as Huffer and Federation Straight's artwork is an exciting melding of high art with NZ pop culture.

We are cataloguing Straight's first series of prints including "Pop Art Tiki" shown here and Greg Straight's prints wholeheartedly get NZ Fine Prints' "buy" recommendation for astute collectors building their hoard of contemporary NZ editions.

Notable new releases at NZ Prints

2011-07-28T19:38:00.000+12:00

New releases have been piling up at New Zealand Fine Prints while behind the scenes we have been occupied with sorting and re-shelving the thousands of prints shifted from our Hereford St gallery following the Christchurch earthquakes.

Home by Weston Frizzell 1000 x 515mm [Edition of 80 Prints]

Among the new prints that have arrived have been a couple of superb new letter series prints called "Home" and "Whanau" from the studio of Mike Weston and Otis Frizzell (for disambiguation of the various Frizzell monikers check out our previous article on who is Weston Frizzell?) and the complete Weston Frizzell seasons series (Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter) are now in stock with some matching numbered sets still available.

Mike has also just sent us some previously unseen editions from the Auckland Supercity styles series, the last two editions of the Behave series and his latest solo work "Float" that we'll get catalogued onto prints.co.nz mid August - with a backlog of over 140 prints waiting to be photographed and described we are running several weeks behind schedule for new artwork submissions. Artists submitting new prints with the images ready, dimensions measured and a great description of the artwork written with the customer in mind may find they are bumped to the top of the queue!