Mickey to Tiki now available in two new sizes

Dick Frizzell with Mickey to Tiki
(Image via NZ Herald Photo: Greg Bowker)

With the closure of the Christchurch Art Gallery shop for at least two years the art gallery has given the exclusive right to reproduce several prints from their collection to Christchurch publisher Image Vault for the next three years.

This includes the right to reproduce NZ's top selling print of the last few years, Dick Frizzell's "Mickey to Tiki Tu Meke" (the story behind how this print originally came to be in the collection of Christchurch Art Gallery is here).  Because of this new arrangement we are now able to offer Mickey to Tiki in two new smaller sizes at lower price points (265 x 400mm at $49.50 and 365 x 550mm at $77.50).  Prints in the original size (735 x 480mm) are still available but we are not sure for how long at this stage.

Lady Diana Isaac & her role in making Mickey to Tiki by Dick Frizzell NZ's most popular print ever

The recent death of Christchurch businesswoman and philanthropist Lady Diana Isaac was acknowledged by New Zealand's prime minister, John Key, who said “Lady Diana’s contribution to Canterbury and New Zealand was truly remarkable. From her early philanthropic work with her late husband Neil, right up until the time of her death, she was an outstanding champion for Canterbury, the arts and conservation”.

Mickey to Tiki by Dick Frizzell (original 1997 lithograph)

What wasn't mentioned in the many tributes was Lady Isaac's pivotal but little known role in the remarkable success of NZ's top selling print of all time, Mickey to Tiki Tu Meke by Dick Frizzell. The original Mickey to Tiki lithograph was printed by Dick in an edition of 50 on the 8th of October 1997.  Lady Isaac purchased number 5 of the edition and in 1998 she presented this print to the Christchurch Art Gallery.  It was Lady Isaac's print that was reproduced as a photolithograph (controversially including the 5/50 in pencil below the image that was to cause so much confusion initially about whether the reproduction was an original print or not).  Mickey to Tiki has been exhibited continuously at the gallery since Lady Isaac's presentation of the print to the gallery, most recently what has become Frizzell's most famous artwork featured in the "I see red" show at Christchurch Art Gallery and toured as part of an exhibition of the same name to other NZ galleries in 2009.

Tiki to Diki by Shane Hansen

The Mickey to Tiki image has become part of NZ's visual culture, it is widely studied at schools across NZ and is regularly referenced in artworks by other New Zealand artists such as in Shane Hansen's Tiki to Diki (shown here) and Lester Hall's Tiki Mouse.  Frizzell himself has re-visited his 1997 lithograph with his screenprint "Mickey to Tiki (Reversed)" which is half way through the edition already as we head into Xmas.

As the prime minister said in his statement “Lady Isaac was also a huge patron of the arts...her decades of philanthropy will be enjoyed for generations to come", and we'd like to say how much we appreciate her role in what has become New Zealand's top-selling print.