From the onset of colonisation, European immigrants and their descendants have been bringing and maintaining their own culture in Aotearoa, including a characteristic art tradition.
These twelve artworks by five Pākehā painters illustrate the way in which people of European heritage in New Zealand have responded to the land of Te Matau a Maui / Hawke’s Bay over a period of 90 years.
Art, like anything conceived by people, is embedded within culture: hence these paintings reflect not only what the artists could see around them while living in Te Matau a Maui, but also how they saw: through the prism of particular values, beliefs, and social systems intrinsic to their Pakeha society.
This exhibition includes works by Martin Poppelwell, Dick Frizzell, Jenny Campbell and Geoffrey Fuller, along with two Rita Angus paintings - including the iconic Churches, Hawke's Bay.
All artworks are from the collection of Hawke’s Bay Museum Trust, Ruawharo Ta-u-rangi.
