15 June 2018

MASTERTON, WAIRARAPA

Everyone at Aratoi Wairarapa Museum of Art and History was saddened by the news of Milan Mrkusich’s death.

Aratoi had a special relationship with Mrkusich, who was New Zealand’s pre-eminent modernist artist. In 2014, Aratoi opened 'Milan Mrkusich: Chromatic Investigations and Paintings from the 90s', curated by then Director Alice Hutchison. The landmark show featured a spectacular purpose built curved wall on which the Chromatic Investigations sequence was displayed. Sadly, this was to be Mrkusich’s last major exhibition, but earlier this year he generously contributed a major work to the Aratoi Artists Auction fundraiser: Triptych: Homage to Rodchenko, 1966, sold to a lucky buyer for $200,000, a tribute to Mrkusich’s genius with colour and form.

It is always a sad day when a great artist dies. Aratoi salutes Milan Mrkusich’s lifetime of work, his generosity, and the ways in which he enriched the visual arts of our country.

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