John Kinder's NZ - A New Art Exhibition At Te Papa

20 May 2004

MEDIA RELEASE

John Kinder's New Zealand - a new art exhibition at Te Papa

An exhibition of highlights from an extraordinary nineteenth century artist opens at Te Papa tomorrow.

John Kinder's New Zealand is the first exhibition to honour this artist's substantial achievement as both a painter and a photographer.

John Kinder emigrated from England in 1855 and spent the next fifty years recording colonial New Zealand. He travelled extensively and became one of New Zealand's most prolific colonial artists, creating about one thousand paintings and photographs.

Kinder was an intensely private artist who had a talent for capturing what was quintessentially New Zealand - our mountains, plains, and volcanic landscapes; Mäori life and culture; local flora; the architecture of town and country; the colonial Church; and early industry.

Kinder wanted to know and record what was unique about New Zealand - to identify what was indigenous in all its incarnations.

This exhibition is a rare opportunity to find out why John Kinder is considered one of New Zealand's early art champions.

John Kinder's New Zealand is a nationally touring exhibition project curated by Ron Brownson, Auckland Art Gallery's Senior Curator.

ENDS

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