Professionally Trained at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna Gottfried Lindauer Migrated to

The Māori Portraits: Gottfried Lindauer'south New Zealand
de Young | September 9, 2017 – Apr 1, 2018

SAN FRANCISCO – The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF) are proud to host the starting time major exhibition of Gottfried Lindauer'southward portraits of the Māori, the indigenous people of New Zealand, ever assembled in the United States. A fundamental cultural figure in New Zealand, Lindauer was one of the country's nigh pioneering and prolific painters. His historical portraits of Māori leaders, community elders, warriors and politicians painted between 1874 and 1903 capture the fascinating personal stories of his subjects as well every bit the complex intercultural exchanges occurring at a time of great political, cultural and social modify. These finely detailed oil paintings feature male and female rangatira (men and women of esteem and rank) and are considered taongas (treasures) in New Zealand.

"This unique exhibition will not only present the amazing oeuvre of Lindauer, but will likewise address the complexities of what a painting is and can be," says Max Hollein, Director and CEO of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. "It is fascinating that a Czech painter, trained in the European fashion of 19th century portraiture became the nearly celebrated portraitist of Māori in New Zealand. The Māori see these paintings every bit 'living connections to the past' and the remarkable life stories of their ancestors are remembered and shared by their descendants today through these paintings.

A total of 31 portraits volition be on view in The Māori Portraits: Gottfried Lindauer's New Zealand, on loan from the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki and the Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira; many will exist on view for the first time in Northward America.

"Lindauer's compelling paintings of Māori are national treasures of New Zealand; we are deeply grateful to have the opportunity to show them in San Francisco." says Christina Hellmich, Curator in charge, Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas and the Jolika Collection of New Guinea Art at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.  "They document a period when colonial settlement was forging cross-cultural interactions between the Māori—ethnic people of New Zealand—and Pākehā, their term for European settlers and their descendants. Lindauer captured the likenesses of important historical figures amongst several generations in his striking portraits and this exhibition pays tribute to them."

Most of Lindauer's portraits were created posthumously and painted from photographs he collected; some were deputed by the sitters, by Lindauer's patrons and by others. At the time of their creation, Lindauer's portraits were prominently displayed in private homes and marae (coming together houses) and at tangihanga (funerals), practices that continue today. They held symbolic and metaphysical meaning for many Māori in commemorating their subjects' presence, prestige, and spirit—meanings that remain potent for their descendants. As with figurative carvings or photographs, in Māori civilisation, the painted images are revered and seen every bit powerful embodiments of tipuna (ancestors) containing mana (prestige) of the people depicted.

Lindauer took keen care to convey the esteem of his sitters through the objects they hold and their habiliment and personal adornments. In many of his portraits, the practice of tā moko, or tattooing, is the almost visible and important argument of a person'south status and authority. Lindauer too meticulously painted sitters' personal adornments including hei tiki (greenstone pendants) and handmade cloaks, as seen around the shoulders of Pare Watene and others. He portrayed some Māori subjects wearing military uniforms or parliamentary habiliment such every bit Major Waata Kukutai and Hori Ngakapa Te Whanaunga. Lindauer's paintings bring to light the role of dress and personal adornment in shaping and presenting Māori cultural identity. His paintings feature many men and women in customary Māori clothing and adornments at a time when European-style wearable and accessories were worn every bit daily dress by Māori and Pākēha (non-Maori) alike. Clients could select what they wore and how they were represented, just in portraits painted from photographs, Lindauer sometimes added elements or props such equally feathers, cloaks and weapons.

The Māori Portraits: Gottfried Lindauer's New Zealand is organized past Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, New Zealand, in collaboration with the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, with the support of the New Zealand Government through Manatā Taonga–Ministry building for Culture and Heritage's Cultural Diplomacy International Programme and Te Puni Kāōkiri–Ministry of Māāori Development . The curator for its presentation at the de Young is Christina Hellmich, Curator in accuse, Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas and the Jolika Collection of New Guinea Fine art at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

In Detail

The exhibition is organized chronologically following the historical trajectory of New Zealand through the personal lives of the subjects of Lindauer's paintings. It begins with portraits of Māori women and men renowned for their remarkable life experiences in the beginning decades of the 19th century. Paintings includeTe Rangipikinga, Eru Tamaikoha Te Ariari, Tamati Pirimona Marino, and Rangi Topeora portray some of these leaders. Revered chiefs represented in the paintings led their tribes during battles for country and resources afterward European settlement began and who acted in disobedience or defense force of the British colonial authorities during the New Zealand land wars.

A number of Lindauer's paintings represent Māori who signed the Treaty of Waitangi, a written understanding between the British Crown and more than 500 Māori chiefs in 1840, that fabricated New Zealand a colony of Britain and the Māori British subjects.Tawhiao Matutaera Potatau Te Wherowhero, painting of the second Māori king, will be on view, as well as representations of and others who supported the Kingitanga (Māori King movement), founded in 1858 to unite the Māori under a single sovereign.

Portraits of Māori who protested confronting or worked in support of the Native Country Courts and individuals who forged paths between cultures and religions include Hon. Wiremu Tako Ngatata Te Teoteo Grand.Fifty.C. and Huria Matenga Ngarongoa (Julia Martin).

A section on cultural crossings features paintings of Māori who gained notoriety abroad, including Te Paea Hinerangi—known to tourists effectually the globe as Guide Sophia. Lindauer's best-known and admired painting is a portrait of Heeni Hirini and Child, a portraits of a Ngāti Maru woman with an baby on her dorsum. Lindauer painted this subject more than than 30 times over a period of 24 years. Information technology was awarded a gilded medal by an international jurors committee at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, the 1904 globe's fair held in Saint Louis, Missouri; other versions were exhibited internationally in Prague and London.

Lindauer revolutionized painted portraiture in New Zealand by basing many of his representations of Māori—both living and deceased—on studio photographs. In a time before color photography, the realism of Lindauer'due south portraits caused a sensation. His full range of colors accomplished results that black-and-white photographs of the mean solar day could not, capturing details of the menstruation's wear and adornments. These include the striking green pounamu (greenstone) adornments worn by prominent sitters and the living color of facial tattoos. The exhibition will include the motion pictureIdentifying Lindauer: His Materials and Techniques, which provides insights into the creative person's practice and highlights the distinctive role of photography in his work. Too on view will be segments from Behind the Brush, a documentary series featuring interviews with descendants and experts virtually the lives of Lindauer'southward subjects and their indelible legacies.

Near the Creative person

Gottfried Lindauer (1839–1926) was the most prolific and best-known painter of Māori subjects, in particular portraits, in the tardily 19th to early on 20th centuries. He was born in Pilsen, Bohemia (later the Czech Democracy), trained privately in Vienna, and migrated to New Zealand in 1874. At the time of his arrival, there were few professionally trained artists in New Zealand, which allowed him the opportunity to develop a large group of clients. He lived in his 2d homeland until his death. He fabricated only iii visits to Europe during this menstruation but sent many notated drawings back to Bohemia, also as examples of Māori taonga (treasures) and paintings. In 1901, Lindauer's patron Henry Partridge established the Lindauer Art Gallery above his businesses on Queen Street in Auckland and opened it to the public. Partridge donated his drove of more than seventy Lindauer paintings to the city of Auckland in 1915. They are now held by the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki.

Media prototype gallery available here.
deyoung.famsf.org | #maoriportraits | @deyoungmuseum

Visiting | de Young
Golden Gate Park, 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Bulldoze, San Francisco Open up 9:thirty a.thousand.– v:fifteen p.m. Tuesdays– Sundays. Open select holidays; closed well-nigh Mondays.

Ticketing
Admission to this exhibition is included in general admission. For adults, tickets are $15; for seniors 65+, $10; and for students, $6. Members and youths 17 and under receive free admission. Prices are subject to change. More information tin be institute at deyoung.famsf.org/visit.

Exhibition Catalogue | $75
The Māori Portraits: Gottfried Lindauer's New Zealand is the definitive book on this body of work. It presents 67 major portraits and eight genre paintings alongside detailed accounts of the artist and his subjects, followed by essays past leading scholars that take us inside Lindauer's globe: from his artistic training in Bohemia and his travels around New Zealand equally Maori and Pakeha deputed him to paint portraits; his artistic techniques and deep human relationship with photography; Henry Partridge'southward gallery of Lindauer works on Queen Street in Auckland where Maori visited to see their ancestors; and the afterlife of the paintings. Hardcover, 284 pages.

Bachelor for buy here.

Exhibition Organization
This exhibition is organized past Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, New Zealand, in collaboration with the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

With the support of the New Zealand Government through Manatū Taonga – Ministry for Culture and Heritage's Cultural Diplomacy International Programme.

President's Circle: Lisa Sardegna and David A. Carrillo. Curator's Circumvolve: The Donald L. Wyler Trust. Boosted support is provided by Blossom Strong.

About the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, comprising the de Young in Gold Gate Park and the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park, are the largest public arts institution in San Francisco.

The de Young originated from the 1894 California Midwinter International Exposition in Golden Gate Park and was established as the Memorial Museum in 1895. It was later renamed in honor of Michael H. de Young, who spearheaded its cosmos. The present copper-clad landmark building, designed by Herzog & de Meuron, opened in Oct 2005. It holds the institution'southward significant collections of American painting, sculpture, and decorative arts from the 17th to the 21st centuries; art from Africa, Oceania, and the Americas; costume and material arts; and international modern and contemporary art.

Media Contacts
Francisco Rosas, Public Relations Coordinator | frosas@famsf.org | 415.750.8906
Miriam Newcomer, Director of Public Relations | mnewcomer@famsf.org | 415.750.3554

warnerhatime.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.famsf.org/press-room/de-young-host-first-major-exhibition-maori-portraits-us

Share this post