Artwork information

Raiha Reretu lived near Hastings in Heretaunga, Hawkes Bay and belonged to the Ngāti Kahungunu tribe. They take their name from the ancestor Kahungunu who was married to Rongomaiwahine from Mahia; a celebrated woman of beauty. Gottfried Lindauer trained as a portrait and figure painting in Vienna. He emigrated to New Zealand in 1873, and immediately began to travel widely, securing portrait sittings from prominent Māori and Pākehā and their families.