Friends of the Auckland Art Gallery

Over a period of seven decades, the Friends of the Auckland Art Gallery (Incorporated) were a loyal, effectual and positive force whose work materially assisted Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki and helped shape its place in New Zealand’s cultural landscape. Created at the initiative of the Gallery’s first director, Dr Eric Westbrook, assistant director and influential painter Colin McCahon, and others, the Friends supported and promoted the interests of the Gallery from 1954 to 2018. The Friends’ support took many forms, ranging from the acquisition of artworks to general promotion, advocacy and engagement.

In addition to a busy calendar of Friends’ events, which included artist studio visits and talks by critics and curators, the Friends established the Walter Auburn Memorial Lecture series and the Pat Hanly Art Student Awards. Dr Walter Auburn was a collector of old master prints who donated a significant number of works to the Gallery in 1981. To honour this, in 1982 then Gallery director, Rodney Wilson, established a Walter Auburn Memorial Lecture series. Fourteen highly esteemed academics, gallery directors, curators and artists participated in the series, providing audiences with invaluable insights into art and culture. In 2002 the Friends established the Pat Hanly Art Students Awards to engage with and encourage students to realise their potential in the visual arts. The yearly event, now held by the Gallery’s Learning and Outreach team, recognises final-year Auckland school students and encourages them to pursue studies in art at tertiary level.

The Friends also contributed extraordinarily to the Gallery’s collection, acquiring and supporting the restoration of exactly 101 artworks. Highlights from this gifting include major works by New Zealand artists Colin McCahon, Rita Angus, Pat Hanly, Toss Woollaston and Tony Fomison. These artworks represent a most generous and important contribution to the Gallery’s collection, and played an important role in helping build the collection’s standing as foremost in New Zealand.

Artworks gifted by the Friends

Spanish Jars

Frances Hodgkins

Production date

1931-1935

Medium

oil on canvas

Size (h x w)

792 x 917 x 85 mm

Credit line

Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of the Friends of the Auckland Art Gallery with funds from the Joy and Harold Marchant Bequest, 2016

Accession no

2016/30

Production date: 2010
Medium: pigment inks on 308gsm Hahnemühle photo rag
Size (h x w): 1460 x 1100 mm
Credit line: Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of the Friends of the Auckland Art Gallery, 2011
Accession no: 2011/17/2

Production date: Unknown
Medium: oil on canvas
Size (h x w): 222 x 261 mm
Credit line: Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of the Friends of the Auckland Art Gallery, 1996
Accession no: 1996/7

Production date: 1986
Medium: bronze and kauri
Size (h x w): 2755 x 1380 mm
Credit line: Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of the Friends of the Auckland Art Gallery, 1988
Accession no: 1988/1/2.1-3

Production date: 1970
Medium: fibreglass and aluminium
Size (h x w): 1372 x 305 x 2438 mm
Credit line: Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of the Friends of the Auckland Art Gallery, Alex Harvey Industries Ltd, and the NZ Society of Sculptors and Painters, 1970
Accession no: 1970/32

Production date: 1956
Medium: colour lithograph
Size (h x w): 698 x 533 mm
Credit line: Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of the Friends of the Auckland Art Gallery from the Gerda Porsolt Memorial Trust Fund, 1965
Accession no: 1965/16

Production date: 1917-1975
Medium: pen drawing
Size (h x w): 381 x 521 mm
Credit line: Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of the Friends of the Auckland Art Gallery, 1961
Accession no: 1961/32

Production date: 1957
Medium: oil on hardboard
Size (h x w): 1210 x 3650 mm
Credit line: Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of the Friends of the Auckland Art Gallery, 1958
Accession no: 1958/2

Windows

John Bratby

Related audio

Six decades of giving: The Friends of the Auckland Art Gallery

Audio