New Zealand art lands in V&A museum   26 Apr 2012

Anna Blair

The Victoria and Albert Museum has recently acquired a series of 24 prints by top New Zealand artists. These prints were created and exhibited in 2004 at the University of Canterbury’s SOFA gallery in order to raise funds for the gallery.

The prints were exhibited in Christchurch in December 2004 and January 2005. The process of determining potential artists and producing prints had begun two years prior. All artists approached by the School of Fine Arts agreed to take part in the SOFA Print Project. In exchange, each received a complete set of prints.

Some of the artists who created prints for the project attended the University of Canterbury. The School of Fine Arts, also known informally as Ilam School of Fine Arts, is one of New Zealand’s top art schools. Shane Cotton, Seraphine Pick and Denise Copland are among the well-known artists who took the opportunity to support their alma mater.

Many of the artists had worked with prints before, but for some it was a first excursion into the medium.

Simon Ogden, a Senior Lecturer at the University of Canterbury’s School of Fine Arts, curated the exhibition. Ogden is originally from Bradford and studied at London’s Royal College of Art. He has been living in Christchurch since 1983.

This year, a complete set of the 24 prints from the SOFA Print Project were given to the V&A in London by the University of Canterbury’s Centre for Fine Arts, Music and Theatre.

These prints will be a useful addition to the V&A’s collection. The museum currently has very few pieces by New Zealand artists in its collection. With this donation, many of New Zealand art’s biggest names will be represented.

Some of the artists included have since had significant moments of career success. Peter Robinson won New Zealand’s top art award, the Walters Prize, in 2008. Bill Culbert, who contributed a photography printed on rag paper, will represent New Zealand at the Venice Biennial next year. L Budd, a member of the Et Al collective who represented NZ at the 2005 Venice Biennial, also contributed a print.

Joanna Braithwaite provided an engraving of a double-headed hen. Jason Greig contributed an etching of Theros, Greek god of summer. The other contributors included Don Binney, Bing Dawe, Bill Hammond and Julia Morison.

The reputations of the artists included are such that, in 2004, many purchasers bought portfolios unseen, persuaded by the names of the participants. Sets sold initially for between $5000 and $6000 New Zealand dollars. At auction recently, the price estimate for one set was between $8000 and $12000 dollars. These prices would be much higher if the works were not in multiple editions.

It is unclear at this point whether the Victoria and Albert Museum intend to exhibit these prints in the near future. Regardless, their acquisition is significant for the representation of New Zealand artists in major United Kingdom institutions.

Anna Blair is a freelance writer and architectural historian studying hotels from the 1920s. She currently divides her time between Paris and East London. Further work can be found at her blog – Dispatches from Europe.

Photo: V&A Gallery - Gailf548 - FlickrCC
Photo: V&A courtyard - Heather Cowper. Flickr CC

Add a comment