The Gift That Keeps on Giving

Fine art is one of those things that provides so much joy and keeps on giving—to the artist, the viewers, and the collectors. Art spans long periods and brings people together. Recently, I received a delightful gift from my sister-in-law and brother: a newly released book called “Edith Collier: Early New Zealand Modernist.” What a treat and adventure reading it! The book has been released in conjunction with the reopening (9 Nov 2024) of Te Whare O Rehua Sarjeant Gallery in Whanganui, New Zealand, which houses some of Edith Collier’s work. Whanganui was where Edith grew up and started her painting career. I was thrilled to see some of Edith’s gouache work included in the book, such as “Boy with Noah’s Ark” (1916-17), as in the image below.

The next treasure I unearthed from the book was that Edith Collier was trained by Frances Hodgkins in St Ives, England. Frances Hodgkins is another famous woman and modernist artist whose roots are tied to the area where I live on the Kapiti Coast. Our newly built Toi Mahara Gallery in Waikanae, on the Kapiti Coast, houses Frances Hodgkins's works from the Field Collection. When I visited recently, I was excited to see one of Frances Hodgkins’ gouache paintings exhibited. Both Edith Collier and Frances Hodgkins were at the forefront of the early modernist movement and were professional artists at a time when that domain had been dominated by men.

Now, this gets even better—the gift keeps on giving! I researched in Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand about Frances Hodgkins, discovering that in the 1930s she began to use gouache, which became her favourite medium, enabling her to combine the opacity of oil paint with the fluidity of watercolour. The gouaches painted from the late 1930s onwards are among her best works. Two of her gouaches were included in the British section of the Centennial Exhibition of International and New Zealand Art held at the National Art Gallery in 1939-40. On further investigation, I was quite astounded by how many gouache paintings she did. Henri Matisse is acclaimed as revolutionising the use of gouache in the 1950s, but I would like to rewrite the history books, as Frances Hodgkins’ gouache paintings 1890s to 1940s are prolific, they can be view at The Complete Frances Hodgkins.

To have such a famous painter right at my feet reminds me of my painting “Picking Up Pebbles” inspired by the thought that in life there are things right at our feet, a voice calling out, urging us to pick up what lies before us. And so, it was for me when I picked up gouache again to carry on with this wonderful gift I have been given. It has also allowed me to promote gouache as a modern-day fine art medium. Gouache has been quietly hiding in the background as a fine art medium category. The time is now for gouache to stand up in its own category, where it has been largely forgotten among oils, acrylics, and watercolours. The process of painting with gouache stands on its own and should not be confused with watercolour. 

Jill Trevelyan, J. T. (12/09/2024). Edith Collier Early New Zealand Modernist. New Zealand: Massey University Press. https://www.masseypress.ac.nz/books/edith-collier

Te Whare O Rehua Sarjeant Gallery https://sarjeant.org.nz/

“Boy with Noah’s Ark” 1916-17 https://collection.sarjeant.org.nz/objects/45942/boy-with-noahs-ark

Linda Gill. 'Hodgkins, Frances Mary', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1993. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/2h41/hodgkins-frances-mary (accessed 21 October 2024)

Toi Mahara Gallery, Waikanae, Kapiti Coast, New Zealand. https://toimahara.nz/exhibitions/selections-from-the-field-collection/

The Complete Frances Hodgkins https://completefranceshodgkins.com/objects?query=gouache+frances+hodgkins&page=15