A serving of history
A serving of history
ln the European spring of 1957, Dora de Beer was holidaying in Rome having recently arranged the shipment of a small but exciting group of Italian ceramics to Otago Museum in Dunedin.
Cool and Collected
A life of art out of the limelight
A life of art out of the limelight
Next to the wall text that introduces Colin McCahon: A Constant Flow of Light at Hocken Collections Uare Taoka o Hakena, hangs the still-life painting Poppies (c.1937), by Anne Hamblett (1915-1993).
Focus on systems of power
Focus on systems of power
The most recent artwork to enter the collection of the Dunedin Public Art Gallery is I thought I heard you crying in the forest, by Ayesha Green (Ngati Kahungunu, Kai Tahu), and it is now on...
Fine example of engraving
Fine example of engraving
In March 1920, a group of artists, including Lucien Pissarro, Noel Rooke, Gwen Raverat and Eric Gill, founded the United Kingdom-based Society of Wood Engravers.
A man of many talents
A man of many talents
In 1865, a grand exhibition, the first of its type in New Zealand, was staged in Dunedin.
Patterns of behaviour
Patterns of behaviour
One of the largest knitting pattern collections within a New Zealand institution is held in the Hocken Collections at the University of Otago.
More belief than science
More belief than science
Given our Covid-19 pandemic experience, it’s worth looking back a century to New Zealand’s previous encounter with a worldwide pandemic.
The Titans back from obscurity
The Titans back from obscurity
Local music histories are marked with stories of lost bands, forgotten songs and musicians that nearly made it.
Window on lives of artists
Window on lives of artists
An artist’s journals provide rare insights, writes Anna Blackman.
Work a response to ‘60s politics
Work a response to ‘60s politics
One of three works by Michael Illingworth (1932-1988) in the Hocken Pictorial Collections is The Painter and the Poet, from 1965.
Creatures great and small
Creatures great and small
The familiar motif of our fellow animals decorates work at Dunedin Public Art Gallery, writes Lucy Hammonds.
A collection of broken hearts
A collection of broken hearts
The impulse to collect and hold on to an object might be for entirely logical reasons, or sometimes we are driven purely by our emotions.
Decorations of distinction
Decorations of distinction
Italian glass on the Theomins' dining table tells a tale of Venice, Jenny Longstaff writes.
An artist’s brush with Cubism
An artist’s brush with Cubism
Dame Louise Henderson was born in Paris at the beginning of La Belle Epoch (The Golden Age) at the turn of the 20th-century.
Gateway to Otago’s history
Gateway to Otago’s history
Visitors to Toitu’s exhibition galleries now pass under the outstretched wings of Toroa, the centrepiece of an impressive carved gateway, or waharoa, recently unveiled at the museum.
Science on the high seas
Science on the high seas
Oceans are important. Two exhibitions at Otago Museum explain why.
Hodgkins' travel an inspiration
Hodgkins' travel an inspiration
Last month, the Dunedin Public Art Gallery opened "Frances Hodgkins: European Journeys", an exhibition curated by Mary Kisler and toured by Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki.
A tale of a head
A tale of a head
Almost from the beginning, coins were decorated on their obverse (the "heads" side) with designs, some abstract or geometric, other naturalistic in the form of all manner of animals and insects - about 100 types are now known.
Beyond the pail: suds and slops
Beyond the pail: suds and slops
We take our modern bathroom amenities for granted these days, but you can see how innovative the facilities at Olveston were for the times.
More to see than the sitter
More to see than the sitter
There's a lot going on in the background of the Hocken's photographic collection, writes Jen Anderson.