Ann Verdcourt (1934 - 2022) was a New Zealand artist. She emigrated to New Zealand with her husband, ceramic artist John Lawrence, in 1965.

Education

Verdcourt studied at the Luton School of Art from 1948 to 1952 and completed a NDD Diploma (sculpture and Ceramics) at the Hornsey School of Art in London in 1955.

Career

Verdcourt has been working with clay since the 1950s. Following a period of working and exhibiting in NZ, for an exhibition at Manawatu Art Gallery in the early 1980s called, ''Still Life is Still Alive'' she was asked "to provide a large number of pottery vessels in the style of Morandi so that students and members of the public could be encouraged to draw and paint from them in the gallery space." This event has charted her course since then. Her work references many other artists and art movements, drawing from her extensive knowledge of art history. In her work one can find allusions to anything from

Diego Velázquez Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez (baptized June 6, 1599August 6, 1660) was a Spanish painter, the leading artist in the court of King Philip IV of Spain and Portugal, and of the Spanish Golden Age. He was an individualistic artist of th ...

, Henri Matisse,

Amedeo Modigliani Amedeo Clemente Modigliani (, ; 12 July 1884 – 24 January 1920) was an Italian painter and sculptor who worked mainly in France. He is known for portraits and nudes in a modern style characterized by a surreal elongation of faces, necks, and ...

and

Constantin Brâncuși Constantin Brâncuși (; February 19, 1876 – March 16, 1957) was a Romanian Sculpture, sculptor, painter and photographer who made his career in France. Considered one of the most influential sculptors of the 20th-century and a pioneer of ...

to the famous earthenware depiction of the Venus of Willendorf. "I do enjoy working from Portraits; it's a challenge bringing the image into three dimensions, discovering the profile and unknown views." This has been her forte - working to illustrate what can only be done in three dimensions. In 1992 she was commissioned to produce work for the Treasures of the Underworld exhibition that formed part of the New Zealand Pavilion at the Seville Expo '92. She said of her work:

''My brief was to make something about Columbus, something that would appeal to a wide range of people and be understood without the use of words. After much hesitation and after reading a great many books, I decided the only way I could tackle the subject was by treating it as an unfolding story of the "first Voyage"''.

Exhibitions

A major exhibition of Verdcourt's work, ''Ceramics: Ann Verdcourt - a survey'' was jointly developed by

Te Manawa Te Manawa (Māori: ''The Heart'') is a museum, art gallery and science centre in Palmerston North, New Zealand. It is operated by the Te Manawa Museums Trust, a charitable trust incorporated on 20 August 1999. From that date, the Trust assumed r ...

, Palmerston North and the

Sarjeant Gallery The Sarjeant Gallery Te Whare o Rehua Whanganui at Pukenamu, Queen's Park Whanganui is currently closed for redevelopment. The temporary premises at Sarjeant on the Quay, 38 Taupo Quay currently house the Sarjeant Collection, and all exhibitions a ...

, Wanganui in 2010 and toured to other North Island galleries. A version of the exhibition, titled ''Ann Verdcourt: Still Lives 1980 – 2007'' was shown at Objectspace in Auckland in 2011.

Awards

Ann Verdcourt was the winner of the 'Non-functional' award for her work ''Thoughts of Vegetation'' in the New Zealand Society of Potters exhibition at the Royal Easter Show in 1995. In 2003, her work ''Play'' won a Merit Award in the

Portage Ceramic Awards The annual Portage Ceramic Awards is New Zealand's premier ceramics event. Established in 2001, the awards are funded by The Trusts Charitable Foundation and administered by Te Uru Waitakere Contemporary Gallery (formerly Lopdell House Gallery). A ...

Collections

Verdcourt has work in the collections of the

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. ''Te Papa Tongarewa'' translates literally to "container of treasures" or in full "container of treasured things and people that spring fr ...

, Wellington; the Auckland War Memorial Museum, Auckland;

, Palmerston North;

, Wanganui; the James Wallace Collection, Auckland; Hawke's Bay Museum, Napier; and

The Dowse Art Museum The Dowse Art Museum is a municipal art gallery in Lower Hutt, New Zealand. Opening in 1971 in the Lower Hutt CBD, The Dowse occupies a stand-alone building adjacent to other municipal facilities. The building was completely remodelled in 2 ...

, Lower Hutt.

Education

Career

Exhibitions

Awards

Collections

References

Further reading