Barry Lett Galleries was a dealer gallery focused on contemporary New Zealand art that operated in Auckland in the 1960s and 1970s.

History

Barry Lett Galleries was opened in 1965 by Barry Lett (1940–2017), who had graduated from Elam School of Fine Arts the previous year, Rodney Kirk Smith (1938-1996), and Frank Lowe, who had run Ikon Gallery with fellow architecture student Don Wood from 1960 to 1964. In the early 1960s a new generation of dealer galleries (often short-lived) arose in Auckland, encouraging people to see and buy contemporary New Zealand art. Barry Lett Galleries filled a gap left in the Auckland cultural scene by the closure of Ikon Gallery (which had shown, among others, Colin McCahon, Don Binney and

Pat Hanly James Patrick Hanly (2 August 1932 – 20 September 2004), generally known as Pat Hanly, was a prolific New Zealand painter. One of his works is a large mural ''Rainbow Pieces'' (1971) at Chrischurch Town Hall. Early life Born in Palmerston N ...

), as did Kees and Tina Hos's

New Vision Gallery New Vision Gallery was a contemporary craft and art gallery operating in Auckland, New Zealand in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. History The Gallery was established in 1957 by Dutch artists Kees (Cornelis) Hos (born 1916, The Hague, Netherlands - die ...

. Barry Lett Galleries showed many of the leading painters of the 1960s and 1970s, including McCahon, Binney, Hanly,

Milan Mrkusich Milan Mrkusich (5 April 1925 – 13 June 2018) was a New Zealand artist and designer. He was considered a pioneer of abstract painting in New Zealand. Retrospective exhibitions of his work were organised by the Auckland Art Gallery in 1972 and 1 ...

, Gordon Walters, Ralph Hotere, Michael Smither,

Michael Illingworth Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian and ...

and Robert Ellis. Unlike most commercial galleries, Barry Lett Gallery also showed the work of 'post-object' artist Jim Allen and his students at the Elam School of Fine Arts, such as Leon Narbey. In 1975 the gallery celebrated its tenth anniversary with a show of two works each by 14 of its core artists, including McCahon, Binney, Hotere, Mrkusich, Illingworth and

Teuane Tibbo Teuane Ann Tibbo (2 October 1895 - 24 May 1984) was a Samoan-born New Zealand artist. She started painting when she was 71 years old; her work is held in the permanent collections of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, Museum of New Zealand Te Pap ...

. Frank Lowe sold his interest to Kim Wright in 1966, and in 1975 Barry Lett left the gallery to paint full-time, leaving Rodney Kirk-Smith. In 1976 the gallery became known as RKS Art.

Barry Lett multiples

In 1968 the gallery issued a set of prints by 12 of its artists: Binney, McCahon, Walters, Mrkusich, Illingworth, Hotere, Hanly, Ellis, Michael Smither, Mervyn Williams, Ross Ritchie, and Toss Woollaston. The prints were intended to make contemporary art more accessible to the public, and were priced at $35 before publication and $40 after. Lett selected the twelve to reflect an 'up and coming' generation of new artists; the prints were not numbered but between 200 and 250 editions were believed to have been produced.

Artists

Artists shown at Barry Lett Galleries include: *

Gretchen Albrecht Gretchen Albrecht (born 7 May 1943) is a New Zealand painter and sculptor. Early life and education Albrecht was born in Onehunga in 1943, the daughter of Reuben John and Joyce Winifred Fairburn (née Grainger) Albrecht. She attended the Unive ...

* Don Binney *Paul Cullen *Robert Ellis *

Suzanne Goldberg Suzanne Goldberg (1940–1999) was a New Zealand painter, born in Auckland, New Zealand. Education Goldberg graduated from Elam School of Fine Arts in 1961 with honours and awarded thJoe Raynes Scholarshipin her final year. At Elam, she stud ...

* Ralph Hotere *Michael Illingworth *

Tom Kreisler Tom Kreisler (1938–2002) was an Argentinian-born New Zealand artist and poet. He has been described as one of New Zealand's most influential painters. Life Kreisler was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1938. His parents were Austrian Jewish ...

Vivian Lynn Vivian Isabella Lynn (née Robertson; 30 November 1931 – 1 December 2018) was a New Zealand artist. Education Lynn was born in Wellington in 1931 and attended Wellington Girls' College from 1945 to 1948. She completed a Diploma of Fine Arts a ...

*David Mealing *

Selwyn Muru Selwyn Frederick Muru (born 6 September 1937), also known as Herewini Murupaenga, is a New Zealand artist of Māori descent (Te Aupōuri, Ngāti Kurī). His life's work includes, painting, sculpture, journalism, broadcasting, directing, acting ...

* Leon Narbey *

Don Peebles Donald Clendon Peebles (5 March 1922 – 27 March 2010) was a New Zealand artist. He is regarded as a pioneer of abstract art in New Zealand, and his works are held in the collections of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, the Museum of New Zealan ...

*John Perry *Ross Ritchie * Michael Smither *Paul Tangata *Geoff Thornley *Teuane Tibbo * M.T. Woollaston

References

{{reflist, 30em Art museums and galleries in Auckland Museums in Auckland Art galleries established in 1965 Auckland CBD