Gretchen Albrecht (born 7 May 1943) is a New Zealand painter and sculptor.

Early life and education

Albrecht was born in

Onehunga Onehunga is a suburb of Auckland in New Zealand and the location of the Port of Onehunga, the city's small port on the Manukau Harbour. It is south of the city centre, close to the volcanic cone of Maungakiekie / One Tree Hill. Onehunga is a ...

in 1943, the daughter of Reuben John and Joyce Winifred Fairburn (née Grainger) Albrecht. She attended the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

Elam School of Fine Arts The Elam School of Fine Arts, founded by John Edward Elam, is part of the Faculty of Creative Arts and Industries at the University of Auckland. Students study degrees in fine art with an emphasis on a multidisciplinary approach. The schoo ...

, graduating in 1963 with an honours degree in painting.

Career

Art school and early work

Albrecht's early work, during art school and the years immediately following, was figurative: 'the protagonist always a woman, and the woman was often nude'. Albrecht's work in the 1960s was also more autobiographical than any later painting. In the early 1970s Albrecht turned away from the human form and began looking at the landscape, her garden, and arranging natural objects on coloured backgrounds. From 1970 she also began to use thinned acrylic rather than oil on canvas, which allowed her to paint more freely, and unprimed canvases that allowed the pigment to soak into the raw fabric, mimicking the watercolour work she enjoyed.

1970s

During the 1970s Albrecht's work became more and more abstracted, although it often still began with observations of the landscape, making studies in places like Auckland's West Coast and

Manukau Harbour The Manukau Harbour is the second largest natural harbour in New Zealand by area. It is located to the southwest of the Auckland isthmus, and opens out into the Tasman Sea. Geography The harbour mouth is between the northern head ("Burne ...

. Art historian Linda Gill notes that as Albrecht's paintings became more abstracted, her titles – originally prosaic, such as ''Table-Cloth with Curtain'' – became 'as poetic as her use of colour: ''Grey Ledge'', ''Winged Spill'', ''Storm Swell'', ''Fritillary'', ''Cushioned Fall'', ''Penumbra''.' An exhibition of American painter

Morris Louis Morris Louis Bernstein (November 28, 1912 – September 7, 1962), known professionally as Morris Louis, was an American painter. During the 1950s he became one of the earliest exponents of Color Field painting. While living in Washington, D. ...

' large abstract acrylic paintings at the Auckland Art Gallery in 1971 encouraged Albrecht's commitment to her abstract style and encouraged her to be more bold.

1980s and onwards: mature style

In 1980, after a year spent travelling in Europe and the United States, Albrecht produced works that directly referenced European painters and the history of art rather than her surroundings, with titles such as ''After Piero'', ''Giotto's Blue'' and ''Lunette (for Fra Angelico)''. Her mature style appeared at this time, with her distinctive use of the lunette, which she calls ''Hemispheres'',

ovaloid An oval () is a closed curve in a plane which resembles the outline of an egg. The term is not very specific, but in some areas (projective geometry, technical drawing, etc.) it is given a more precise definition, which may include either one or ...

canvases, what she calls ''Ovals'', or oval motifs on standard rectangle canvases, which she calls ''Roses in the Snow''. Albrecht first worked in the hemisphere form while living in Dunedin in 1981 as the Frances Hodgkins Fellow at the

University of Otago , image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg , image_size = , caption = University clock tower , motto = la, Sapere aude , mottoeng = Dare to be wise , established = 1869; 152 years ago , type = Public research collegiate ...

: the artists has said 'I knew I wanted the hemisphere in 1981. I went to Dunedin with quadrants, the hemisphere happened in the studio, I put the quadrants together. I wanted to break out of the rectangle and the square, and to introduce a curve.' In 1992 Albrecht described the importance of the curved form in her work, describing it as having 'a sensuousness and a female-relatedness that I can't describe in any other way. It had a generosity about it that the angular stretcher didn't have'. For a 1985 solo project at

Auckland City Art Gallery Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki is the principal public gallery in Auckland, New Zealand. It has the most extensive collection of national and international art in New Zealand and frequently hosts travelling international exhibitions. Set be ...

, Albrecht made four works referring to the seasons. In an interview with art historian Anne Kirker noted that she conceived the exhibition as 'taking a room with four rooms and putting one work on each of them. So you're in an environment, moving from the door to around the room, looking at the work and out the same door again.' In the same article Albrecht noted that she worked with the hemisphere form for most of the 1980s but series of collages made in 1987 and exhibited in 1988 showed the 'disintegration' of this form and the introduction of new forms, specifically the oval. She has been compared to

Mark Rothko Mark Rothko (), born Markus Yakovlevich Rothkowitz (russian: Ма́ркус Я́ковлевич Ротко́вич, link=no, lv, Markuss Rotkovičs, link=no; name not Anglicized until 1940; September 25, 1903 – February 25, 1970), was a Lat ...

and particularly

Helen Frankenthaler Helen Frankenthaler (December 12, 1928 – December 27, 2011) was an American abstract expressionist painter. She was a major contributor to the history of postwar American painting. Having exhibited her work for over six decades (early 1950s u ...

and other

abstract expressionist Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of the ...

artists. Albrecht has also expanded her work into oval metal sculpture since the early 2000s. Albrecht received grants from the QE II Arts foundation in 1976, 1978 and 1986, and travelled and worked extensively in the United States. In 1981, Albrecht was awarded the Frances Hodgkins Fellowship at the

.The Arts Foundation – Gretchen Albrecht
/ref> Today, Albrecht splits her time between Auckland and London.

Major exhibitions

* 1964 ''Contemporary New Zealand Painting'',

* 1965 ''New Zealand Painting 1965'',

* 1969 ''10 Years of New Zealand Painting'',

* 1975 ''New Zealand's Women Painters'',

* 1982 ''Seven Painters/The Eighties'', Sarjeant Gallery, Wanganui * 1985 ''Artist in Focus'', Dowse Art Gallery, Lower Hutt * 1985 ''Seasonal'', artist project at

* 1986 ''AFTERnature: Gretchen Albrecht: A Survey – 23 Years''], Sarjeant Gallery, Wanganui; Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, National Art Gallery Wellington * 1991 ''Cross-Currents'', Waikato Museum of Art and History, Hamilton * 1991 ''Signature of Place'', Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth * 1992 ''Distance Looks Our Way – 10 Artists from New Zealand'', EXPO (@ Seville; toured to Leiden, Madrid, Zamora, BArcelona, Auckland Art Gallery,

City Gallery Wellington City Gallery Te Whare Toi is a public art gallery in Wellington, New Zealand. History City Gallery Te Whare Toi began its life as the Wellington City Art Gallery on 23 September 1980 in a former office block located at 65 Victoria Street, now ...

, Manawatu Art Gallery * 1998 ''Dream Collectors'', Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa * 1998 ''Leap of Faith'', Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth * 1999 ''Crossing the divide: a painter makes prints"", Sarjeant Gallery, Wanganui * 2001 ''Prospect 2001'',

* 2002 ''Gretchen Albrecht: Illuminations'', Auckland Art Gallery * 2005–2006 ''Gretchen Albrecht: Returning'',

Dunedin Public Art Gallery The Dunedin Public Art Gallery holds the main public art collection of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand. Located in The Octagon in the heart of the city, it is close to the city's public library, Dunedin Town Hall, and other facilities such as ...

and

* 2011 ''Gretchen Albrecht & Eve Armstrong, Making Arrangements,'' Michal Lett, Auckland * 2012 ''Gretchen Albrecht: A Luminous Shade'', Tauranga Art Gallery * 2015 ''Colloquy''
Two Rooms
Auckland * 2016 ''Gretchen Albrecht: On Copper'', Two Rooms, Auckland * 2018 ''I come out of surgery looking golden''
Two Rooms
Auckland

Major publications

* James Ross (ed), ''AFTERnature: Gretchen Albrecht: A Survey – 23 Years'', Wanganui: Sarjeant Gallery, 1986 * Linda Gill, ''Gretchen Albrecht'', Auckland: Random Century New Zealand, 1991 * Ron Brownson (ed),''Gretchen Albrecht: Illuminations'', Auckland: Auckland Art Gallery and Godwit Press, 2002 * Michelle Leggott and Gretchen Albrecht, ''Journey to Portugal'', Auckland: Holloway Press, 2006 * James Ross and Gretchen Albrecht, ''Gretchen Albrecht: between paint and nature: five decades'', Arrowtown: Nadene Milne Gallery, 2009 * Edward Hanfling and James Ross, ''Gretchen Albrecht: A luminous shade'', Auckland: Globe Editions, 2012

Awards and recognitions

Albrecht was appointed a

Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...

, for services to painting, in the 2000 Queen's Birthday Honours. In 2007 Albrecht received a donation from the

Arts Foundation of New Zealand 'The Arts Foundation of New Zealand Te Tumu Toi is a New Zealand arts organisation that supports artistic excellence and facilitates private philanthropy through raising funds for the arts and allocating it to New Zealand artists. The concept ...

Award for Patronage recipient Dame Jenny Gibbs.

Collections

Albrecht's work is held in all major New Zealand public gallery collections, including the Auckland Art Gallery, the

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well kno ...

, Sarjeant Gallery,

Waikato Museum Waikato Museum ( mi, Te Whare Taonga o Waikato) is a regional museum located in Hamilton, New Zealand. The museum manages ArtsPost, a shop and gallery space for New Zealand art and design. Both are managed by the Hamilton City Council. Outside ...

, and the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.Gretchen Albrecht CV
/ref>

References

External links

Gretchen Albrecht official website

the artist at Nadene Milne Gallery

the artist at Fishers Fine Arts

the artist at Paper Graphica, with interview

Documentary about Gretchen Albrecht, NZ On Screen

In the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Albrecht, Gretchen 1943 births Living people Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit Elam Art School alumni New Zealand painters People from Onehunga 20th-century New Zealand women artists New Zealand women painters