The New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata is an

art gallery An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The lon ...

located in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

, New Zealand, in the Waterfront Shed 11 building.

History

The gallery was registered as a charitable trust in 1990. In 2005 the board hired its first paid director, Avenal McKinnon, who held the position until her resignation in 2014. During this time the permanent collection grew from six works to more than 200. In 2014, Gaelen Macdonald was appointed as McKinnon's successor. In 2017, Jaenine Parkinson took over the role of director.

Location

The New Zealand Portrait Gallery's permanent home and exhibition space is in Shed 11, a heritage listed building located on Wellington's Queens Wharf. Shed 11 was built in 1904–5 and designed by

William Ferguson William Ferguson may refer to: Arts * William Ferguson (tenor), operatic tenor, see '' The Tempest'' * William Gouw Ferguson, Scottish painter of still life * Will Ferguson (born 1964), Canadian writer Sportspeople * Bill Ferguson (American foo ...

, chief engineer of the

Wellington Harbour Board (Strong but true) , predecessor = , merged = , successor = , formation = , founder = , founding_location = , dissolved = , merger = , type ...

. In 1985, Shed 11 was transformed into a gallery space and in 2010 the New Zealand Portrait Gallery secured a long term lease on the building.

Collection

The New Zealand Portrait Gallery holds a collection of portraits featuring works by, and of, New Zealanders. In the collection are portraits of many influential and well-known identities including

Sir Edmund Hillary Sir Edmund Percival Hillary (20 July 1919 – 11 January 2008) was a New Zealand mountaineer, explorer, and philanthropist. On 29 May 1953, Hillary and Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers confirmed to have reached t ...

Dame Kiri Te Kanawa Dame Kiri Jeanette Claire Te Kanawa , (; born Claire Mary Teresa Rawstron, 6 March 1944) is a retired New Zealand opera singer. She had a full lyric soprano voice, which has been described as "mellow yet vibrant, warm, ample and unforced". Te ...

, Sir Peter Blake, and

Janet Frame Janet Paterson Frame (28 August 1924 – 29 January 2004) was a New Zealand author. She was internationally renowned for her work, which included novels, short stories, poetry, juvenile fiction, and an autobiography, and received numerous awar ...

. In 2014, a portrait of

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during h ...

was commissioned for the gallery, and was painted by New Zealand artist Nick Cuthell in a live sitting. The portrait was unveiled by His Royal Highness Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, in a ceremony at

Government House Government House is the name of many of the official residences of governors-general, governors and lieutenant-governors in the Commonwealth and the remaining colonies of the British Empire. The name is also used in some other countries. Gover ...

, and was subsequently hung at the gallery's home in Shed 11.

Awards

The New Zealand Portrait Gallery hosts two biennial awards: the Adam Portraiture Award and the Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award.

References

{{authority control Museums in Wellington City Art museums established in 1990 Art museums and galleries in New Zealand Portrait galleries 1990 establishments in New Zealand