Patricia France (29 May 1911 – 8 March 1995) was a New Zealand abstract artist. She took up painting in her mid-fifties as part of counselling and art therapy at a private psychiatric hospital in Dunedin. Her works became in demand in all leading New Zealand private and public galleries. She was noted for her unique, unmistakable paintings, as well as her independent charm and quiet flair. In September 2022, one of her oil paintings, ''Figures in Landscape,'' sold at auction for NZ$16,730.

Biography

Early life

France was the only child of William Goldie Cave and Mabel France. Her mother's well-to-do Auckland family came out from Great Britain on the ''Amelia Thompson'' in 1841. Her father was an English remittance man who had been sent out to New Zealand by his gentry family in the hope he would make his fortune. France grew up in Stratford, a small town in Taranaki, and later Wanganui and Nelson. France adored her father, but this changed when she was eight and her parents' marriage failed. Her father deserted his wife and daughter, either by death or abandonment. It is inconclusive which. After her father's "death", she and her mother lived with her grandmother and aunt in Auckland. She attended the Auckland Diocesan School for Girls, Nelson College for Girls and

Wanganui Girls' College Whanganui Girls' College is located in Jones Street Whanganui near the Dublin Street Bridge. The school is one of the oldest single sex educational facilities in New Zealand, founded in 1891. Principals * Mary Isabel Fraser Notable alumnae * ...

, and left school vivacious, intelligent and feminine. Chaperoned by her mother and aunt, she made a grand tour of Europe and studied for two years at a branch of the New York School of Interior Design in Paris.Patricia France: Notes from a conversation with the artist Michael Hitchings, date 12 February 1991, located in artist file at the Christchurch Art Gallery On their return in 1931, they lived in Remuera, a fashionable Auckland superb, albeit with little money.

Mid life

During World War II, France did social work at the St John Voluntary Aid at the Ellerslie Racecourse Military Hospital. After the war, she nursed her grandmother and mother who had developed dementia. In time, the constraints of being a dutiful daughter and granddaughter, compounded by lack of money and society's rigid expectations, led to a breakdown, and from the ages of 48 to 55, she boarded voluntarily at a private psychiatric hospital in Dunedin, named Ashburn Hall. A psychiatrist at the hospital, Dr Kenneth Bragan, noted similarities between the mental state of France and writer Janet Frame. Like Frame, she narrowly avoided a pre-frontal lobotomy, and made a slow, often painful, recovery through exploring her creativity. By learning to paint, she overcame her upbringing by 'painting out the past'. Ian Clothier from the Gallery Art Akaroa speaks of France's "compelling desire to exhibit humanity as it is".Viva la France: paintings by Patricia France, 1990, exhibition notes by Ian Clothier of the Gallery Akaroa, located in artist file the Christchurch Art Gallery

Artistic career

"Cured" of her depression by art therapy, she returned to society in 1966 and, with her inheritance, purchased a wooden villa at 396 Highgate, Dunedin. She started a career as an abstract painter and art connoisseur. Over time, her watercolour, gouache and oil paintings gained the respect and friendship of the dealer Murdoch MacLennan, and artists such as Colin McCahon and Ralph Hotere. She was accepted into the Dunedin art world, and became friends with poet Brian Turner as well as sculptors, theatre directors and actors. In May 1977, an exhibition of seventeen works at the Bosshard Galleries launched her as a professional artist, at the age of almost 66. Another exhibition followed shortly after at the Barry Lett Gallery, in November 1978, and, despite her lack of formal qualification, she became recognised as a remarkable and highly individual painter. By 1992, the Wellington's Brooker Gallery were selling her works for NZ$4,000. Her favourite themes were opulent flower and groups of women who don't appear to like one another.

Legacy

Although, unwell and with failing eyesight, she continued to exhibit and be a patron to young artists until she died at the age of 83, leaving a sizable estate and NZ$390,000 to the Patricia France Charitable Trust for victims of

domestic violence Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner ...

. She had little interest in money for its own sake and was concerned about women and children subjected to domestic violence.

Exhibitions

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it. * 1977: Bosshard Galleries, Dunedin *1978 and 1980: 'Patricia France Paintings', Barry Lett Galleries, Auckland *1984 and 1985: Dennis Cohen Gallery *1987: 'Five Woman', Carnegie Gallery *1987, 1992 1993 and 1994: Brooker Gallery, Wellington *1989: 'Woman Artists Respond', Marshall Seifert Gallery, Dunedin * 1991: 'Vive la France', The Akaroa Gallery, Akaroa * 1993: Bowerman Gallery *1993: Dobson Bashford Gallery, Christchurch *1994: 'We're still here: a celebration of achievement',

Milford Galleries Milford Galleries are among New Zealand's leading dealer art galleries, with their headquarters in the city of Dunedin. There are two physical art spaces, in Dunedin and Queenstown, and there was also formerly a gallery in Auckland. The galleri ...

, Dunedin *undated: RKS Art, Auckland

Collections

* Bank of New Zealand, Wellington (In September 2022, BNZ sold the majority of this art collection, with the proceeds of the sale going towards a new charitable BNZ Foundation) * Fletcher Challenge, Wellington * Hocken Collections, Dunedin *Forrester Gallery, Oamaru *Lincoln University Art Collection, Lincoln *Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington * National Art Gallery, Wellington * National Library Collection, Christchurch

Book covers

* Alison Gray, ''Mothers & Daughters'', Bridget Williams Books, Wellington, 1993 * Philip Mincher, ''All the Wild Summer'', John McIndoe, Dunedin, 1985

External links

A carousel of her paintings displayed on the Patricia France charitable trust website

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:France, Patricia 1911 births 1995 deaths Modern painters New Zealand artists 20th-century New Zealand women artists People educated at Whanganui Girls' College People from Stratford, New Zealand