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 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 ...

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 ...

, The University of Auckland and the

National Gallery of Australia The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...

. Tibbo was born in

Pago Pago Pago Pago ( ; Samoan: )Harris, Ann G. and Esther Tuttle (2004). ''Geology of National Parks''. Kendall Hunt. Page 604. . is the territorial capital of American Samoa. It is in Maoputasi County on Tutuila, which is American Samoa's main island. ...

, grew up in Samoa, and later lived in Fiji as an adult before moving to Auckland, New Zealand in 1945 with her husband and eight children. She began painting in the 1960s, without any formal training, when one of her daughters became interested in art.

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 ...

introduced Tibbo to Barry Lett, who became her dealer and showed her work at

Barry Lett Galleries 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 Schoo ...

; her first solo exhibition was at Lett's gallery in 1964. Her work often depicted leisure activities from her Samoan childhood, such as fishing, cricket, swimming, church and picnics. In 2002 a retrospective of her work, "Keep It in the Heart: The Paintings of Teuane Tibbo" was held in Auckland at the Lopdell House Gallery (now Te Uru). Her work was also featured in the 2021 exhibition ''Stars Start Falling'', which was presented at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery and Te Uru. In 2009 Tibbo's daughter Audie Pennefather published a biography of Tibbo's life, ''A true & strange story : the life of Teuane Ann Tibbo, artist 1895 -1984''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tibbo, Teuane 1895 births 1984 deaths Samoan emigrants to New Zealand 20th-century New Zealand painters 20th-century New Zealand women artists New Zealand women painters Samoan expatriates in Fiji