Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki is the principal public gallery in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

, New Zealand. It has the most extensive collection of national and international art in New Zealand and frequently hosts travelling international exhibitions. Set below the hilltop Albert Park in the central-city area of Auckland, the gallery was established in 1888 as the first permanent art gallery in New Zealand. The building originally housed both the Auckland Art Gallery and the

Auckland public library Auckland Libraries is the public library system for the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It was created when the seven separate councils in the Auckland region merged in 2010. It is currently the largest public-library network in the Southern He ...

, and opened with collections donated by benefactors Governor Sir George Grey and James Tannock Mackelvie. This was the second public art gallery in New Zealand, after the

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 ...

, which opened three years earlier in 1884. Wellington's

New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts The New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts (also referred to as the Wellington Art Society) was founded in Wellington in July 1882 as The Fine Arts Association of New Zealand. Founding artists included painters William Beetham (first president of the As ...

opened in 1892 and a Wellington Public Library in 1893. In 2009, it was announced that the museum received a donation from American businessman

Julian Robertson Julian Hart Robertson Jr. (June 25, 1932 – August 23, 2022) was an American billionaire hedge fund manager, and philanthropist. Robertson founded Tiger Management, one of the first hedge funds, in 1980. From its inception in 1980 to its ...

, valued at over $100 million, the largest ever of its kind in the region. The works will be received from the owner's estate.

History

Throughout the 1870s many people in Auckland felt the city needed a municipal art collection but the newly established Auckland City Council was unwilling to commit funds to such a project. Following pressure by such eminent people as Sir

Maurice O'Rorke Sir George Maurice O’Rorke (2 May 1830 – 25 August 1916) was a New Zealand politician, representing (as George O’Rorke) the Auckland seat of Onehunga, and later Manukau, and was Speaker of the House of Representatives. He was a committed ...

(Speaker of the House of Representatives) and others, the building of a combined Art Gallery & Library was made necessary by the promise of significant bequests from two major benefactors, former colonial governor Sir George Grey and James Tannock Mackelvie. Grey had promised books for a municipal library as early as 1872 and eventually donated large numbers of manuscripts, rare books and paintings from his collection to the Auckland Gallery & Library (in all over 12,500 items, including 53 paintings). He also gave material to

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

, where he had also been governor. The Grey bequest includes works by

Caspar Netscher Caspar (or Gaspar) Netscher (1639 – January 15, 1684) was a Dutch portrait and genre painter. He was a master in depicting oriental rugs, silk and brocade and introduced an international style to the Northern Netherlands. Life According to Ar ...

Henry Fuseli Henry Fuseli ( ; German: Johann Heinrich Füssli ; 7 February 1741 – 17 April 1825) was a Swiss painter, draughtsman and writer on art who spent much of his life in Britain. Many of his works, such as ''The Nightmare'', deal with supernatur ...

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the Romantic poetry, poetry and visual art of t ...

and

David Wilkie David Wilkie may refer to: * David Wilkie (artist) (1785–1841), Scottish painter * David Wilkie (surgeon) (1882–1938), British surgeon, scientist and philanthropist * David Wilkie (footballer) (1914–2011), Australian rules footballer * David ...

. Mackelvie was a businessman who had retained an interest in Auckland affairs after returning to Britain. In the early 1880s he announced a gift of 105 framed watercolours, oil paintings, and a collection of drawings. His gift eventually amounted to 140 items, including paintings, decorative arts, ceramics and furniture from his London residence – these form the core of the Mackelvie Trust Collection, which is shared between the Auckland City Art Gallery, the Public Library and the Auckland Museum. Mackelvie's will stipulated a separate gallery to display his bequest; this was not popular with the city authorities, but a special room was dedicated to the collection in 1893 and eventually the top lit Mackelvie Gallery was built in 1916. The Mackelvie Trust continues to purchase art works to add to the collection, which now includes significant 20th-century bronzes by

Archipenko Arkhypenko ( uk, Архипенко), also transliterated as Arkhipenko, Archipenko, is a Ukrainian-language family name of patronymic derivation from the Slavic first name Arkhyp/Arkhip (). The Belarusian-language version is Arkhipienka. The sur ...

, Bourdelle,

Epstein The surname Epstein ( yi, עפּשטײן, Epshteyn) is one of the oldest Ashkenazi Jewish family names. It is probably derived from the German town of Eppstein, in Hesse; the place-name was probably derived from Gaulish ''apa'' ("water", in the sen ...

Moore Moore may refer to: People * Moore (surname) ** List of people with surname Moore * Moore Crosthwaite (1907–1989), a British diplomat and ambassador * Moore Disney (1765–1846), a senior officer in the British Army * Moore Powell (died c. 1 ...

and

Elisabeth Frink Dame Elisabeth Jean Frink (14 November 1930 – 18 April 1993) was an English sculptor and printmaker. Her ''Times'' obituary noted the three essential themes in her work as "the nature of Man; the 'horseness' of horses; and the divine in ...

The collection

Edmund Blair Leighton - In Time of Peril - Google Art Project

John Gibb - Low tide, Governor's Bay - 1964-7 - Auckland Art Gallery

Auckland Art Gallery Before Extension Works

The Auckland Gallery collection was initially dominated by European old master paintings following the standard taste of the 19th century. Today the collection has expanded to include a wider variety of periods, styles and media, and numbers over 15,000 artworks. Many New Zealand and Pacific artists are represented, as well as Europe, and material from the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

to the present day. Notable New Zealand artists with extensive representation 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 ...

Marti Friedlander Martha Friedlander (; 19 February 1928 – 14 November 2016) was a British-New Zealand photographer. She emigrated to New Zealand in 1958, where she was known for photographing and documenting New Zealand's people, places and events, and was c ...

, C.F. Goldie,

Alfred Henry O'Keeffe Alfred Henry O'Keeffe (21 July 1858 - 27 July 1941), was a notable New Zealand artist and art teacher, who spent the majority of his life in Dunedin. During the first quarter of the twentieth century, he was one of the few New Zealand artists to e ...

, Frances Hodgkins,

Gottfried Lindauer Gottfried Lindauer (5 January 1839 – 13 June 1926) was a Bohemian and New Zealand artist famous for his portraits, including many of Māori people. Czech life and Austrian school He was born Bohumír Lindauer in Plzeň (Pilsen), Western Bo ...

and

Colin McCahon Colin John McCahon (; 1August 191927May 1987) was a prominent New Zealand artist whose work over 45 years consisted of various styles, including landscape, figuration, abstraction, and the overlay of painted text. Along with Toss Woollaston an ...

. Some of these works were donated by the artists themselves. In 1915 a collection of paintings of Māori by Gottfried Lindauer was donated to the Gallery by Henry Partridge, an Auckland businessman. He made the gift on the proviso that the people of Auckland raise 10,000 pounds for the Belgium Relief Fund. The money was raised within a few weeks. Another major benefactor was Lucy Carrington Wertheim. Miss Wertheim was an art gallery owner in London and through her support of expatriate artist Frances Hodgkins bestowed on the Auckland Art Gallery a representative collection of British paintings from the interwar period. Her gifts in 1948 and 1950 totalled 154 works by modern British artists, including Christopher Wood, Frances Hodgkins,

Phelan Gibb Harry Phelan Gibb (a.k.a. William Phelan "Harry" Gibb) (1870–1948) was a British artist influenced by the work of Paul Cézanne, who exhibited in London, Paris and New York.Buckman, David 998 Dictionary of Artists in Britain since 1945, Art ...

, R. O. Dunlop and

Alfred Wallis Alfred Wallis (18 August 1855 – 29 August 1942) was a British fisherman and artist known for his port landscapes and shipping scenes painted in a naïve style. Having no artistic training, he began painting at the age of 70, using househol ...

. The Wertheim collection was initially displayed in a separate room opened by the Mayor J. A. C. Allum on 2 December 1948. In 1953

Rex Nan Kivell Sir Rex de Charembac Nan Kivell CMG (born Reginald Nankivell, 8 April 18987 June 1977) was a New Zealand-born British art collector, who was knighted on the recommendation of the government of Australia, a country he never visited, for the gift ...

donated an important collection of prints, including work by

George French Angas George French Angas (25 April 1822 – 4 October 1886), also known as G.F.A., was an English explorer, naturalist, painter and poet who emigrated to Australia. His paintings are held in a number of important Australian public art collections. ...

Sydney Parkinson Sydney Parkinson (c. 1745 – 26 January 1771) was a Scottish botanical illustrator and natural history artist. He was the first European artist to visit Australia, New Zealand and Tahiti. Parkinson was the first Quaker to visit New Zealand. ...

, Nicholas Chevalier, and

Augustus Earle Augustus Earle (1793–1838) was a British painter. Unlike earlier artists who worked outside Europe and were employed on voyages of exploration or worked abroad for wealthy, often aristocratic patrons, Earle was able to operate quite indepe ...

. The 1960s saw the arrival of the Watson Bequest, a collection of European medieval art. In 1967 the Spencer collection of early English and New Zealand watercolours was donated, this included early New Zealand views by

John Gully John Gully (21 August 1783 – 9 March 1863) was an English champion prizefighter who became a racehorse owner and, from 1832 to 1837, a Member of Parliament. Early life Gully was born at Wick, near Bath, the son of an innkeeper who became a ...

John Hoyt John Hoyt (born John McArthur Hoysradt; October 5, 1905 – September 15, 1991) was an American actor. He began his acting career on Broadway, later appearing in numerous films and television series. He is perhaps best known for his film and TV ...

, and John Kinder. In 1982 on the death of Dr Walter Auburn, print collector and valued adviser to the Gallery's prints and drawings department, the Mackelvie Trust received his magnificent collection of over one and a half thousand prints, including work by Callot,

Piranesi Giovanni Battista (or Giambattista) Piranesi (; also known as simply Piranesi; 4 October 1720 – 9 November 1778) was an Italian Classical archaeologist, architect, and artist, famous for his etchings of Rome and of fictitious and atmospheri ...

, della Bella and Hollar. In 1952

Eric Westbrook Dr Eric Westbrook (29 September 1915 – 2005) was a British-born Australian artist, curator and gallery director of Auckland Art Gallery and the National Gallery of Victoria. Early life and education Eric Westbrook was born in Peckham, south- ...

was appointed as the first full-time director of the Art Gallery (previously the Head Librarian was formally in charge of both the Gallery and Library). He was succeeded in 1955 by

Peter Tomory Peter Alexander Tomory (3 January 1922 – 25 March 2008) was a British art historian, museum curator and director. Biography Tomory was born in Hong Kong and educated in India and the UK. In 1940 he joined the Royal Navy and served for five ...

who stayed until 1965. Both men sought to revitalise the Gallery and introduce modern art to a largely conservative public in the face of resistance from a largely hostile City Council. The 1956 Spring Exhibition 'Object and Image' showed works by modern artists such as John Weeks,

Louise Henderson Dame Louise Etiennette Sidonie Henderson (née Sauze, 21 April 1902 – 27 June 1994) was a French-New Zealand artist and painter. Life Louise Etiennette Sidonie Sauze was born on 21 April 1902 at Boulogne sur Seine, Paris, France, the onl ...

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 19 ...

, Colin McCahon, Kase Jackson and Ross Fraser. Other controversial exhibitions, including

Henry Moore Henry Spencer Moore (30 July 1898 – 31 August 1986) was an English artist. He is best known for his semi-abstract art, abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. As well as sculpture, Mo ...

and

Barbara Hepworth Dame Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth (10 January 1903 – 20 May 1975) was an English artist and sculptor. Her work exemplifies Modernism and in particular modern sculpture. Along with artists such as Ben Nicholson and Naum Gabo, Hepworth was a lea ...

, resulted in serious confrontation between the Council and Tomory, resulting in his resignation. Tomory's intended purchase of Hepworth's ''Torso II'' in 1963 (likened by one councillor to 'the buttock of a dead cow') changed the climate of art and culture in New Zealand. Even the conservative ''New Zealand Herald'' pointed out to its readers, "It is no function of an Art Gallery to be stuffed with exhibits which everyone can comprehend." The bronze statue was privately bought by local businessman George Wooler and anonymously donated to the Gallery. In 1981 Dr Rodney Wilson was appointed as the Auckland Art Gallery's first New Zealand-born director and, still in 2022 the only New Zealander to hold the position. By the end of his directorship in 1988 the size of the Auckland Art Gallery had doubled and become the venue for a number of blockbuster exhibitions most notably ''Monet: Painter of Light'' in 1985 (see exhibition list below). Wilson also headed the team that handled the logistics of touring the exhibition ''Te Māori'' to the United States and its subsequent tour of New Zealand as ''Te Māori-Te Hokinga Mai''. In 1988, Christopher Johnstone succeeded Rodney Wilson as director. During his 8 years as director major exhibitions included ''Pablo Picasso: The artist before nature'' (1989), ''Rembrandt to Renoir'', which attracted a record attendance for an exhibition charge exhibition of 210,000 (1993) and, in 1995, a programme marking the centennial of the artist's visit to the gallery, including the exhibition ''Paul Gauguin: Pages from the Pacific'' and a major book: ''Gauguin and Maori Art''. Other achievements during his incumbency were the funding and development of the New Gallery for contemporary art, which opened in 1995, the establishment of Haerewa, the Maori Advisory Group and a significant range of acquisitions for the collection and the Mackelvie Trust including works by including works by Vanessa Bell, John Nash, John Tunnard, Anish Kapoor, Jesus Rafael Soto and Ed Ruscha. In 2009, it was announced that American investor Julian Robertson would donate art valued at $115 million to the Auckland Art Gallery. The donation included works by

Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th-century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically d ...

Paul Gauguin Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (, ; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French Post-Impressionist artist. Unappreciated until after his death, Gauguin is now recognized for his experimental use of colour and Synthetist style that were distinct fr ...

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known prim ...

Piet Mondrian Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan (), after 1906 known as Piet Mondrian (, also , ; 7 March 1872 – 1 February 1944), was a Dutch painter and art theoretician who is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. He is known for being o ...

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarr ...

Georges Braque Georges Braque ( , ; 13 May 1882 – 31 August 1963) was a major 20th-century French painter, collagist, draughtsman, printmaker and sculptor. His most notable contributions were in his alliance with Fauvism from 1905, and the role he play ...

André Derain André Derain (, ; 10 June 1880 – 8 September 1954) was a French artist, painter, sculptor and co-founder of Fauvism with Henri Matisse. Biography Early years Derain was born in 1880 in Chatou, Yvelines, Île-de-France, just outside Paris. In ...

Fernand Léger Joseph Fernand Henri Léger (; February 4, 1881 – August 17, 1955) was a French painter, sculptor, and filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of cubism (known as " tubism") which he gradually modified into a more figurative, p ...

Pierre Bonnard Pierre Bonnard (; 3 October 186723 January 1947) was a French painter, illustrator and printmaker, known especially for the stylized decorative qualities of his paintings and his bold use of color. A founding member of the Post-Impressionist grou ...

and

Henri Fantin-Latour Henri Fantin-Latour (14 January 1836 – 25 August 1904) was a French painter and lithographer best known for his flower paintings and group portraits of Parisian artists and writers. Biography He was born Ignace Henri Jean Théodore Fantin-La ...

, and was the largest of its kind in Australasia. Following the donation, the Kitchener Street rooms were named the Julian and Josie Robertson Galleries. On 4 April 2012, it was announced that the Auckland Art Gallery would join the

Google Art project Google Arts & Culture (formerly Google Art Project) is an online platform of high-resolution images and videos of artworks and cultural artifacts from partner cultural organizations throughout the world. It utilizes high-resolution image technol ...

. "It is a fantastic opportunity to share with the rest of the world some of the best of our New Zealand and international collection", said RFA Gallery Director Chris Saines. "People can learn about and enjoy New Zealand art up close even when they are on the other side of the planet." Auckland Art Gallery has contributed 85 artworks to the project: 56 are from its New Zealand Pacific collection and 29 by international artists. The Gallery's two Senior Curators, Ron Brownson (New Zealand and Pacific Art) and Mary Kisler (Mackelvie Collection, International Art), selected the works. Examples of New Zealand art now available via Google Art Project include Colin McCahon's On Building Bridges (1952) and paintings by Frances Hodgkins.

Gallery

Buildings

The main gallery building was originally designed by

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

architects Grainger & D'Ebro to house not only the art gallery but also the City Council offices, lecture theatre and public library. It is constructed of brick and plaster in an early French

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...

style and was completed in 1887, with an extension built in 1916.
Gallery upgrade reveals the past
' – ''

Auckland City Harbour News Stuff Ltd (previously Fairfax New Zealand) is a privately held news media company operating in New Zealand. It operates Stuff, the country's largest news website, and owns nine daily newspapers, including New Zealand's second and third-highest ...

'', Friday 2 October 2009 It is three storeys high, with an attic in the steep pitched roofs, and a six-storey clock tower. The building was registered as a Category I heritage item by

Heritage New Zealand Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (initially the National Historic Places Trust and then, from 1963 to 2014, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust) ( mi, Pouhere Taonga) is a Crown entity with a membership of around 20,000 people that advocate ...

on 24 November 1983, listed with registration number 92. The new building eventually proved too small to house all the Council departments, and overflow space in the Customs House in Customs Street was found to be necessary. Following the completion of the Auckland Town Hall in 1911 all Council departments left the Gallery building, allowing expansion of Gallery facilities, including extra workshop space for art classes. Several artists maintained studio space in the complex during the period just after the war; the weaver Ilse von Randow utilised the clock tower rooms and created onsite the Art Gallery Ceremonial curtains, executed as part of the 1950s modernisation. In 1969 the art classes and studios were relocated to Ponsonby, where a decommissioned Police Station by John Campbell at 1 Ponsonby Road was relaunched as 'Artstation', which continues the gallery outreach programmes. From 1969 to 1971 the building underwent remodelling and a new wing and sculpture garden were added. This was the result of the lavish Philip Edmiston bequest, which had been announced in 1946 and stipulated the building of a new gallery. In 1971 the public library was moved to the new

Auckland Public Library Auckland Libraries is the public library system for the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It was created when the seven separate councils in the Auckland region merged in 2010. It is currently the largest public-library network in the Southern He ...

building by Ewen Wainscott in nearby Lorne Street. In the late 2000s, a major extension was mooted, which drew substantial criticism from some quarters due to its cost, design and the fact that land from Albert Park would be required. The Gallery closed for the extensive renovations and expansion in late 2007, and re-opened on 3 September 2011. During the closure, temporary exhibitions were held at the NEW Gallery on the corner of Wellesley and Lorne Streets. In 2008, Council decided to go ahead with the extension, which finished in 2011 for a total of NZ$113 million, of which

Auckland City Council Auckland City Council was the local government authority for Auckland City, New Zealand, from 1871 to 1 November 2010, when it and Auckland's six other city and district councils were amalgamated to form the Auckland Council. It was an elected b ...

contributed just under NZ$50 million. The expansion design by Australian architecture firm FJMT in partnership with Auckland-based Archimedia increased exhibition space by 50%, for up to 900 artworks, and provided dedicated education, child and family spaces. As part of the upgrade, existing parts of the structure were renovated and restored to its 1916 state – amongst other things ensuring that the 17 different floor levels in the building were reduced to just 6. The redevelopment has received 17 architectural and 6 design-related awards, including the

World Architecture Festival The World Architecture Festival (WAF) is an annual festival and awards ceremony, one of the most prestigious events dedicated to the architecture and development industry. The first four events were held in Barcelona, from 2008 to 2011, at which ...

's 2013 World Building of the Year. One of the sealed entrances to the Albert Park tunnels can be found behind the Art Gallery on Wellesley Street.

Directors

Although founded in 1888, the Gallery did not employ a professional director until the appointment of Englishman Eric Westbrook in 1952. * 2019–current: Kirsten Lacy * 2013–2018:

Rhana Devenport Rhana Jean Devenport (born 1960) is an Australian-born art curator and museum professional. She was director of the Auckland Art Gallery from 2013 to 2018, and is director of the Art Gallery of South Australia in Adelaide. Early life Devenpor ...

* 1996–2013: Chris Saines * 1988–1995: Christopher Johnstone * 1981–1988: Rodney Wilson * 1979–1981: Grant Kirby (Acting Director) * 1974–1979: Professor Ernest Smith * 1972–1974: Richard Teller Hirsch * 1965–1972: Gil Docking * 1956–1965: Professor

* 1952–1955: Dr

Exhibitions

A selection of key exhibitions shown at the Auckland Art Gallery post 1950. Exhibitions developed by other institutions are noted. * 1954 ''Frances Hodgkins and Her Circle'' Curated by Dr E H McCormick on the occasion of the Auckland Festival of the Arts * ''1954 Object and Image'' Soon after arriving in Auckland to take up a job at the Auckland City Art Gallery,

helps arrange an exhibition of New Zealand artists working in abstraction. The title of this exhibition is taken from his painting of the same name which presents the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary definition of the two key words. McCahon describes the reception of the exhibition as ‘causing a bit of concern amongst the masses’. * 1956 ''Henry Moore: an Exhibition of Sculpture and Drawings'' Organised by the British Council for Canada and New Zealand. The exhibition's tour in New Zealand is initiated by Auckland City Art Gallery director

who knew Henry Moore. Its presentation in New Zealand is arranged by the new director

who predicts that the exhibition is bound to be controversial. The Mayor of Auckland John Luxford is tricked by a freelance journalist into publicly commenting negatively on the exhibition calling it ‘a nauseating sight’ guaranteeing major media coverage and record attendances of 36,700.^{/sup>
* 1957 ''Eight New Zealand Painters: Angus, Fife, Holmwood, Mrkusich, Nicholson, Sutton, Thompson, Turner'' The first of three exhibitions of contemporary New Zealand painters toured through New Zealand by the Auckland City Art Gallery
* 1961 ''Painting from the Pacific: Japan, America, Australia, New Zealand''
* 1963 ''Retrospective: M T Woollaston and Colin McCahon'' The first large-scale exhibition of work by painters born, trained and living in New Zealand.
* 1966 ''Fifty Scrolls by Sengai'' Organised and toured through New Zealand by the Auckland City Art Gallery with assistance from the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council and the Japanese Society for Cultural Relations
* 1967 ''Marcel Duchamp, The Mary Sisler Collection: 78 Works 1904 – 1963'' Organized by the Auckland City Art Gallery and toured through New Zealand by Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council of New Zealand
* 1969 ''Frances Hodgkins 1869 – 1947: A Centenary Exhibition''
* 1970 ''Art of the Space Age'' This exhibition is drawn from the Peter Stuyvesant Art Foundation based in the Netherlands. The exhibition is brought to New Zealand and toured nationally by Rothmans Cultural Foundation (New Zealand) and the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council of New Zealand
* 1971 ''Ten Big Paintings'' In his catalogue introduction Director Gil Docking describes the exhibition as ‘an exercise in positive patronage’. The artists selected are Don Driver, Michael Eaton, Robert Ellis, 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 ...
, Ralph Hotere

Hone Papita Raukura "Ralph" Hotere (11 August 1931 – 24 February 2013) was a New Zealand artist. He was born in Mitimiti, Northland and is widely regarded as one of New Zealand's most important artists. In 1994 he was awarded an honorary d ...
, Colin McCahon

Colin John McCahon (; 1August 191927May 1987) was a prominent New Zealand artist whose work over 45 years consisted of various styles, including landscape, figuration, abstraction, and the overlay of painted text. Along with Toss Woollaston an ...
, 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 19 ...
, Don Peebles, Ross Ritchie, and Wong Sing Tai. The Gallery prepares and delivers the large stretched canvases of the same standard size and arranges for their transport back to the Gallery when complete. The exhibition is part of the celebrations for the opening the new Edmiston Wing.
* 1972 ''Colin McCahon: A Survey exhibition''
* 1975 ''Van Gogh in Auckland''
* ''1975 - 1978 Project Programme 1: John Lethbridge: Formal Enema Enigma'' The first in a series of 15 Auckland City Art Gallery exhibitions looking at recent conceptual and contemporary art in New Zealand
* 1977 ''The Two Worlds of Omai''
* 1980 ''Len Lye: A Personal Mythology'' Curated by Andrew Bogle
* 1983 - 1984 ''Aspects of Recent New Zealand Art: New Image'' Curated by Francis Pound and Andrew Bogle, this is the first in a series of three exhibitions. The following two are ''Aspects of Recent New Zealand Art: The Grid, Lattice and Network'' curated by Andrew Bogle and ''Aspects of Recent New Zealand Art: Anxious Images'' curated by Alexa M. Johnston
* ''1983 Gordon Walters'' Curated by Michael Dunn
* 1985 ''Claude Monet: Painter of Light'' Curated by the director Dr. Rodney Wilson who visits 23 art museums worldwide to negotiate the loans of the 36 paintings. The funding of the exhibition relies on a private public partnership with the insurance company NZI and is one of the most successful exhibitions shown at the Auckland City Art Gallery. The previous record attendance was 67,000 for ''Van Gogh in Auckland'' held in 1975. While Wilson hopes for around 80,000 visitors for ''Claude Monet'', the first two weeks alone see 43,000 visitors with long queues along Wellesley Street. The total attendance is 175,679 A National Research Bureau survey finds that one third of the visitors have never been in the Auckland City Art Gallery before and that 43 percent of them come from outside Auckland.
* ''1985 Chance and Change: A Century of the Avant-Garde'' Curated by Andrew Bogle
* 1987 ''Te Māori'' presented in New Zealand as ''Te Māori-Te Hokinga Mai''
* 1988 ''Immendorff: Foreign Artist Project''
* ''1988 Colin McCahon: Gates and Journeys'' The Auckland City Art Gallery's centenary exhibition curated by Alexa M Johnston
* 1989 ''After McCahon: Some Configurations in Recent Art'' Curated by Christina Barton
* ''1999 Stories We Tell Ourselves: The Paintings of Richard Killeen'' Curated by Francis Pound
* 2001 ''1st Auckland Triennial: Bright Paradise: Exotic History and Sublime Artifice'' The first in a series of five triennial exhibitions. Curated by Allan Smith
* 2002 ''The Walters Prize 2002'' The first of an on-going series of biennial exhibitions profiling contemporary New Zealand art. It is named after painter Gordon Walters (1919-1995)
* 2005 ''Mixed-Up Childhood'' Curated by Janita Craw and Robert Leonard
* 2015 ''Billy Apple

Billy Apple (born Barrie Bates; 31 December 19356 September 2021) was a New Zealand/USA artist, whose work is associated with the British and New York schools of pop art in the 1960s and NY's Conceptual Art movement in the 1970s. He worked alo ...
'' ''®: The Artist Has to Live Like Everybody Else''. Curated by Christina Barton and accompanied by the publication ''Billy Apple® : a life in parts''
* ''2015 Lisa Reihana: in Pursuit of Venus nfected' Curated by Rhana Devenport

Rhana Jean Devenport (born 1960) is an Australian-born art curator and museum professional. She was director of the Auckland Art Gallery from 2013 to 2018, and is director of the Art Gallery of South Australia in Adelaide.
Early life
Devenpor ...

* ''2015 Necessary Distraction: A Painting Show'' Curated by Natasha Conland
* ''2017 Time: Connecting Past and Future,'' 18 June 2016 – 26 November
* ''2017 History Sees Division,'' 18 June 2016 – 26 November
* ''2017 The Subject in the Land,'' 18 June 2016 – 26 November
* ''2017 X Marks the Spot: Histories Negotiated,'' 27 August 2016 – 2 July
* ''2017 The Body Laid Bare: Masterpieces from Tate,'' 18 March 2017 – 16 July
* 2018 ''The Māori Portraits: Gottfried Lindauer’s New Zealand: Te Hokinga Mai'' Curated by Ngahiraka Mason and Nigel Borell
* ''2018 Gordon Walters: New Vision'' A joint exhibition with the Dunedin Public Art Gallery
* 2019 ''Louise Henderson: From Life'' Curated by Felicity Milburn, Lara Strongman and Julia Waite
* 2020 ''Toi Tū Toi Ora: Contemporary Māori Art'' Curated by Nigel Borell (Pirirākau, Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Ranginui, Te Whakatōhea) this exhibition of more than 300 artworks by 110 Māori artists occupies the entire Auckland Art Gallery. Embedded in a Māori world view, the exhibition develops themes of time and creation starting with the opening galleries representing Te Kore: the void. ''Toi Tū Toi Ora'' attracts over 191,000 visitors with Māori visitation increased from 4 per cent to 15 per cent.

The E.H. McCormick Research Library, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki maintains a complete exhibitions list from June 1927.

References

*New Zealand Home & Building Souvenir Edition; The 1950s Show 1993.
*Decently and in Order; the Centennial History of the Auckland City Council. G.W.A Bush 1971

External links

*
Virtual tour of the Auckland Art Gallery
provided by Google Arts & Culture

Google Arts & Culture (formerly Google Art Project) is an online platform of high-resolution images and videos of artworks and cultural artifacts from partner cultural organizations throughout the world.

It utilizes high-resolution image technol ...

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki
Art museums and galleries in Auckland
Museums in Auckland
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 ...

Art museums established in 1887
1887 establishments in New Zealand
1880s architecture in New Zealand
Auckland CBD
Albert Park, Auckland
Waitematā Local Board Area}