Doris Lusk
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Doris More Lusk (5 May 1916 – 14 April 1990) was a New Zealand painter, potter, art teacher, and university lecturer. In 1990 she was posthumously awarded the Governor General Art Award in recognition of her artistic career and contributions.


Early life

Lusk was born in
Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...
, New Zealand, on 5 May 1916. She was the daughter of Alice Mary (née Coats), and Thomas Younger Lusk, a draughtsman and architect, and had two older siblings, Marion and Paxton. The family moved to
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...
where she went to primary school. An artist who had a studio near the family's home encouraged Lusk to paint. In 1928, the family returned to Dunedin where her father joined the architectural firm, Mandeno and Frazer. Lusk completed one more year at Arthur Street Primary School before attending Otago Girl's High School in 1930. In 1933, Lusk left high school before she had matriculated, and enrolled in the Dunedin School of Art. Lusk enrolled against her father's wishes and later noted there had been, "one hell of a row," about her decision. Lusk attended art school from 1934 to 1939. The school was a member of the La Trobe programme which involved bringing practising artists from England to staff New Zealand schools. These artists included W. H. Allen and R. N Field, who both arrived in 1925, and who had a major impact on the Dunedin art scene. Lusk was taught by J. D. Charlton Edgar and took life classes under Russell Clark in his studio. Through a fellow student, Anne Hamblett, she met
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 and ...
and
Toss Woollaston Sir Mountford Tosswill "Toss" Woollaston (11 April 1910 – 30 August 1998) was a New Zealand artist. He is regarded as one of the most important New Zealand painters of the 20th century. Life Born in Toko, Taranaki in 1910, Woollaston attended ...
.


Career

In 1939 Lusk and a small group of artists rented a studio in central Dunedin on the corner of Moray Place and Princes Street. It was here that her first solo show was held in 1940. In December 1942 Lusk married Dermot Holland, and in 1943 the couple moved to Christchurch. Lusk quickly became affiliated with
The Group The Group may refer to: Film and television * ''The Group'' (Australian TV series), 1971 situation comedy produced by Cash Harmon Television for ATN7 * ''The Group'' (Canadian TV series), 1968–70 music variety on CBC Television * ''The Group ...
, an association of artists based in Christchurch with ties to artists throughout New Zealand. Although Lusk's painting was balanced with caring for her young children, she quickly became established as an artist especially known for her landscape paintings. The combined exhibitions held by The Group members suited her better than striving to make enough work for solo exhibitions at this point in her career; as she later recalled, "I did not paint in a continual professional manner. I painted when I could, and I would produce about six paintings a year, which was pretty good going in the circumstances." In the 1940s Lusk completed a series of paintings, including ''Landscape, Overlooking Kaitawa, Waikaremoana'' (1948), which documented the massive engineering projects underlying the development of the Lake Waikaremoana hydroelectric scheme in the central North Island. She had a close friendship with Adelaide and Ian McCubbin - Ian was a construction engineer on the Lake Waikaremoana project. Through the McCubbins Lusk was introduced to Onekaka in
Golden Bay Golden Bay may refer to: * Golden Bay / Mohua, a bay at the northern end of New Zealand's South Island * Golden Bay (Malta), a bay and beach on the coastline of Malta * Golden Bay High School, a high school in Takaka, New Zealand * Golden Bay, Wes ...
, and the long wharf built for the exporting of
pig iron Pig iron, also known as crude iron, is an intermediate product of the iron industry in the production of steel which is obtained by smelting iron ore in a blast furnace. Pig iron has a high carbon content, typically 3.8–4.7%, along with silic ...
from the nearby ironworks. Lusk took this landscape as her subject for the next 25 years. In 1979, two years before she ceased teaching at the art school, Lusk began a series of works based on buildings in Christchurch's central city that were being demolished in order to build office buildings and apartment blocks. She worked from photographs that she took and collaged with images culled from newspapers, and translated these into paintings made with watercolour, acrylic and coloured pencil. In a 1983 interview Lusk denied that the subject carried any psychological charge, saying that, "My work is really very practical, and it would be quite dishonest if I tried to put in psychological meanings The Demolition works were a little misunderstood. eople thoughtthat I became very fascinated with the factual destruction of buildings as a sort of sociological thing. But that was not true It was a visual image to hang my media painting on, that’s all." Lusk's late series of watercolours, ''The Arcade Awnings'', based on the famous tourist scene at St Mark's Square in Venice, is held in the collection of the
Auckland 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 ...
. In Gordon H Brown and Hamish Keith's 1969 book ''An introduction to New Zealand painting 1839–1967'' (the first modern overview of painting in New Zealand) Lusk's work was contextualised with that of artists such as
Rita Angus Rita Angus (12 March 1908 – 25 January 1970), a New Zealand painter, has a reputation - along with Colin McCahon and Toss Woollaston - as one of the leading figures in twentieth-century New Zealand art. She worked primarily in oil and water c ...
,
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 and ...
, and
Toss Woollaston Sir Mountford Tosswill "Toss" Woollaston (11 April 1910 – 30 August 1998) was a New Zealand artist. He is regarded as one of the most important New Zealand painters of the 20th century. Life Born in Toko, Taranaki in 1910, Woollaston attended ...
. The authors wrote:
In a number of ways the unpretentious, well-considered and solid qualities of her work summed-up a good deal that was thought to be the best tendencies of the Canterbury painters during this decade. In essence it was straightforward, uncomplicated and while not denying detail when necessary, remained uncluttered. Doris Lusk continued to develop this style through the 1940s and fifties with paintings like ''Tahananui'', ''Power House at Tuai'' and ''Botanical Gardens, Hāwera''.
In a 1996 publication accompanying ''Landmarks: The Landscape Paintings of Doris Lusk'', an exhibition of Lusk's work she co-curated, art historian Lisa Beaven disputed this assessment, writing:
An analysis of her art throughout her career reveals a deep fascination with particular motifs, centring around industrial imagery in landscape settings. For more than five decades, Lusk consistently pursued this preoccupation, using different techniques and employing different media. From being the result of random excursions, Lusk's paintings were directed explorations, not just of the relationship between the structures and the land around them, but also of the buildings themselves, and aspects of the juxtapositions of interior and exterior, exposure and concealment, surface and depth. The manifold layers of meaning embedded in the buildings and their role in projecting a certain mood, suggest her painting may profit from being read as expressions of moods, metaphors and symbols.
Art historian Julie King, in a review of ''Landmarks'', noted that the exhibition gave the opportunity to assess Lusk's later paintings, and, "How she was positioned in relation to the new artistic models, values, and professionalism of the art institutional world which emerged in New Zealand in the late 1950s and '60s." King argued that the negative reception of Lusk's previous 1973 survey exhibition (organised by the
Dowse Art Museum The Dowse Art Museum is a municipal art gallery in Lower Hutt, New Zealand. Opening in 1971 in the Lower Hutt CBD, The Dowse occupies a stand-alone building adjacent to other municipal facilities. The building was completely remodelled in 20 ...
and toured to
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 ...
) by Auckland critics reflected the, "exclusivity of the canon created in Auckland by critics and curators in the early '70s" and the way art history in New Zealand had been written, "with its focus on Colin McCahon and modernism, on internationalism and abstraction, so that placed within this context, her career appears peripheral." In the same article, King examined how being a female artist may have inflected Lusk's career and opportunities:
Despite her reluctance to acknowledge the political issues surrounding women's art practice, Lusk's significance also lies within the history of women's artistic culture during the post-war period. At a time when social assumptions emphasised women's domestic role, she challenged these expectations by retaining her firm commitment to painting, and gained recognition as one of New Zealand's leading painters. Yet her painting was always fitted within the constraints of domestic life. After her marriage and birth of three children in the '40s, she dealt with the practicalities of looking after her family by painting in the kitchen, and it was not until the late '60s that she even had a studio of her own. Lusk was unable to study overseas until 1974, and her art was fitted into her personal life, so that visits to friends at Tuai and family holidays became her opportunity for painting.
In a 1996 article, art historian Grant Banbury noted that while Lusk was usually discussed in terms of her landscape painting, she also produced a number of portraits and self-portraits, and championed life drawing as both an artist and a teacher. Lusk mainly painted close friends, family and colleagues, along with a small number of commissions and several works painted in the 1970s based on images from newspapers. In 1939, while at art school, Lusk painted a portrait of Colin McCahon; nearly 50 years later, in 1987, Lusk painted ''Return to Otago'', a portrait of Anne McCahon and their son William - Colin McCahon had died earlier that year.


Career as a potter

In addition to her painting career, Lusk was also a pioneer potter in New Zealand. She was introduced to modelling with clay by Field while at art school, which ignited her interest in the medium. She made her ceramics largely under her married name, Doris Holland, most of it in earthenware. In 1947 she began teaching pottery at Risingholme Community Centre with Margaret Frankel, and continued there until 1967. She was president of the Canterbury Potters' Association from 1970 to 1972. In 1970 she was awarded a travel scholarship by the Canterbury Society of Arts and used this to research contemporary Australian ceramics in
Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...
,
Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
,
Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...
and
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 met ...
.


Teaching career

Lusk was appointed a tutor at the University of Canterbury School of Fine Arts in 1966 and was made a permanent staff member within the following 18 months. She continued to teach at the School until 1981.


Exhibiting career and retrospective exhibitions

Lusk exhibited mainly with
The Group The Group may refer to: Film and television * ''The Group'' (Australian TV series), 1971 situation comedy produced by Cash Harmon Television for ATN7 * ''The Group'' (Canadian TV series), 1968–70 music variety on CBC Television * ''The Group ...
in Christchurch in the 1940s and 1950s. In the 1950s and 1960s her work was regularly included in the
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 ...
's annual surveys of recent New Zealand painting. The first retrospective exhibition of Lusk's work was held at 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 t ...
in 1966. A second retrospective was held at the
Dowse Art Museum The Dowse Art Museum is a municipal art gallery in Lower Hutt, New Zealand. Opening in 1971 in the Lower Hutt CBD, The Dowse occupies a stand-alone building adjacent to other municipal facilities. The building was completely remodelled in 20 ...
in 1973. A major exhibition of her landscape works, ''Landmarks: The Landscape Paintings of Doris Lusk'', was held at the
Christchurch Art Gallery The Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, commonly known as the Christchurch Art Gallery, is the public art gallery of the city of Christchurch, New Zealand. It has its own substantial art collection and also presents a programme of New ...
in 1996, accompanied by a publication with contributions by Lisa Beaven and Grant Banbury. To mark the centenary of Lusk's birth in 1916, in 2016 exhibitions were held at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery (''Doris Lusk 1916-1990'') and Christchurch Art Gallery (''Doris Lusk: Practical Visionary''). The Doris Lusk Ceramic Residency was established in 2014, and is open to all graduates of the Dunedin School of Art. The residency, worth $2000, allows a ceramicist to spend two weeks teaching at the Risingholme Community Centre. The recipient in 2017 was
Kate Fitzharris Kate Fitzharris (born 1974) is a New Zealand ceramicist. She is mostly known for her doll-like figures, and although working primarily in ceramics, also incorporates found materials. She has won three Portage Ceramic Merit Awards, and has held t ...
.


Collections

Examples of Lusk's work are held by most New Zealand public art galleries. Significant works include ''Tahunanui'' in the
Hocken Collections Hocken Collections (, formerly the Hocken Library) is a research library, historical archive, and art gallery based in Dunedin, New Zealand. Its library collection, which is of national significance, is administered by the University of Otago. Th ...
; ''Tobacco Fields, Pangatotara, Nelson'' (1943) and ''The Pumping Station'' (1958) at the
Auckland 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 ...
; ''Power House, Tuai'' (1948), ''Landscape, Overlooking Kaitawa, Waikaremoana'' (1948) and ''Canterbury Plains from Cashmere Hills'' (1952) at the
Christchurch Art Gallery The Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, commonly known as the Christchurch Art Gallery, is the public art gallery of the city of Christchurch, New Zealand. It has its own substantial art collection and also presents a programme of New ...
; ''Akaroa Harbour, Banks Peninsula'' (1949) in the collection of the
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 ...
.


Further information

*
Courtney Johnston Courtney Johnston (born ) is a New Zealand museum professional, a national radio correspondent, and the chief executive of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Early life and education Born in about 1979, Johnston grew up on dairy farm ...

Review of Doris Lusk centenary exhibitions
Radio New Zealand Radio New Zealand ( mi, Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa), commonly known as Radio NZ or simply RNZ, is a New Zealand public-service radio broadcaster and Crown entity that was established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995. It operates news and c ...
, 21 September 2016 *Anne Kirker, ''New Zealand Women Artists: A Survey of 150 Years'' (1986, Craftsman House)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lusk, Doris More 1916 births 1990 deaths 20th-century New Zealand women artists University of Canterbury faculty New Zealand art teachers Artists from Dunedin People associated with the Canterbury Society of Arts Golden Bay People associated with The Group (New Zealand art) Doris