The best art is business art

A new series featuring business people standing in front of art works. Contributions welcome and, if off the top shelf, rewarded
BNZ Chief Executive Andrew Thorburn with Gordon Walters’ 1981 painting Onepu

The Greening of Walters

That growling sound you can hear is Gordon Walters rolling in his grave. (Thanks A)

copycat

There have been many rip-offs of Gordon Walter's version of the koru but haven't seen one quite as brazen as this Auckland example for a while. (Thanks Y)

Growing the Nation’s collection

At the end of each financial year Te Papa lists in its Annual Report all the acquisitions for the year. What do last year's visual art purchases tell us about the National collection? 

2 international art works and from NZ 2 sculptures, 8 paintings (3 by one artist), 7 prints by one artist. A total of 19 items of historical and modern art. There was some other decorative arts stuff too, lots of jewellery (24 pieces), some ceramics and a load of museum-bound historical documentary photos (no contemporary photography). 

Compare that to say the Chartwell collection over the same period. 10 sculptures, 10 paintings, 3 installations, 6 photographs, 4 works on paper and 7 videos. A total of 40 items 

Te Papa was also gifted some work over the year. A painting from a government department, some craft pieces gifted by the artists and their dealer as part of a purchase, a sculpture gifted by the artist and his dealer as part of a purchase, a painting gifted by a dealer and a video gifted by the artist. You can see the full list here. 

Image: Art + Object’s Hamish Coney takes a phone bid at the Les and Milly Paris auction, behind him the Walters painting that was hammered down to Te Papa to kick off the 2012-13 acquistitions

Photo op

“I am painting the one picture all the time. It doesn’t matter what the subject matter is, I am trying to perfect the one thing I was meant to do, to perfect it to my satisfaction. It is an unattainable thing, but you have it there right in front of you, all the time. And when you get close you don’t turn away, even if it makes your life and your acceptance as an artist harder.”   
Gordon Walters talking to Keith Stewart in the December 1994 issue of Quote Unquote. 

Image: (JB&MB) taken in Gordon Walters’s Christchurch studio 1979