What's on display

Fine Arts Library | Te Herenga Toi

Fine Arts Library Home | Elam School of Fine Arts | Department of Art History | Manukau School of Visual Arts | Exhibitions Archive

Current Exhibition: The Fire of 1949

In 1949 the old Grammar School building on Symonds Street was completely destroyed by fire.

At the time of the fire the building housed the Workers’ Educational Association, the Goodwin Marionette Theatre and Elam School of Art. Elam had occupied the premises from 1932.


The damage incurred, to Elam School of Art property, amounted to nearly £50,000, the equivalent of $3.2 million today.

While the fire had a significant financial impact on the school, arguably the biggest loss was on the artistic level. The fire destroyed the artworks and art materials of a number of students and staff.  The most affected was the artist and teacher John Weeks who lost a collection of nearly 200 original paintings, watercolours and sketches.


Linda Tyler’s recent article published in the June issue of The University of Auckland News discusses the fire and the painting John Weeks created in response to the witnessed destruction (Tyler, 2010)

Old Grammer Schoool building, Elam Archive (Slide 1940-1).

After the fire in Old Grammar School, Symonds St., in January, Elam Archive (Slide 1949-1)

Previous Exhibition
 

 

 

 

November 2009

Original prints and ephemera from the Beverley Simmons collection

 

Max McLellan (1967, Marti Friedlander)

Kees Hos (1966, Marti Friedlander)

Barry Cleavin (c.1967, Marti Friedlander)

"She is not merely a photographer capturing good newsworthy image, she is someone who, as the title of the book suggests, looks closely at things and one of the objects of her contemplation is herself. Just as the painter of the self-portrait manages to expose elements of their personality so too does Marti Friedlander."John Daly-Peoples, ‘Marti Friedlander, a closely observed photographer. National Business Review, 12 October 2009.

 

Original prints and ephemera from the Beverley Simmons collection

Marti Friedlander, By Leonard Bell Auckland University Press

May 2009

Marti Friedlander

Marti Friedlander Leonard Bell 1945- Auckland, N.Z. : Auckland University Press, 2009. Career of Marti Friedlander showing her work to illustrate social and cultural change both in New Zealand and the world. Avaialble in the Fine Arts and General library

Marti

Previous Exhibition

September 2009

A selection of custom bookplates / ex libris

 

Bookplates are defined by the Getty Art and Architecture Thesaurus as:

Labels, usually printed or engraved, frequently with a distinctive design, pasted or tipped into books to mark their ownership or presentation, and sometimes to indicate their location in a library. They are usually attached to the inside of the upper cover.

 

Previous Exhibition

June 2009

New Zealand Prints

Prints in the display cabinet

A lithographic workshop was established at Elam School of Fine Arts in 1974. The three lithographs displayed are all sourced from the Auckland Lithographic Workshop Collection held in the Fine Arts Library Specially Collections although Stanley Palmers work is created through the process of bamboo-drypoints.

  • Ark for Arama (1979, Nigel Brown)
  • Self-portrait (1978, Philip Clairmont)
  • Karekare (1976, Stanley Palmer)

 

Display Cabinet

Previous Exhibition

May 2009

Ashleigh Kilmartin

Farewell display for Ashleigh Kilmartin

Good Luck Ash!

Ash Kilmartin display
File last updated: May 9, 2011
Comments and suggestions to : Stephanie Reid