Antique Dealer - artist - Museum Consultant & curator - obsessive collector - arts writer – Valuer specialising in amongst other things NZ folk art, ceramics, fine
arts, ethnographica, oriental items, Man-made & natural curiosities, photography & printed matter. But most importantly friend/mentor to many. New Zealand sadly bids farewell to one of our foremost
figures in the arts scene John F. Perry at Webb’s auction house on Sunday the 20th June at 2pm.
John Perry at his home at home, in his shop in Hellensville, West Auckland
With attendees expected in the 100’s, Webb’s is welcoming media outlets to cover this event in the hopes of sharing the
celebration of this iconic figures life with the wider nation.
If you’ve been anywhere in the art world in New Zealand in the past 50 years, you will have come across John F. Perry.
New Zealand’s artistic and cultural landscape was greatly diminished, when John Perry the artist, obsessive collector,
ex museum curator, arts writer for AASD and other publications but most importantly friend / mentor to many, passed away
at home above his shop Global Village Antiques in the old Regent Cinema in Hellensville, West Auckland on 6 June 2021.
John led a rich and fascinating life, with his interests and knowledge wide, ranging from New Zealand art (especially
folk and outsider art), decorative arts and tribal artefacts. He knew about rock art and weaving and ceramics. He loved
coral, shells and woven baskets, early photography, abstraction and printed ephemera. Once he asked me to go and look at
his collection of Australian art which comprised bark paintings, aboriginal spears and other similar objects. His
all-time favourite piece was a Navajo blanket he bought in the 1970s for $1.50 at a flea market. He delighted in the
offbeat and quirky, it all had a story that he was compelled to share. He could see value and importance in everyday
pieces and he was a champion for them.
Not just a collector, John was an oral historian (in the unofficial sense of the word). He went to Elam (the Art School
at Auckland University) in 1960 and quickly became totally involved with the small local art scene. Influential tutors
and such as Kees Hoss, Robert Ellis and Kurt von Meier opened his eyes to the new directions and ways of working
happening internationally. Later, he joined forces with Barry Lett and together they ran Uptown Gallery, showing the
work of emerging and young contemporary artists. John had a wealth of anecdotes and stories from these days. Often I
would remark on a work in an auction catalogue and John could tell me a story about it, from where and when it was
produced and his personal connection with it. He had a great memory and could just as easily recall a memory about Colin
McCahon as he could a piece of information about some very obscure artist who no one else would remember. He would
casually refer to many of the giants of New Zealand art history by their first names – Colin (McCahon), Theo (Schoon)
and Tony (Fomison) such was his personal association with so many of them.
Apart from running Global Village Antiques his legendary shop for the latter part of his life, he was most known for his
role as the Director of the Rotorua Museum, where he started in the late 1970s and remained for 10 years with great
vision, passion and foresight. The museum didn’t have much of an art collection when he came onboard and he spent his
tenure acquiring pieces of significance to Rotorua for the collection as well as curating exhibitions, including his
most celebrated Fibre and Feathers in 1982 which highlighted and elevated Maori weaving, an overlooked aspect of
traditional Maori craft at the time.
In the latter part of John’s life he multi-tasked, acting as an advisor for the Rotorua Energy Trust continuing to
purchase works of the wider Rotorua area for their collection. He attended almost every art auction, always arriving
early and parking out front with his white van, which was always packed with his latest puchases. He opened his shop on
the weekends, undertook valuations, gave collection advice, did a bit of framing. Never one for technology or the
internet, he preferred to be out and about sourcing his wares although once he got the hang of using the internet, he
used to spend hours at night looking at the collections of international galleries and museums. His emails to me were a
work of art in themselves, artfully spaced with capitals and lower case all perfectly designed on the page, his artistic
bent shining through in the most mundane of activities. He loved a pun, a play on words and abbreviations. Visitors to
Global Village Antiques were often offered the ‘GT’ – or Grand Tour and he had recently mused about changing the name of
Global Village Antiques to ‘WOW’ - Way out West. His auction reports on AASD dating from 2016-2017 are definitely worth
a reread, full of John’s humour and anecdotes.
He and I attended a lot of auctions together and John with his excellent selection of scarfs, his woven kete carrying
his catalogue and his deep and thoughtful knowledge about New Zealand and its rich and wonderful history will be sorely
missed. I will certainly rue J.P’s absence in the back row of the auction room.
About The Author
Briar Williams is an Art Valuer and Auctioneer who has worked in the primary and secondary markets of New Zealand and
Australia for over 15 years. In Melbourne she managed a commercial gallery and was a valuer at Leonard Joel Auctioneers & Valuers before becoming Head of Art there in 2009. Most recently, she was the manager of the art department at
Mossgreen-Webb's in Auckland and currently works as an art writer and consultant.