Portraiture Exhibition Pays Homage To Distinguished Expatriate Painter

An exhibition featuring works from one of New Zealand’s most distinguished expatriate painters is opening this month at the New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata.

Raymond McIntyre: Portraits, curated by Brian Wood, opens to the public on Thursday 17 March.

Frustrated by New Zealand’s limited art scene, Raymond McIntyre left New Zealand in 1909, aged 30 to pursue a career in London and never returned.

He studied and taught at the Canterbury College School of Art and gained private lessons from immigrant Dutch painter Petrus van der Velden. After his arrival in London, he began art studies at the Westminster Technical Institute under William Nicholson and Walter Sickert and soon built a reputation for his small, pared-back landscapes, studies of female heads and portraits painted in an elegant, simplified Japanese woodblock inspired style.

In 1911 McIntyre exhibited with the prestigious New English Art Club and began a long association with the Goupil Gallery – the leading international contemporary dealer gallery in London. By 1915 he was a well-established figure in London art circles and had also become an art critic for the Architectural Review and in 1924 had a painting accepted for exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts.

His work did not achieve much acclaim in New Zealand until Colin McCahon organised an exhibition in 1962 entitled ‘Six New Zealand Expatriates’ at the Auckland Art Gallery which was pivotal in boosting awareness of his work. In 1984-85 the same Gallery organised a retrospective of McIntyre’s work.

According to curator, Brian Wood, little is known of Raymond McIntyre’s personal life so that is what makes this exhibition even more fascinating.

“He kept very much to himself - content to paint and take part in weekly church meetings. Vital information including sketches, letters and other documents were disposed of by an overzealous housekeeper shortly after his death.”

Wood says McIntrye developed a reputation in London for his small, pared-back landscapes, studies of female heads and portraits painted in an elegant, simplified Japanese woodblock inspired style.

“Whilst some of the sitters are known, McIntyre restricted the particulars of individual likeness to create a more idealised image. Features like the hat and hair are seen for their tonal and design qualities at the expense of characterization.

The beauty McIntyre sought in all his works is of a pure and delicate nature, greatly dependant on a balanced design, simplicity, completeness, and harmony.”

McIntyre died in hospital of a strangulated hernia and could have been saved by a simple operation, but he refused it in accordance with his Christian Science beliefs.

Raymond McIntyre: Portraits will run until Sunday 12 June at the New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata, Shed 11, Wellington Waterfront.

More information about the exhibition can be found at https://www.nzportraitgallery.org.nz/.

Timeline

· 1879 Born Aotearoa New Zealand (Christchurch)

· 1899 Awarded First Prize for a set of drawings from the full figure Canterbury College School of Art

· 1899-1900 wrote and illustrated two small handmade books

· 1903 Set himself the task of being a serious painter with his own studio

· 1909 Departed NZ for London to further his artistic studies

· 1910 Began studies at the Westminster Technical Institute

· 1924 Exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts London

· 1933 Died England (London)

· 1940 His work was included in the National Centennial Exhibition of New Zealand Art

· 1962 His work was included in the group show Six New Zealand Expatriates at the Auckland Art Gallery

· 1984 The Auckland Art Gallery mounts a full survey exhibition of his work

· 2022 New Zealand Portrait Gallery mount a small exhibition of portraits

© Scoop Media