Barbara Brooke: a Trend-Setting Art Professional in New Zealand 1959-1980 ______
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Barbara Brooke: A Trend-Setting Art Professional in New Zealand 1959-1980 _______________________________ A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts in Art History at the University of Canterbury by Petrena Fishburn. University of Canterbury 2014. To my friends, Jean Bruce, Judy Bruce and Jo Stewart; to my parents, Heather and Paul Fishburn; and to my brother, Jason Fishburn. (Thank you all for your support throughout the journey.) Table of Contents _______________________________ Acknowledgements ii Abstract iii Abbreviations iv List of Figures v Introduction 1 Chapter 1: Gallery 91 6 Chapter 2: The Canterbury Society of Arts 25 Chapter 3: Barbara Brooke the Arts Professional – Ascent, Councils and The Mollett Street Market 42 Chapter 4: The Brooke Gifford Gallery 73 Conclusion 99 Appendix 1: Gallery 91 102 Appendix 2: Ascent 104 Appendix 3: The Brooke Gifford Gallery 105 Figures 110 Bibliography 121 i Acknowledgements _______________________________ This thesis was completed with the assistance of a large number of people who willing gave their time, recollections and archival material. Warmest thanks are due to the following people: Lydia Baxendell and Jamie Hanton, Art Collection Curators, University of Canterbury; Douglas Horrell, Visual Resource Technician, the University of Canterbury; Tim Jones, Archivist, and Peter Vangioni, Curator, the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna O Waiwhetu; Caroline McBride, Archivist, Auckland City Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki; Charlotte McGillen, Archive Assistant, Television New Zealand Collection Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision; Rosemary O’Neil, Archivist, the Christchurch City Council; the staff at the Macmillan Brown Library, the University of Canterbury – especially Erin Kimber, Archivist; Jill Trevelyan, Author; all those who gave their time in interviews – Robin Alborn, Grant Banbury, Nola Barron, Mary Beaven, Joanna Braithwaite, Peter Bromhead, Peter Brooke, Barry Cleavin and Denise Copland, Allie Eagle, Tom and Gill Field, Gilbert Glausiuss, Linda Hart, Kristin Leek, Joan Livingstone, Ken McAnergney, Richard McWhannell, Julia Morison, John Parker, Robyn Peers, John Simpson, Peter Simpson, Bronwyn Taylor, Michael Trumic and Wendy Wadsworth, Philip Trusttum, Peter Webb, and Rodney Wilson. A special thank you, to John and Fay Coley, Lavinia Cruickshank, Judith Gifford, Kirsten Macfarlane, Quentin Macfarlane, Anna and Stephen Munro, and Lyndsay Rendall, for all they shared with me in memory of Barbara Brooke, and for their permission to reproduce private photographs. I would like to acknowledge the generous support of the Nippon Foundation and the New Zealand Federation of Graduate Women, for their investment in my research with a scholarship and an award. Thank you. Additionally, special thanks are due to my family for their patience and continued support, and to my supervisors – Dr Barbara Garrie and Dr Warren Feeney – for their wisdom, high expectations, and endless encouragement. ii Abstract _______________________________ Barbara Brooke was an early New Zealand arts professional. Born in Belfast, Canterbury, in 1925, Brooke became an important advocate for contemporary New Zealand art and its developing professionalism in Christchurch throughout the late 1950s to 1980. The intention of this thesis is to examine and acknowledge Brooke’s significant contributions in the establishment of a local professional infrastructure that supported contemporary artists. Although she is virtually unknown today, Brooke established two of Christchurch’s earliest dealer galleries, she was Secretary-Manager of the Canterbury Society of Arts during a time of marked progression, she founded Christchurch’s earliest craft market and she co-produced New Zealand’s innovative and leading professional visual arts magazine. Before many others of her time, Brooke was a serious arts professional who was devoted to the development of professional careers for contemporary New Zealand artists. This thesis asserts Barbara Brooke’s rightful place in the history of art professionalism of this country. iii Abbreviations _______________________________ ACAG Auckland City Art Gallery. BGA Brooke Gifford Gallery Archives, 11 Cave Terrace, Christchurch. CH347, CTB Christchurch Transport Board Collection, Christchurch City Council Archives. CSA Canterbury Society of Arts. CSAA Canterbury Society of Arts Archive, Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna O Waiwhetu. G91 “Gallery 91” File, Art History Reference Room, University of Canterbury. LCP Lavinia Cruickshank Papers, Grey Lynn, Auckland. MB198, BBP Barbara Brooke Papers, Macmillan Brown Library, University of Canterbury. MSM Mollett Street Market. RMDAG The Robert McDougall Art Gallery. UCSFA The University of Canterbury School of Fine Arts. iv List of Figures _______________________________ Fig.1. Photograph of Barbara Brooke, c.1977. Reproduced with permission from Lyndsay Rendall. Fig.2. Photograph of Elsie Barbara Brooke, c.1944. Reproduced with permission from Lyndsay Rendall. Fig.3. Andre Brooke, Untitled, (of Elsie) c.1946. Reproduced with permission from Lyndsay Rendall. Fig.4. Photographs of Barbara and Andre Brooke on their wedding day, 1945. Reproduced with permission from Lyndsay Rendall. Fig.5. Photograph of Barbara’s Mother (Mary-Anne Brown), Barbara, Baby Peter and Andre Brooke, c.1954. Reproduced with permission from Lyndsay Rendall. Fig.6. Andre Brooke, Untitled, c.1957. Located in the Art Collection of the University of Canterbury, Macmillan Brown Library. Accession No. UC/CLB/153. Reproduced with permission. Fig.7. Colin McCahon, Exhibition Invitation, Gallery 91, 1959. Located in MB198, Barbara Brooke Papers, Macmillan Brown Library, University of Canterbury, box 3. Reproduced with permission. Fig.8. Dame Ngaio Marsh, Opening the inaugural private viewing, Gallery 91, 1959. Located in “Gallery 91” File, Art History Reference Room, University of Canterbury. Reproduced with permission. Fig.9. Gallery 91, 1959. “Gallery 91,” Home and Building (September, 1959): 61. Located in MB198, Barbara Brooke Papers, Macmillan Brown Library, University of Canterbury, box 2. Fig.10. The Mollett Street Market Flier, c.1972. Reproduced with permission from Lavinia Cruickshank. Fig.11. Photograph of one of Bill Hammond’s wooden toys, crafted for the Mollett Street Market, (Object) c.1972. Reproduced with permission from Lavinia Cruickshank. Fig.12. Photograph of a clothing stall at the Mollett Street Market, c.1973. Reproduced with permission from Lavinia Cruickshank. Fig.13. Photograph of Barbara Brooke and Yvonne Rust, c.1967. Bill Sutton’s 50th birthday party. v Reproduced with permission from John Coley. Fig. 14. Barbara Brooke’s interview on Chanel Two of the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation, 1974. Reproduced with permission from Lyndsay Rendall. Fig.15. Tom Field, Exhibition Catalogue, the Brooke Gifford Gallery, 1975. Located in MB198, Barbara Brooke Papers, Macmillan Brown Library, University of Canterbury, box 12, ref. no. 0199. Reproduced with permission. Fig.16. Ted Bracey, Ralph Hotere, Quentin Macfarlane, Julia Morrison, “Drawings and Small Works”, Exhibition Catalogue, the Brooke Gifford Gallery, 1975. Located in MB198, Barbara Brooke Papers, Macmillan Brown Library, University of Canterbury, box 3, ref. no. 0028. Reproduced with permission. Fig.17. John Papas, Exhibition Catalogue, the Brooke Gifford Gallery, 1976. Located in MB198, Barbara Brooke Papers, Macmillan Brown Library, University of Canterbury, box 12, ref. no. 0200. Reproduced with permission. Fig. 18. Photograph of Barbara Brooke in Venice during her holiday in Europe, 1979. Reproduced with permission from Lyndsay Rendall. vi Introduction _______________________________ Barbara Brooke was an advocate for contemporary New Zealand art and its developing professionalism in Christchurch throughout the late 1950s to 1980. However, her contributions have been largely overlooked in our art history. For example, Warwick Henderson’s Behind the Canvas: An insider's guide to the New Zealand Art Market only records the men that Brooke worked alongside, leaving her unacknowledged when listing accomplishments she was involved in.1 Similarly, the resource library at the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna O Waiwhetu has a file for Andre Brooke – Barbara’s ex-husband – but no file on Barbara, 2 even though her contributions to the local art scene surpassed those of her husband. Brooke devoted over 20 years of her life to professionalising the arts at a national level. In contrast to her contemporaries – for example, the prominent art dealer, Peter McLeavey; leading contemporary art collectors, Jim and Marry Barr; the early contemporary art champion, Ron O’Reilly; or the progressive public gallery Director, Peter Tomory – Brooke is virtually unknown. Yet, Brooke was unquestionably significant in the development of a local professional infrastructure that supported serious contemporary artists in Christchurch; in fact, the level of her involvement is without comparison in New Zealand. Indeed many of her achievements, conducted from Christchurch as her base, can be counted as “firsts” in New Zealand’s art history. Throughout her life she was responsible for, or associated with, a number of innovations and entrepreneurial ventures. Brooke established two of Christchurch’s earliest contemporary dealer galleries, she was the first female Secretary-Manager of the Canterbury Society of Arts (CSA) during a time of marked progression, she produced New Zealand’s earliest professional