Maori Paintings
A quick internet search on Maori paintings returns thousands of results ranging from books to actual artwork that is on sale at different online as well as conventional stores. Even then, so many do not understand the origin of the Maori paintings or even their significance. To understand and appreciate these paintings, you will need to first have a little insight into its history.
The history of Maori paintings dates back to the 19th century stretching to the early 20th century. This was mainly inspired by the need to preserve various aspects of the Maori culture that was slowly being influenced by English style. In fact, a close look at the early beginnings of these paintings reveals that the paintings had English style as a dominant factor. Moreover, most of the paintings at the time were mainly focused on landscapes and the painters were amateurs drawn from different fields that included ministers, schoolteachers, surveyors and even politicians. Strange as it may seem, the aim of engaging everyone in painting was to record information about different places.
However, things changed towards the end of the 19th century as this period saw the entry of professional painters into the scene from Europe. Moreover, most of New Zealand’s talented and ambitious artists traveled to study the modern developments in painting in Europe. Interestingly, not all of them returned as some felt that the artistic environment in New Zealand was still unsupportive and conservative thus, they would not thrive in their endeavor. It was not until the period between 1930s and 1940s that the New Zealand painting acquired its distinct identity that was largely expressed through regionalist style. The knowledge and understanding of art increased after the Second World War, a period that also marked the beginning of the renaissance of Maori culture and nationalism with the young Maori artists engaging in the production of works that are considered a synthesis of European and Maori art.
The Maori people did not trust painters easily because they harbored bitterness and hostility from the wars they had previously engaged in. The paintings included portraits and various depictions of the Maori lifestyle. Ironically, the paintings were not considered an important element of art hence they were commonly used as minor decoration for meeting houses but in stylized forms. As time went by, Europeans introduced Maori painters to painting that is more figurative effectively resulting in less stylized depictions of artistic pieces in meeting houses. The positive side to the introduction of the European painting is that it created room for the traditional Maori painting to flourish even as more distinct and brighter colors were produced.
Paint is a powerful substance and a range of colors was used on the Maori paintings with each having its own significance. The three primary colors that make up the pattern of Maoricosmology include black, red and white. Having knowledge of the significance of these colors was considered as being sacred that required permission to use. Thus, painters endeavored to learn the meanings of these colors before using them in their paintings. Even then, the new painters did not support the old ideas but had deep faith in their new religion through which they were able to re-arrange the symbolism behind the meeting house as well as reassess the colors. Following the reassessment of the colors, white was associated with purity while black symbolized evil.
Gradually, Maori painting began winning the affection of many as a leading form of art against carving among others. In the same way, painters also made progress in their work by introducing murals. Although these were not given a good reception and were not considered as being powerful, the community and even painters came to this realization much later and embraced murals as a valuable form of art/painting. If anything, times were changing. Today there are quite a number of amazing Maori paintings that have sentimental value attached to them and are available for purchase.
Most importantly, it is important to recognize the painters behind these wonderful pieces. Gottfried Lindauer is one of leading Maori painters from the 19th century. Lindauer is known for his amazing portrait as well as scene paintings of the Maori life. Hundreds of the individual portraits that he did were commissioned by both Pakeha and Maori. A majority of the portraits were centered on well known figures and tribal leaders that were central to New Zealand’s Aotearoa history. Today, many of these portraits can be found at public collections while others are available for purchase. The portraits come with information on the sitter.
Charles Goldie was another Maori Painter who mainly did oil portraits that have attracted over half a million dollars at auctions. Just like Lindauer, Goldie also focused his Maori painting portraits on people who were considered to be of high standing in the community. As is evident from his paintings most of the subjects had tattooed faces popularly referred to as Ta Moko. He amazingly captured these details with so much accuracy a factor that made his paintings highly valuable. His collections can also be found at art galleries and museums while others can be purchased online.
Sadly, the tradition of Maori portraiture seems to have ended with Lindauer and Goldie as there are no longer people who are interested in carrying on with it except for a few painter like Sofia Minson that are making an attempt at filing this gap through the use of traditional western medium to depict the evolution of the Maori people.
There are a couple of other Maori painters whose work is exquisite. These include Peter Jean Caley, Jennifer Baird, Oliver Frey, Miki de Goodaboom, Nan Thirbert, Reina Cottier, Ira-Mitchell Kirk and Dianne Connoly among others.
In summary, Maori painting as an art took of much later compared to other forms of art like carving, weaving and Ta Moko. Even then, it gradually found its place in society with the common forms of painting being portraits especially those of the community leaders. Today, these paintings are valuable and can be purchased at high value while others are only available at art galleries and auctions.
