B.
Many Happy returns Florence
Behind the scenes
We wish artist Florence Akins all the very best as she celebrates her 106th year this week.
Florence Akins The Metalworker (1932) Linocut. Collection Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, gifted by the artist, 1997.
Florence was born in Christchurch and studied at the University of Canterbury School of Fine Arts under Francis Shurrock. She began teaching at the the School in 1927 and remained there until 1969. The gallery holds the 1932 linocut titled The Metalworker which in many ways reflects the interest and popularity of the linocut medium in England at this time, an interest that extended to artists such as Florence in New Zealand.
Related
Collection
Florence Akins The Metalworker
Florence Akins attended the Canterbury College School of Art in the 1920s alongside her lifelong friend Chrystabel Aitken. Her teacher, Francis Shurrock, taught Florence printmaking and was an important role model for the young student. She described him as “an outstanding teacher [who] taught much else besides technique”. Only a handful of Florence’s linocuts are known to have survived, including The Metalworker. Florence collected prints by her contemporaries, and the Gallery has benefited from her gift of works by Francis Shurrock, Bill Sutton and Alexander McLintock, among others.
Ink on Paper: Aotearoa New Zealand Printmakers of the Modern Era, 11 February – 28 May 2023