Back to Blighty

Back to Blighty

Talk

Sunday 19 October 2025 / 11am

Philip Carter Family Auditorium

Free

In the 1900s many New Zealand artists travelled to Europe. Janet Abbott examines why was this so important, what they did there and what happened when they returned.

This illustrated talk will look at artists including Sydney Thompson, Frances Hodgkins, Margaret Stoddart, Charles Goldie, and Cecil and Elizabeth Kelly. It will consider what cultural cringe was and how this shaped the careers of the first generation of New Zealand born artists.