Exhibitions
Events
On display
Peter Vangioni and Tim Jones discuss the Rex Nan Kivell collection
Ida Kar Sir Rex Nan Kivell 1959. Vintage bromide print.
NPG x125521. Licenced from National Portrait Gallery, London
Talk
Past event
Philip Carter Family Auditorium
Free
Curator Peter Vangioni and Librarian Tim Jones reflect on the life and work of art dealer Rex Nan Kivell, including his major gift of British modernist prints to New Zealand in 1953.
One O’Clock Jump: British Linocuts from the Jazz Age brings together a selection of exceptional prints from the folio presented to Aotearoa New Zealand by Ōtautahi Christchurch-born Rex Nan Kivell in 1953.
Related reading: Talk, Prints, Free event
Exhibition
One O'Clock Jump: British Linocuts from the Jazz Age
7 December 2024 – 11 May 2025
Dynamic and vibrant prints from a fast-changing world.
Collection
Sybil Andrews Racing
Sybil Andrews completed several linocuts of horses both working and competing. In Racing, the galloping horses and their riders are stretched and curved, giving a sense of motion as they round the track barrier. The sense of speed and movement is intensified by the high viewpoint and the slipstream each horse leaves in its wake. All non-essential details have been eliminated and the horses appear to move in unison, creating a whirlwind as they gallop in full flight.
(One O'Clock Jump: British Linocuts from the Jazz Age, 7 December 2024 - 11 May 2025)
Commentary
For the Price of a Pint of Beer
One of the joys of working at a public art gallery is the opportunity to really get to know an institution’s collection. I still remember, as a newly appointed curator of works on paper at the Robert McDougall Art Gallery, coming across a cache of the brightest, most colourful and energetic prints I had ever seen among the Rex Nan Kivell collection of modern British prints. Given to the Gallery in 1953, the sheer breadth and depth of Nan Kivell’s incredibly comprehensive gift, especially when combined with the works he gave to Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki and Dunedin Public Art Gallery, makes this a collection of British linocuts to rival those in major collections throughout the world.
