Eileen Mayo Black Swans 1983. Screenprint. Ngaire and George Hewson collection
This exhibition is now closed
Eileen Mayo: Nature, Art and Poetry
2 February –
9 June 2019
An artist’s intense love of nature echoes throughout her work.
An artist’s intense love of nature echoes throughout her work.
Renowned 20th-century British artist Eileen Mayo settled in Christchurch in the 1960s, having carved out a notable career as a printmaker, designer and painter in England and Australia. Spanning from the 1920s to her last work in 1985, Eileen Mayo: Nature, Art and Poetry highlights Mayo’s extraordinary skill as an artist in her pursuit of a distinctive neo-romantic vision of the world. Her work is a truly wonderful combination of an intense focus on nature, her talent as a designer and her ability to master almost any medium she chose to take up. She produced a body of exceptional artworks that continue to enthral audiences
My Gallery
Collection works in this exhibition
Curator:
Peter Vangioni
Exhibition number: 1072
Collection works in this exhibition (35)
Kiwi Pukupuku / Little Spotted Kiwi
Eileen Mayo
South Island Kōkako
Eileen Mayo
Matuku Moana / Reef Heron
Eileen Mayo
Kākāriki Karaka / Orange-fronted Parakeet
Eileen Mayo
Skaters
Eileen Mayo
Tutukiwi / Subantarctic Snipe
Eileen Mayo
Kākāpō
Eileen Mayo
Mātuhituhi / Bush Wren
Eileen Mayo
Tīeke / Saddleback
Eileen Mayo
New Year
Eileen Mayo
Kākāriki / Red-crowned Parakeet
Eileen Mayo
Takahē
Eileen Mayo
The Doves
Eileen Mayo
Kārearea / New Zealand Falcon
Eileen Mayo
Tara Iti / Fairy Tern
Eileen Mayo
Kōtuku / White Heron
Eileen Mayo
Whio / Blue Duck
Eileen Mayo
Tuturuatu / Shore Plover
Eileen Mayo
Pāteke / Brown Duck or Brown Teal
Eileen Mayo
Toroa / Northern Royal Albatross
Eileen Mayo
A Garden Enclosed
Eileen Mayo
Rain, Coal and Wood
Eileen Mayo
Moths on the Window
Eileen Mayo
Winter Sleep
Eileen Mayo
Le Milieu Divin
Eileen Mayo
Springing Fern
Eileen Mayo
Matuku-hūrepo / Brown Bittern
Eileen Mayo
Mantis in the Sun
Eileen Mayo
Humpback and Bottlenose
Eileen Mayo
Bread and Wine
Eileen Mayo
Victorian Jug
Eileen Mayo
Doric Dairy [also known as Milk Float]
Eileen Mayo
Turkish Bath
Eileen Mayo
Cats in the Trees
Eileen Mayo
Alphabets
Eileen Mayo
Related
Eileen Mayo: Nature, Art and Poetry
Eileen Mayo: Nature, Art and Poetry
By Peter Vangioni with Jillian Cassidy
Calling on the natural world around her for inspiration, Eileen Mayo’s extraordinary skill with line, colour and composition made her one of Britain’s foremost print artists in 1930s London, where she exhibited alongside the likes of Claude Flight, Sybil Andrews and Cyril Power.
Mayo left it all behind when, in 1953, she abandoned London for Sydney then Christchurch, each move generating a new body of work.
This is the first substantial publication on Mayo, publishing for the first time many of her exquisite neo-romantic wood engravings, prints, designs and book illustrations that continue to enthral and delight audiences.
film
A Garden Enclosed by Eileen Mayo
Guides Co-ordinator Rebecca Ogle discusses A Garden Enclosed by Eileen Mayo
What goes into a painting?
This booklet for teachers was produced by the Robert McDougall Art Gallery in 1987.
Notes
Toroa by Hone Tuwhare
Today's poem is a long one so your hands will be scrubbed as clean as they have ever been. We are extremely grateful to the poet's son Rob for identifying this poem as 'one of our faves!' Curator Nathan Pohio is the reader and he knows the royal albatross colony at Taiaroa Heads well: his mum used to be a guide there and still lives nearby. Take your time with this one - it's well worth it!