Eileen Mayo Black Swans 1983. Screenprint. Ngaire and George Hewson collection
Eileen Mayo Victorian Jug 1984. Screenprint. Collection of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, purchased 1987
Eileen Mayo Cats in the Trees 1931. Linocut. Collection of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, presented by Rex Nan Kivell, 1953
This exhibition is now closed
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
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Date:
2 February – 9 June 2019 -
Curator:
Peter Vangioni -
Exhibition number:
1072
Collection works in this exhibition
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!