GROUNDBREAKERS

On Saturday 9 November we will be launching our newest exhibition, Groundbreakers, with a curators talk at 11am. This exhibition gives a view into the art community in Ōtepoti in the 1880s and 1890s, a time of huge progress and change. Groundbreakers focuses on Grace Joel and Frances Hodgkins, two of the city’s most ambitious artists, placing them alongside artists including William Mathew Hodgkins, Jenny Wimperis, Isabel Field, Girolamo Nerli, and Nellie Hutton, all of whom were working in Ōtepoti at this time.

Whilst our audiences will be familiar with many of the Frances Hodgkins works within the Gallery’s collection, many of the paintings by Grace Joel in this exhibition are rarely seen. Among these is one of Joel’s most significant works Untitled [back of female half nude] (1893), on loan from The University of Melbourne. While studying in Melbourne, Joel was awarded the Ramsay Prize for this work in 1893, a rare achievement considering the challenges women faced in pursuing the nude as a subject.

This is one of the many rich and intersecting stories to be found within the exhibition. Keep an eye on the website for associated events over the summer months.


Noho ora mai
Lucy Hammonds and Lauren Gutsell
Kairauhī Curators
Dunedin Public Art Gallery

[above: GRACE JOEL Untitled [back of female half nude] 1893. Oil on canvas. Victorian College of the Arts Collection, the University of Melbourne Art Collection. Image courtesy of the University of Melbourne]