TOWNSEND FIELDS - Key Persons
Charles Frederick Goldie was born in Auckland on 20th October 1870. His mother, Maria Partington, was an amateur artist and encouraged Charles's artistic ability. Charles was educated at Auckland Grammar School and displayed an early promise in art, and was soon winning prizes at the Auckland
Auckland Society of Arts and the New Zealand Art Students' Association. He travelled to Paris to study at the famous Académie Julian and received a strong grounding in drawing and painting.
Christine Cathie was born and educated in Wellington and originally trained and worked in graphic design before beginning a career in cast glass. Cathie's work has quickly gained recognition and she is now considered one of the leading early career glass artists in New Zealand. Inspired by the geographical features of the New Zealand landscape, Cathie uses simple forms and solid, natural colours to give a timeless beauty. The solidity of the glass is contrasted with the way in which light is filtered through and captured by its varying densities, creating a sense of gentle movement.
Job Titles:
- Licensed Sales Consultant
Colin McCahon was born in 1919 in Timaru, though he spent most of his childhood in Dunedin.Colin would spend his summers in the Nelson area, cycling there from Dunedin to work in the orchards or tobacco fields. The experience of these long journeys through the landscape provided a continuous source of inspiration was to echo throughout his career. Colin is aprominent New Zealand artist whose work over forty-five years consisted of various styles including landscape, figuration, abstraction and the overlay of painted text. He is regarded as New Zealand's most important modern artist, particularly in his landscape work.
Doris Lusk was born in Dunedin on 5 th May 1916. Doris attended the Art School in Dunedin from 1934 to 1939 which provided her with the technical knowledge of landscape painting. Doris began painting at a time when artists were developing a new landscape iconography, incorporating structures such a gasworks, bridges and railway stations into their work. Her early paintings reflect industrial themes and were the products of trips made to Central Otago with her friends.
Elizabeth Kelly (nee Abbott) was born in Christchurch on 12 April 1877. She studied at the Canterbury College School of Art and specialised in portraiture. In 1908 she married fellow painter Cecil Fletcher Kelly and her individual strength as an artist became even more clearly defined. Cecil Kelly was best out in the landscape, and Elizabeth in the studio, but they worked together successfully in both situations which established a real artistic harmony between them. In the 1920s the couple travelled to Britain and Europe. Elizabeth was the first NZ woman to receive the CBE for services to art in 1938.
Evelyn Margaret Polson was born in Christchurch on 23 rd April 1899. Her father was accountant and the manager of Suckling Brothers Shoe Company. Evelyn was encouraged to learn music and painting from an early age. In 1922, she was elected to the Canterbury Society of Arts, which enabled her to begin working as a professional artist, exhibiting and selling portraits and landscape works around New Zealand. In 1938, Evelyn married Fredick Jospeh Page and they rented a house in Waitahuna with a well-established garden and fruit tree. This environment provided her with her subject matter over the following seven years.
Henrietta Catherine Angus, known as Rita Angus was born in Hastings on 12 th March 1908. In 1927 Rita enrolled at Canterbury College School of Art to begin a four-year diploma in fine arts. Rita is credited as one of the leading figures in twentieth century New Zealand art. She worked primarily in oil and water colour, and is well known for her portraits and landscapes, especially in Canterbury and Otago.
Raymond Francis McIntyre was an artist and art critic, best known for his superb painting and acute awareness of contemporary trends in European art of the early twentieth century. He was born in New Brighton, Christchurch in 1879 and was one of seven children. He was educated at Warwick House School until the age of 15, when he went to the Canterbury College School of Art as an evening student. Arriving in London in February 1909, McIntyre began a period of intensive study and painting. He exhibited frequently over the next decade. His work diversified in content to include street scenes and he also began to paint rivers and parks. He ceased to exhibit his work after 1926 although he still painted for his own enjoyment.
William (Bill) Sutton, CBE, is an iconic Canterbury artist - He trained at the Canterbury University College School of Art in the 1930s, and then travelled overseas and served during the Second World War before returning to the University where he taught for more than 30 years. Sutton was also a skilled calligrapher, printmaker, designer and bookbinder, and a teacher whose work influenced many contemporary New Zealand painters. His ashes were scattered from the bridge depicted in his artwork "Dry September" on to the rocks of the landscape he made his own.