Quentin Macfarlane Explained

Quentin Macfarlane
Birth Name:Quentin Manners Macfarlane
Birth Date:12 September 1935
Birth Place:Dunedin
Death Place:Auckland
Education:Diploma of Fine Arts with honours
Alma Mater:School of Fine Arts University of Canterbury
Known For:Marine landscapes
Style:Abstract

Quentin Manners Macfarlane (12 September 1935 – 5 July 2019) was a New Zealand artist known for his abstract marine paintings.

Early life and art career

Macfarlane was born on 12 September 1935 in Dunedin.[1] His mother, Tui, was an artist. He went to school at Hutt Valley High just outside of Wellington where he was taught by James Coe. A fellow student was Bill Culbert who also went on to become a significant artist.[2] Macfarlane studied at the School of Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury from 1954 to 1957 and graduated with honours in painting in 1958.[3] His fellow students included John Coley, Ted Bracey, Pat Hanly, Hamish Keith, Trevor Moffitt, Gil Taverner (Hanly) and Bill Culbert. The teaching staff included Bill Sutton, Russell Clark and Colin Lovell-Smith. After graduating Macfarlane attended the Post-Primary Teachers' Training College in Ardmore and received a diploma of teaching. He went on to teach in a number of secondary schools including Lincoln and Cashmere High Schools.[4] From 1959, Macfarlane had become a regular contributor to group shows in Christchurch and Auckland and was selected by Auckland City Art Gallery's director Peter Tomory for a number of touring exhibitions.[5] In the same year he married Judith Gifford who went on to direct the Brooke Gifford Gallery with Barbara Brooke.[6] In 1962, while teaching at Cashmere High School, Macfarlane organised an exhibition at the school of twelve works by Colin McCahon selected from the collections of his friends. This exhibition was in response to the uproar[7] that had followed McCahon being announced joint winner of the Hay's Limited Art Competition. McCahon later referred to the Macfarlane-curated show as "my first retrospective". In his own painting practice Macfarlane was an early adopter of acrylic paint. Although in use for house painting in the mid-1950s, the first use of them by an artist recorded in New Zealand was in works by Macfarlane. The catalogue for the exhibition Contemporary New Zealand Painting and Sculpture 1962 noted the medium of Macfarlane's three paintings as p.v.a.. Macfarlane continued to be an ardent supporter of the medium and years later continued to hand out extracts copied from Lawrence Jensen's book Synthetic Painting Media published by Prentice Hall in 1964.[8] In 1964 Macfarlane was appointed as a lecturer at the Christchurch Teachers' Training College.[9]

20/20 Vision

1964 also saw the formation of 20/20 Vision, a loose grouping of Canterbury artists set up by artist John Coley and art school lecturer Tom Taylor. The group intended to liven up the art scene through exhibitions, demonstrations and talks around current exhibitions on show in the city[10] alongside general hilarity such as the founding in 1966 of the 20/20 Vision Decimal Milk Token Advisory Commission.[11] Macfarlane was an active member and wrote about the group in the magazine Ascent.[12] 20/20 Vision went on, in 1968, to set up an exhibition in Dominion Motors on Armagh Street and the Northlands Shopping Centre in Papanui selling commercially produced prints for $2.00 each as a commentary on both the conventional nature of current print making and the art market in general.[13]

Painting career

In 1975 Macfarlane began part-time teaching at his old art school at Canterbury University and become involved with his wife Judith Gifford's new venture the Brooke Gifford Gallery.[14] Apart from some part-time teaching requirements, by 1975 Macfarlane was virtually painting full-time[15] with a reputation as one of the country's leading marine painters. A good early example of this style can be seen here in the collection of the Auckland Art Gallery.[16] In a review of Macfarlane's work in Ascent, Leo Bensemann described the "powerful rolling sweep and sense of distant loneliness ..." in the work pointing out how they "claim attention for the seas and coast around us".[17] Serving as a regular crew member for publisher Albion Wright's yacht Pastime, alongside architect Peter Beaven, he took part in many sailing trips around Banks Peninsula drawing inspiration for his work.[18] Friend and art writer John Coley located the marine influence in Macfarlane's work closer to home in the suburb he had lived in since the mid-1960s. "Quentin Macfarlane's paintings have always related to his local environment, specifically the seascape below his Clifton Hill home at Sumner."[19] In 1989 Macfarlane said of these works "I’m typecast now as a marine painter. That doesn’t worry me."[20]

Macfarlane died in Auckland on 5 July 2019.[21]

Selected exhibitions

Solo

Group

Commissions and awards

1966 Awarded a Canterbury Society of Arts Guthrie Travel Grant for travel in Australia.[49]

1972 invited to compete for mural in Hamilton Founders Memorial Theatre. The commission eventually given to Ralph Hotere.[50]

1974 QEII Arts Council grant.

1980 Waimarie Council Art Award.[51]

1982 Installs set of banners in the central light well of the new Canterbury Public Library on Gloucester Street.[52] The works hangs through three floors, of the building.[53] The library’s architect Miles Warren of the architectural firm Warren and Mahoney said that Macfarlane’s work would "give a brilliance and pattern to the library" and "guide people into the upper floors".[54]

Collections

Notes and References

  1. News: Birth . 26 August 2024 . . 22134 . 14 September 1935 . 16.
  2. Simpson . Peter . Summer 2011 . Peter Simpson On a Blue Guitar: Reflections on the Art of Quentin Macfarlane . Art New Zealand . 140 . 67.
  3. Web site: John Coley and Quentin MacFarlane . 24 August 2024.
  4. News: 15 April 1964 . Looking at Pictures at Lincoln High School . 1 September 2024 . The Press (Christchurch) . 18.
  5. Simpson . Peter . Summer 2019 . Quentin Macfarlane (1935–2019) . Art New Zealand . 172 . 39.
  6. News: Christchurch Gallery Owner Judith Gifford's Life in Fine Art . 24 August 2024 . The Press (Christchurch).
  7. News: 23 February 1961 . Prize-Winning Paintings Rejected By City Council . 1 September 2024 . The Press (Christchurch) . 14.
  8. Web site: Hillary . S . Campbell . K . Carlisle . M . Khanjian . H . The Early Use of Synthetic Emulsion Paints by New Zealand Artists . 24 August 2024.
  9. Book: McGahey, Kate . The concise dictionary of New Zealand artists: painters, printmakers, sculptors . 2000 . Gilt Edge Pub . 978-0-473-05802-9 . Wellington, N.Z.
  10. News: 3 December 1965 . Attracting Visitors . The Press (Christchurch) . 13.
  11. News: 10 March 1966 . Australian Soprano To Sing . The Press (Christchurch) . 12.
  12. Macfarlane . Quentin . 1968 . 20/20 Vision Print Show . Ascent: A Journal of the Arts in New Zealand . 1 . 2 . 49.
  13. News: 12 March 1968 . Festival Diary . The Press (Christchurch) . 6.
  14. Web site: Bambury . Grant . 11 November 2019 . Remembering Quentin MacFarlane . EyeContact.
  15. News: 1 August 1984 . A painterly statement . 1 September 2024 . The Press (Christchurch) . 22.
  16. Web site: Marine: Sept – Oct . 24 August 2024.
  17. Bensemann . Leo . 1967 . Quentin Macfarlane . Ascent . 1 . 1 . 67.
  18. Web site: In Memory of Quentin Macfarlane . 24 August 2024.
  19. Coley . John . Spring 1980 . Exhibitions Christchurch . Art New Zealand . 17 . 17.
  20. Unger . Pat . Winter 1989 . Quentin Mcfarlane . Art New Zealand . 51 . 83, 107.
  21. News: Quentin Macfarlane: Obituary . 24 August 2024.
  22. News: 11 June 1966 . Charcoals Praised . 1 September 2024 . The Press (Christchurch) . 14.
  23. News: 12 August 1969 . Painter Takes New Direction . 1 September 2024 . The Press (Christchurch) . 7.
  24. News: 4 November 1971 . Akaroa Exhibition . 1 September 2024 . The Press (Christchurch) . 11.
  25. News: 23 May 1972 . A One-Man, One-Painting Exhibition . 24 August 2024 . The Press (Christchurch) . 11.
  26. News: 1 July 1975 . One-man show in Auckland . 1 September 2024 . The Press (Christchurch) . 10.
  27. Webb . Evan . Spring 1984 . Bing Dawe Quentin MacFarlane . Art New Zealand . 32.
  28. News: Hurrell . John . 8 August 1984 . Quentin MacFarlane . The Press (Christchurch) . 22.
  29. News: 22 October 1988 . Paintings on Paper . 1 September 2024 . The Press (Christchurch) . 34.
  30. News: 31 August 1960 . Exhibition Shows Range Of N.Z. Art . 1 September 2024 . The Press (Christchurch) . 10.
  31. News: 15 April 1961 . New Life In Society Of Arts Exhibition . 1 September 2024 . The Press (Christchurch) . 13.
  32. News: 15 June 1963 . First N.Z. Paintings In Paris Exhibition . The Press (Christchurch) . 4.
  33. News: 8 May 1963 . Painting In N.Z. As Good As In Europe . 1 September 2024 . The Press (Christchurch) . 12.
  34. News: 25 August 1966 . Art: Six in North . 1 September 2024 . The Press (Christchurch) . 10.
  35. News: 9 March 1966 . Winners . 1 September 2024 . The Press (Christchurch) . 1.
  36. Web site: 10 Years of New Zealand Painting in Auckland . 25 August 2024.
  37. News: 12 March 1968 . Festival Diary . 1 September 2024 . The Press (Christchurch) . 6.
  38. News: 5 August 1970 . Royal Visit Art Exhibition . 1 September 2024 . The Press (Christchurch) . 14.
  39. News: 14 April 1971 . Recent painting in Canterbury . 1 September 2024 . The Press (Christchurch) . 12.
  40. News: 16 June 1971 . Leading painters exhibit . 1 September 2024 . The Press (Christchurch) . 18.
  41. News: 6 June 1972 . Chch artists in final . 1 September 2024 . The Press (Christchurch) . 12.
  42. News: 8 May 1973 . Eight artists in Sydney show . 1 September 2024 . The Press (Christchurch) . 10.
  43. News: 6 March 1973 . Artists look at one another . 1 September 2024 . The Press (Christchurch) . 17.
  44. News: 9 July 1974 . Painting award tomorrow . 1 September 2024 . The Press (Christchurch) . 10.
  45. News: 19 January 1974 . Games art exhibition . 1 September 2024 . The Press (Christchurch) . 12.
  46. News: 10 March 1978 . Seductive landscapes . 1 September 2024 . The Press (Christchurch) . 5.
  47. News: 28 August 1985 . Celebration of size . 1 September 2024 . The Press (Christchurch) . 18.
  48. News: 19 October 1988 . Teacher and student . 1 September 2024 . The Press (Christchurch) . 22.
  49. News: 1 February 1967 . Art Travel Grant to Chch. Painter . 1 September 2024 . The Press (Christchurch) . 8.
  50. News: 28 November 1972 . Competition for mural . 1 September 2024 . The Press (Christchurch) . 15.
  51. News: 13 September 1980 . MacFarlane wins $500 art award . 1 September 2024 . The Press (Christchurch) . 25.
  52. News: Model of Library Banners . 24 August 2024.
  53. News: 2 January 1982 . Banners hung in new Chch library . 1 September 2024 . The Press (Christchurch) . 5.
  54. News: 29 September 1981 . Banners for brilliance . 1 September 2024 . The Press (Christchurch) . 6.

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