item details
NameOld Keta
ProductionRussell Clark; artist; 1949; Christchurch
Classificationpaintings
Materialsoil paint, canvas
Materials Summaryoil on canvas
DimensionsImage: 739mm (width), 856mm (height)
Registration Number1949-0015-1
Credit lineGift of the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts, 1949
Overview
In 1949, painter, illustrator, and sculptor Russell Clark made his first trip to the eastern North Island region of Te Urewera. Old Keta, as solid and monumental as the landscape she sits in, was probably painted after this visit.
Between 1949 and 1951, Clark travelled to the region several more times. The land and its Tūhoe people became the subject of many more paintings and also inspired new directions in his sculpture.
In 1957, Clark wrote of his visits to Te Urewera, ‘It is a fine country. The Maoris are almost completely unspoiled.’