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Overview
Text originally created for Tūrangawaewae: Art and New Zealand exhibition at Te Papa, March 2018.
A colourful teacher, painted by his star pupil.
Artist Louis John Steele was an influential figure in late 1800s Auckland. He taught many New Zealand artists, among them Charles F Goldie. When Goldie painted this portrait of his friend and former teacher, he was the art world’s new star.
Steele was born in England and trained in Paris and Italy. He emigrated in 1886, bringing a dose of bohemianism to the colonial art scene.
He kaiako kua peitatia e tana tauira rongonui.
He iho pūmanawa te ringatoi nei a John Steele ki Tāmakimakaurau i ngā tau mātāmuri o te rautau 1900. He tokomaha ngā ringatoi nō Aotearoa i whakaakona e ia, pēnei i a Charles F Goldie. I te waihangatanga o tēnei kōwaiwai kiritangata e Goldie, ko ia the whetū maiangi o te ao toi.
I whānau mai a Steele i Ingarangi, ā, i whakangungua ia ki Parī me Itāria. I hūnuku mai ia i te tau 1886 me te kawe mai i ngā āhuatanga Pohemia ki te hapori toi o te wā.