widely regarded as a pioneer of the new zealand modern art movement and as one of new zealand's foremost landscape painters, woollaston is probably best known for the large landscapes of his sixties and seventies. his paintings of the regions in which he lived - the nelson area, the west coast, and taranaki - reflect not only his dedication to painting and his feeling for the landscape, but also his quest to solve the problems inherent to landscape painting, such as capturing the fleeting effects of light on colour and form. however he also completed a large number of figure drawings, nudes, and portraits and is noted for his fluid approach to the human form and his preoccupation with capturing the essence of his subject as opposed to a purely representational depiction.

taranaki born, toss woollaston spent most of his adult life in the nelson region where he first came as an eighteen-year-old apple picker. he worked at a variety of jobs (orchard worker, labourer, door-to-door salesman) to support himself and his family, drawing and painting when time permitted. when he was fifty-seven his paintings first earned him sufficient income to support him as a full time artist and his most productive years followed.

toss woollaston

'toss in the usa'

20 april - 28 may

Woollaston's paintings of the landscapes in which he lived, and his preoccupation with capturing a sense of place have led art historians to claim Woollaston to be a regionalist artist, distinctly of New Zealand. While a reasonable conjecture of his landscapes of the Nelson area, the West Coast, and Taranaki regions the landscapes in this exhibition reflect a more insightful dedication to painting landscape per se. Woollaston would immerse himself in a landscape. He also had a quest to solve the problems inherent to landscape painting, such as capturing the fleeting effects of light on colour and form.

“The landscape here is no less elusive than at home. Vaster, of course – and I, fool that I am, plump for vastness. No matter how often I fall flat on my face I don’t learn (that sort of) wisdom….” Toss Woollaston, August 1993, Princeton, USA.6

More than a representation of place, Woollaston’s trajectory was a personal and spiritual response to the landscape through the use of colour and gesture, to paint what he saw. He expressed this inherent spirituality through his work, in the expression of his emotional and spiritual response to the land. He had a deep passion for the land itself and for painting.

Errol Shaw will provide a floor lecture on the works in this exhibition at 3pm on Sunday 3rd May.