MY CHOICE: Donald Trott / 1 December 2019 – 6 January 2020
Donald Trott
Each month a member of the community is invited to browse our online collection portal Explore the Collection and select six of their favourite artworks for display. Each ‘My Choice’ selection will be available to view on the Sarjeant Gallery website for a month and includes the personal repsonses of each selector.
The December 2019 My Choice has been selected by Donald Trott, the Executive Chairman of the New Zealand Opera School, and is available to view until 6th January 2020. Whanganui-born Donald Trott ONZM JP has had a lifelong devotion to singing and the art of opera. In 1994 he established the NZ Opera School and acts as leader and mentor to the annual January student intake. In the late 1980’s, he spearheaded the establishment of a new trust to produce professional opera in the newly opened Aotea Centre, and remained its chairman until 1994. He is a trustee of the New Zealand Opera Foundation and until recently he remained a board director and the benefaction fundraiser for the now national company New Zealand Opera.
My Choice December 2019: Donald Trott, Executive Chairman, New Zealand Opera School
Click on an image to see further details about the work and artist, and view a large version.
Nocturne (the spiral unwinds) – Gretchen Albrecht
“When I was selecting contemporary works for a touring Modern Masters collection, Gretchen’s orb-like works were becoming part of her fine artistic development. I was impressed and purchased an early work for the collection. In fact it was one of the first works to join the collection. The dynamic and colour of this work is beautiful. Gretchen is a generous and wonderful artist.”
Nga Huia – E. Mervyn Taylor
“I do not know the artist personally but know of his work. This wood engraving on paper of the huia is a fine example of this style of art and as the huia, a beautiful native bird of New Zealand is long extinct, the work is thus all the more compelling.”
Of Mind and Gravity – Richard Killeen
“Richard’s work is immediately recognisable and his early work was among the contemporary works I was selecting for a touring Modern Masters collection. The variety of shapes are individually very interesting and when combined make for fascinating viewing.”
Untitled (Procession with Rev Richard Taylor, Hoani Wiremu Hipango and his family walking by the third Putiki Mission Station church) – George Sherriff
“I particularly like this work for its rich colour and historical significance. We see a view of the early church rising above the trees and the family of Hoanui Wiremu Hipango being led by him and the Rev Richard Taylor in procession from the church. I particularly like George Sherriff’s work having grown up with two large landscapes in our home, one of which I still own. His landscapes and the depth of his oil paint colouring is particularly appealing. Another of his fine works, a scene in England, is a treasured asset of the Whanganui Club.”
Grannie O'Ready's Kitchen – Edith Collier
“This is a very interesting work by this famous Whanganui artist that captures the scene in rich colours, beautifully. The donors of this work Geoffrey and Di Martin were personal Auckland friends of mine and I travelled with Geoffrey from Auckland when he made the gift to the Sarjeant Gallery at a special function when Bill Milbank was the Director. The Martins donated this lovely painting in memory of Richard Priest, Geoffrey’s great friend and former Whanganui boy from the celebrated Priest cricketing family.”
Rata Ship on the Whanganui River – K V James
“This oil on canvas captures the time of coastal shipping when Whanganui was an important coastal port. It reminds me of my early days when, as a Trainee Manager with the Shell Oil Company, their lovely coastal tanker M V Tanea, of some 3000 tons, used to cross our bar to off-load gasoline for the region. For our port, this was a large ship and required the right tide, bar depth and conditions to navigate into port. Quite a crowd would gather to watch her arrival.”
