Transforming the “unimaginative and literal” into an art for the nation: writing and exhibiting New Zealand’s art history in the twentieth century

This article analyses three cultural events associated with the opening exhibitions of New Zealand’s National Art Gallery in 1936 and the centennial celebrations of 1940: the Loan Exhibition of New Zealand Art, 1936; the National Centennial Exhibition of New Zealand Art curated by Alexander Hare McLintock, 1940-1 and Eric Hall McCormick’s publication Letters and Art in New Zealand (1940) to evaluate how New Zealand art was put to use in the construction of a national history of New Zealand art. In the case of McLintock’s exhibition and McCormick’s text, the employment of works from library and museum collections importantly ‘recovered’ more ‘historical’ works for New Zealand’s art history. But they also attempted to identify a modern element within New Zealand art, or ‘an art truly national’. Taken together, these exhibitions and associated publications provided the first attempts at a critical evaluation of New Zealand art and are consequently foundational documents for the writing of New Zealand’s art history.