From the early 1930s Toss Woollaston’s approach to portrait painting was radical, resulting in what Jill Trevelyan calls “New Zealand’s first modernist portrait”, Figures from Life, 1936. His portraiture was unlike anything produced in the country to this time.

Image: M T Woollaston, Figures from Life, 1936. Oil and charcoal, Collection Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of Colin McCahon, 1954.

This exhibition documents the journey one takes when settling in Aotearoa from elsewhere, away from the notion of home and in search of belonging.

What began as a collection of portraits recording individual migrant journeys, A Migrant’s Path, has evolved into a fictional series, No. 13. Together these photographs provide a candid depiction of migration stories, colourism, mental health, and cultural identity.

Image: Abhi Chinniah, The Portal, photography. 2024

Robyn Kahukiwa’s artworks have made a difference to Māori. They have provided not only beauty and strength but inroads into our mātauranga, and the multi-layered, inter-generational and ever-evolving stories that are part of our cultural landscape. Her work has become an alternate visual rendering of Aotearoa’s history, through the lens of a Māori woman.

Image: Robyn Kahukiwa, Portrait of a Woman, 1986, Private collection, Wellington

The Portrait Gallery is deeply hounored to have received a gift from the Adam Foundation of six portraits from the extensive private collection of Denis and Verna Adam. These works are by some of New Zealand’s leading artists and add a richness and breadth to the Gallery’s permanent collection.

Image: Denis and Verna Adam at the opening of the Adam Portraiture Award 2010

Telly Tuita’s fascination with portraiture stems from its ability to transform the persona of the sitter to whatever artist wishes to show. Born in Tonga in 1980, Tuita was abandoned by his parents as a baby. The lack of stories and imagery from his early life in Tonga have propelled him to create his performative self-portraits over the past 25 years.

Image: Telly Tuita, Tevolo Carmen 1 from Tevolo (Ghost) series, 2023. Courtesy of the artist and Bergman Gallery

The biennial Adam Portraiture Award is New Zealand’s premier portrait prize.

Image: Maryanne Shearman, Tuhi-Ao, oil on canvas (winner of The Adam Portraiture Award 2024)

Hiria paints meticulous, situated portraits of the people from her community in their environments, revealing the subtleties of Māori life and culture in the 21st century.

Image: Hiria Anderson-Mita, Breathe, 2020, private collection, courtesy of the artist

Image: Richard Lewer, The Waikato Wars, 2023. Photo Andrew Curtis