Radical and revolutionary _{by Alessia Belsito-Riera}

Drawing inspiration from masters such as Cézanne, Hofmann, Picasso, and Matisse, Kiwi artist Toss Woollaston forsook à la mode naturalistic portraiture to create works that would evoke his subjects through bold, spontaneous lines, stylised forms, and vibrant colours. In doing so, he revolutionised New Zealand portraiture, ushering it into the modernist era.

To honour the artist’s life and legacy, New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata presents Toss Woollaston: Figures from Life until the 9^th of February.

“This exhibition repositions Woollaston as a modern portraitist of equal stature to his landscape work,” New Zealand Portrait Gallery director Jaenine Parkinson says. “His radical experimentation and commitment to capturing the essence of his subjects, without flattery, laid the groundwork for a new approach to portraiture in Aotearoa.”

Featuring nearly 60 artworks, the exhibition is the culmination of years of collaboration and dedication. It highlights Woollaston’s journey from aspiring poet to pioneering creative, emphasising his early influences and relationships while reflecting on the human experience and different ways of seeing and being seen. Parkinson expands on Woollaston’s legacy below.

What is particular about Woollaston’s portraiture style?

Woollaston was the first New Zealand artist to fully embrace a modern approach to painting portraits. Rather than attempt to create a naturalistic likeness akin to a photograph, he spent hours really looking at people. He tried to capture their form, the unique geometries of their faces, but he also sought to communicate a sense of who they were. He did this initially using bold outlines and facets of colour, which are quickly dashed in. Over time, he developed his own unique style of painting using layered planes of patchwork colour, delighting in the viscosity of the paint. He wasn’t concerned with flattering his subjects, instead he  tried to capture aspects of their character.

What is his lasting impact on the art world?

Woollaston is very well known in New Zealand as a landscape painter, but his portraits – despite making up half of his practice – have been largely overlooked and are of equal significance. Acknowledging his commitment to a modern approach to portraiture from the earliest years of his career, as this exhibition does, allows you to see just how radical and innovative his portraiture was.

What do you hope visitors take away from the exhibition?

I hope they take away a sense of an artist really grappling with his craft, constantly experimenting and refining his approach. The meditative discipline of hours spent looking, but also the joy he took in working with paint, ink, and pencil. The complete commitment of Toss and his wife Edith to his practice is also astounding: the sacrifices they made in their early married life – living in rudimentary circumstances – to enable him to paint, but also the community and fellowship they built around themselves, which made it possible. The works that resulted are some of the most intimate and affecting portraits within New Zealand’s art history.