Subject files

This collection represents a professional art critic and writer’s accumulation of research materials on various artists and aspects of New Zealand art and the artistic community, focusing mainly on the Auckland region during the 1960s and early 1970s.

It includes draft notes, correspondence, press clippings, exhibition catalogues and invitations, and photographs. Many local artists feature in the files such as Milan Mrkusich, Para Matchitt, Stanley and Noelle Palmer, Barry Cleavin, Alan Thornton, Ted Bracey and David Barker.

The collection has been arranged into two series, Series 1: Artists files, and Series 2: Subject files. The artist files contain material on specific artists, while the Subject files focus on group shows, or specific topics.

In 2008 due to the fragile nature of portions of the collection, the newspaper clippings in particular, a set of reference photocopies were produced for the use of researchers. The degraded originals were disposed of once copied.