The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Auckland Provincial District]

Artists and Photographers

page 318

Artists and Photographers.

Bartlett, Wiliam Henry, Art Photographer, Queen Street, Auckland. Branches: Whangarei and Dargaville, Bankers, National Bank of New Zealand. Mr. Bartlett's business is carried on is a fine three-storey brick building, situated in one of the busiest parts of Queen Street. The premises have been fitted up on the most complete scale, and in the vestibule on the ground floor—one of the finest in the city— specimens of Mr Bartlett's artistic work are exhibited in handsome show cases. Mr. Bartlett makes a specialty of enlarged portraits in oils, etc., and the artistic merits of his specimens attract hundreds of visitors. The office, reception rooms, dressing rooms, and photographic gallery are situated on the second floor. No expense has been spared in funishing the reception rooms. The gallery covers a floorage space of about 1000 square feet, and great attention has been paid to the lighting, which is regulated by a special system of blinds. All the accessories are quite up to date. The third floor contains three large rooms, which are used for printing, enlarging, and finishing. Six hands are employed, and three artists are engaged in executing oil paintings, in which a large business is done. The whole of the work is under the personal supervision of Mr. Bartlett, who carried off the Special Gold Medal for portraiture at the Auckland Exhibition in March, 1895. Enlargements can be framed on the premises, and Mr. Bartlett has an endless variety of mouldings, imported direct from the manufacturers. Mr. Bartlett was born in Auckland, in 1870. He was educated at the Auckland Grammar school, and had many years of experience at his business before establishing himself. Mr. Bartlett takes great interest in musical matters, and he is a Freemason and member of the West End Rowing Club. The Whangarei branch of his business is under the management of Mr. Bayne, who is well and favourably known throughout the district.

Art Pictures.by W. H. Bartlett.

Hanna, John Robert, Photographer, Queen Street, Auckland. Telephone 351. Mr. Hanna was born in Ireland, and arrived in New Zealand thirty-five years ago. He began work in his profession with Mr. R. H. Bartlett, of Auckland, whose business he subsequently managed for some time. For ten years after leaving Mr. Bartlett he was a member of the firm of Messrs Hemus and Hanna, and managed the business. In 1885 the firm was dissolved by mutual consent, and Mr. Hanna bought the business which was established by the late Mr. Crombie in 1855, and is the oldest in Auckland. The building is of brick, three stories in height, and has about 2500 square feet of floor space. A handsome vestibule, adorned with choice specimens of photographie art, leads to the reception room on the first floor. The studio, 16 feet by 40 feet, was built from Mr. Hanna's own designs, and is admirably adapted for the

Mr. J. R. Hanna.

page 319 purpose. The light is excellent, as the studio is glazed on both sides to within a few inches of the floor, and the appointments are elegant, the background scenery having been specially imported. Mr. Hanna's work is noted for excellence in quality, tone, and finish, and at the American Photographic Artists' Convention, in Washington, he secured a bronze medal in the foreign section. The “Photogram,” of May, 1894, devoted three pages to Mr. Hanna, his studio, and his work, in consequence of a packet of his photograms having been received in London. These were so beautiful that they were shown to the Photographic Club, and to the London and Provincial Photographic Association. The verdict was that no man in Britain was doing better all round portraiture, and Mr. Thomas Fall, the president of the Association, wrote to say that he had never seen such lovely work. Mr. Hanna employs seven assistants, his portraits go all over the world, and he recently completed for a London gentleman an order for 300. His trade mark is an autograph “Hanna.” There used to be on view in the vestibule of Mr. Hanna's studio a very fine shield, which contained the portraits of over 160 Aucklanders, deemed worthy of portraiture in connection with the district's jubilee in 1892. It is now in the Free Library, and will repay inspection as a specimen of fine photographic art, and as a collection of colonial and provincial worthies. Mr. Hanna has been thirty-five years in Auckland, and as a Freemason he is Provincial Grand Secretary for New Zealand under the Irish Constitution.

Art Pictures by Hanna.

Morton, John Carnduff, Photographer, the Balmoral Studio, Karangahape Road, Auckland. Bankers, National Bank of New Zealand. Mr. Morton is a native of Edinburgh, Scotland, and was brought up to the business of manufacturing photographic apparatus. He studied the art of photography in order to gain full technical knowledge, and was in business near Edinburgh for twelve months before leaving for New Zealand. He arrived in the colony by the s.s. “Orient,” via Melbourne, in 1881, and for two years was assistant to Mr. Morris in Dunedin. For seven years subsequently he was manager and operator for Mr. Josiah Martin in Auckland. The present business has been successfully carried on by Mr. Morton since 1891. His premises are three stories in height, and are built in brick, with cement facings. The ground floor has a large and commedious showroom, with a large room at the back, and the first floor upstairs contains a beautifully-lighted studio, 40 feet by 20 feet. There are also three well-appointed dressing-rooms. There is a complete suite of lofty, airy, and well-lighted workrooms on the top floor. Mr Morton makes a specialty of enlargements in bromide and on opal; he was, in fact, one of the first to do this class of work in Dunedin. He has erected a branch studio at his private residence, Glenmore House, New North Road, specially fitted for bridal parties.

Goldie, Charles Frederick, Artist, Auckland. Mr. Goldie is second son of Mr. David Goldie, so well known as a public man, a man of business, and as an ex-Mayor of Auckland, and on the paternal side he is a grandson of Mr. Partington, a celebrated English artist. He was born in 1871, and educated at the Auckland College and Grammar school. From his earliest days he gave promise of great artistic talent, and on leaving school studied art under Mr. L. J. Steele and the late Mr. Robert Atkinson, both page 320 well-known and prominent artists in Auckland. In 1892 Mr. Goldie went to Paris, and studied in the Academie Julian, the celebrated French school, under Professors Bouguereau, Constant, Ferrier, and Baschet. He studied anatomy at the Beaux Arts, under Professor Duval, who has written a book which is regarded as a standard work on artistic anatomy. Under these gentlemen Mr. Goldie studied figure painting for five years and a half. He also studied and copied in the Louvre, the Luxembourg, and in nearly all the other famous art galleries in Europe—namely, at Antwerp, Rome, Florence, Venice, Milan, Naples, Amsterdam, the Hague, Rotterdam, Haarlem, Brussels, Bruges, Dusseldorf, and London. Mr. Goldie specially studied figure painting, in which he displays great and acknowledged talent. In a competition with 300 pupils at the Academie Julian, for a study from life, he was successful in obtaining a prize medal, with 150 francs. This work, which received the highest commendation from the professors, now adorns the walls of the Academie. In the portrait competition, which is held once a year, Mr. Goldie was successful in being placed twice second, and once third, and received numerous other mentions for other studies, also against 300 competitors. About 1898 Mr. Goldie returned to New Zealand, and in collaboration with Mr. Steele, one of his early masters, painted the celebrated picture, “The Arrival of the Maoris,” the conception and execution of which bear the stamp of genius. The picture was immediately secured for the Auckland Art Gallery, and was lent in 1900 to the Christchurch Exhibition, at which it won the greatest admiration for the talent of the artists, by whose permission it is reproduced in this work. Mr. Goldie is now (1901) engaged on a picture representing Christ disputing with the doctors or rabbis in the temple at Jerusalem. The subject is a most ambitious one, and embraces in all about fifteen figures. Its conception and colouring show that Mr. Goldie is a man of that kind of talent, which, sooner or later, makes its possessor notable, not only in his

Mr. Goldie's Studio.

The Arrival of the Maoris. (Photographed from the original painting, and reproduced by special permission of the artists, Messrs Goldie and Steele).

page 321 native land, but beyond it. Mr Goldie's studio, which is considered to be one of the most artistic south of the line, occupies the top flat of Hobson's Buildings, in Shortland Street. Mr. Goldie has a large number of pupils, many of whom come from the extreme ends of the colony. In his college days he was a well-known footballer and patron of other kindred sports. He was a member of the Olympic Football Club at Paris, and played against the Oxford University team, which was beaten by one point.

Mr. Goldie's Studio: Another View.

Steele, Louis John, Artist, Auckland. Mr. Steele was born at Reigate, Surrey, England, in 1842. His father, Dr. John Sesson Steele, was a man of eminence in his profession, and was one of the Governors of the Medical College at Epsom. Mr. Steele was educated at Reigate Grammar School, and studied painting at the Royal Academy. Through the advice of his cousin, W. Haussoullier, an eminent French artist, he entered the Beaux Arts at Paris, and studied for some years. In 1867 he entered the Royal Academy at Florence, and after his return to England he made a name for himself in the art of etching. His etching of “Napoleon on the Bellerophon” received great praise, and was the largest etching done up to that time. On his arrival in Auckland, Mr. Steele took a foremost position in his profession, and his pictures, when exhibited, received great praise from art critics. That notable work, “The Arrival of the Maoris,” was produced by Mr. Steele in collaboration with Mr. Goldie, and now adorns the walls of the Auckland Art Gallery.

Mr. Steele's Studio.

Wright, Frank, Artist, 211 Victoria Arcade, Auckland. Mr. Wright was born in Nottingham, England, in 1860, and is descended from a talented artistic family, who have been for more than three generations lace designers in Nottingham. He studied at the South Kensington School of Art for three years, under Mr. J. S. Rawle, F.R.S.A., and was the winner of several competitions in designing. Mr. Wright came to New Zealand in 1877, and after going through a varied colonial experience, began in 1888 to teach in his profession, and soon had a large number of pupils. He has painted a number of pictures, which have been much admired by lovers of art. Two of his pictures in water colours—“At Matakana” a large picture 30 by 20) and “Karaka Creek”—were purchased by a bequest from the late Mrs Browning, and selected by the committee of the Auckland Art Society for the Auckland Art Gallery. The large oil painting (48 by 30), entitled “The Mill Valley,” was purchased for the Art Gallery by the trustees of the late Mrs Boyd. Some of Mr. Wright's pictures have been purchased for Ceylon, Russia, and England. A large painting, showing Maoris building a

Ml. F. Wright.

page 322 canoe, produced in collaboration with his brother, Mr. W. Wright, has attracted a great deal of attention. This picture, which measures 72 by 42 inches, contains seventeen figures, and shows great talent. Mr. Wright, in addition to being an artist of recognised talent, is a musician, and the possessor of a tenor voice. He has been chairman of the Auckland Liedertafel since its inception, with a break of one year. He is a member of the Savage Club, and one of the “Waita” Quartet Club of male singers. Mr. Wright is unmarried, and resides at Ponsonby.

Sir George Grey's Residence, Kawau.

▼ About this page

Other formats

Connect

▼ Browse collection

The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Auckland Provincial District]

Artists and Photographers

Artists and Photographers.