Angels and Aristocrats

Overview

Angels & Aristocrats is an exhibition featuring a choice selection of European art from our very own premier public art collections. Thanks to our colonial forebears, who hoped to continue the tradition of great British art institutions, New Zealand public art galleries have a rich and diverse collection of early European art.

Inspired by Senior Curator Mary Kisler's 2010 book, Angels & Aristocrats draws together artworks from the collections of five New Zealand galleries: Auckland Art Gallery, Te Papa, Christchurch Art Gallery, Dunedin Public Art Gallery and Whanganui's Sarjeant Gallery. Kisler brings us an exhibition which features artworks from the 13th through to 19th century and reveals the changing meaning and role of art over that time.

To enrich your Angels & Aristocrats experience there are a number of related events, including talks and demonstrations of the crafts of the day. You can also catch 'artbites' - 10 minute talks on selected artworks in the exhibition at 12.30 daily.