Raymond McIntyre (1879-1933), New Zealand/England, Edward McKnight Kauffer,  about 1915, oil paint on panel. Gift of C Millan Thompson to mark the occasion of the retirement of the Director [of the National Art Gallery], S B Maclennan, 1968

Portrait of an artist

New Zealand artist Raymond McIntyre arrived in England in 1909. There he studied with various artists including Walter Sickert and William Nicholson, whose works are represented in this exhibition. McIntyre enjoyed a good reputation in London’s progressive arts scene, mixing in literary, musical, and theatrical circles and exhibiting at important galleries.

The subject of this portrait, expatriate American artist and designer Edward McKnight Kauffer, moved in similar circles, and his advertising posters are an outstanding example of early twentieth-century graphic design.

As an expatriate, McIntyre was something of an outcast from New Zealand art history. It was not until the 1960s that his work was fully recognised here.