Coming up in the Turnbull Gallery

1 March 2022

ATL ref: Curios-030-049

Writers in Bronze: The Anthony Stones Portrait Busts of New Zealand Writers

The internationally renowned New Zealand sculptor Anthony Stones (1934-2016), sculptor of the outstanding statue of former Prime Minister Peter Fraser outside the Old Government Building, created a marvellous collection of bronze busts of 11 of New Zealand’s most famous historians, poets and writers.

Completed between 1975 and 2006, the 11 busts include Janet Frame, Michael King, Rewi Alley and Keith Sinclair, and are striking likenesses and interpretations of these greats of New Zealand art and literature.

This exhibition is a wonderful opportunity to present this collection of portrait busts now beautifully re-photographed by the Library’s Imaging staff, courtesy of the Turnbull Endowment Trust through a donation by Neil Plimmer. Available to view both physically at the exhibition for a short time and permanently online through Tiaki.

These commissions were completed after Stones’ departure from New Zealand in 1983, when he was living in Oxford and China. Stones went on to an illustrious international career as a portrait sculptor in the UK and China. In a sketchbook compiled by Stones as a record of his first visit to Beijing in 1984 Stones wrote ‘a portrait sculptor should be like a guerrilla fighter, prepared to adapt and operate anywhere’.

The exhibition is in the Turnbull Gallery on Level 1 of the National Library building on Molesworth St, Wellington, accessible by lift from the main lobby. It will be open from 1 March until 27 May 2022 and can be accessed Tuesday to Friday 10.00 to 5.00pm and Saturdays 9.00 to 1.00pm. Prior to visiting please check Covid restrictions here.

Writers in Bronze        -             Turnbull Gallery           -             1 March to 27 May 2022