The Art of A. Lois White
February 28, 2017 - April 9, 2017
Master bedroom
Lois White, Fleet’s In (1943), Oil on cardboard. Collection of Terry Stringer
This exhibition presents a range of work by A. Lois White (1903 -1984) from two collections, one private and the other public.
The sculptor Terry Stringer taught with White at Auckland Studio of Arts during the 1970s and acquired a number of pieces during this period from her studio in Blockhouse Bay. Stringer’s holdings, including his bronze bust of White, are included alongside works from the Arts Trust Collection.
A. Lois White has a unique place in New Zealand art of the 20th Century. She followed a path of her own with a particular sensibility and subject matter, appearing disinterested in the directions taken by her peers (namely Regionalist Landscape or Modernist Abstraction). Her paintings are primarily figurative, often as narratives that encompass further meaning through the use of allegory. Social comment is imperative, in many cases expressed by figures in settings relaying concerns of the day. The viewer is presented with the civil unrest of pre-war 1930s New Zealand or the strife of WWII– key examples in this exhibition are Hiroshima (c.1960, Wallace Arts Trust) and Fleet’s In (1943, Terry Stringer) featuring newly landed American sailors dancing with Kiwi women on Takapuna Beach. In her self-portraiture we see the determination of White the artist at different stages of her life, expressing a strong drive and commitment to portray the world. White’s career went through fluxes and turns, while she experienced early recognition and acclaim her work somewhat slipped from view until interest was revived posthumously in the 1990s (specifically through the major exhibition of 1993 By the Waters of Babylon at the Auckland Art Gallery).
Lois White in the 1970’s
Lois and I were both teaching adult classes at the Auckland Society of Arts when we became friends. In her Blockhouse Bay studio was a life’s work, eloquently bringing back a disciplined past. Painted before dealer galleries existed, it seemed previously only a few works had gone to public collections and family.
Peter McLeavey was made aware of this treasure with my prompt, so she then had her first one person exhibition. With McLeavey setting prices I had the privilege of being able to buy something each time I visited. In the sunset of her life, Lois indulged herself in a freezer for the dogs’ meat, and got herself a big television.
– Terry Stringer, November 2016