The Sarjeant Gallery, a beautiful century old heritage building and one of New Zealand’s most important art galleries, finally re-opened this November with a new extension added. It had been closed for many years for earthquake strengthening. To coincide with the celebratory opening, award- winning author Martin Edmond was commissioned to write its history. Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery: A Whanganui biography is a handsome book richly illustrated with key artworks from the Sarjeant’s collection as well as historic and more recent photographs.
The Sarjeant gallery was able to be built thanks to a very generous bequest from Henry Sarjeant in 1912 to establish and maintain a fine art gallery.
Martin Edmond recounts the curious tale of how a competition was held for the design of the building. The winning entry was created by Donald Hosie, but his boss Edmund Anscombe claimed it was his and was awarded the prize. Edmund Anscombe’s architectural firm oversaw the construction, and his name is still inscribed on the gallery’s foundation stone.
The Sarjeant gallery was off to a good start when Charles McKay, an unconventional and controversial character was mayor. His enthusiasm for the arts helped to see through the planning, the competition for the building’s design and its construction. But his tenure as mayor was cut short after a notorious incident, an attempted murder, for which he was sent off to prison for 15 years. His departure was a major setback for the gallery and its supporters.
Edmond tells how over the years many personalities have contributed to the success of the gallery, generous donors, local body politicians, members of the trust board, and directors. A succession of directors: Gordon Brown, William Handley, Bill Milbank, Greg Anderson, and Andrew Clifford each brought with them a different vision and skill set that moved the gallery forward to being the vibrant gallery it has become.
Gordon H Brown, its first director, was an exceptionally able administrator, innovative in his approach. But his disagreement with a difficult council over their unreasonable demands over the community’s use of the gallery were unable to be resolved and eventually led to his resignation. He had only been in the job for three years.
His successor, the legendary Bill Milbank, managed to maintain a more amicable relationship with council. He steered the gallery programme towards an emphasis on contemporary art. His first major curatorial initiative, writes Edmond, was both, unprecedented and revolutionary. He invited famous expatriate New Zealand artist Billy Apple to do one of his radical interventions. Milbank also staged a large exhibition of paintings by Edith Collier, born in Whanganui, a modernist expatriate painter. After her death, 500 of her oils, watercolours and drawings from her estate were donated to the gallery by her niece and an Edith Collier Trust was formed to house, care for and exhibit them. A whole chapter has been devoted to the life of this talented artist.
Bill Milbank organised many exhibitions by New Zealand artists, practising in a range of media, including Ann Noble, Philip Trusttum, Nigel Brown, Philip Clairmont, Gretchen Albrecht, Robyn Kahukiwa, Bill Hammond. And was able to acquire some of their works for the gallery. Some of these stunning works have been reproduced in this book which will undoubtedly whet readers’ appetites for a visit to the Serjeant to view them.
He strove to embrace Whanganui’s Māori history and for the gallery to become a truly bicultural institution and employed Rangihiroa Panoho (Ngāpuhi) as curator of Māori art. His good relationship with local iwi resulted in the gallery being gifted a Māori name Te Whare O Rehua in 1995.
A competition, for the design of a much needed extension to the gallery, was won by Steve McCracken of Warren and Mahoney and the planning and fundraising for the ambitious building programme was well on the way by the time there was a local body election and Michael Laws was elected as mayor.
It was the beginning of a very dark period in the Sarjeant’s history which Martin Edmond tells in dramatic detail. Laws wanted to close the gallery down. The position of the director was disestablished and Milbank, despite years of exemplary service was unceremoniously and unfairly ousted from his job in 2006 aged 58. The gallery was left without a professional director for 10 years.
But all was not lost. After a National Government was elected in 2008 the Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage, Chris Finlayson, revived the planning for the extension project working closely with a new community minded progressive mayor Annette Main who had defeated Laws in 2010 .The fundraising target was achieved and it looked certain that Henry Sarjeant’s dream of an art gallery and collection that would serve future generations would be achieved
Then the big Christchurch earthquake struck on September 4, 2010. And the work was further delayed when New Zealand entered Level 4 lockdown due to the Covid 19 pandemic. But it has finally been completed! As well as being an outstanding art gallery it is now also a real community hub with a café added.
Martin Edmond reflects on its turbulent history:
'Over the past twenty years, a number of massive, apparently insurmountable challenges have confronted the Sarjeant Gallery, and all have been successfully met. The same might be said of the past hundred years. There are many triumphs, as well as some disasters, in the story of the gallery; there are surely more to come. However, as the Sarjeant’s doors are about to re-open, triumph has succeeded disaster.'
It is an inspirational and compelling story!
Reviewer: Lyn Potter
Massey University Press