A morning at the Sarjeant

Whanganui’s Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery (known as the Sarjeant) is a gallery with a strong purpose and a clear vision on how to deliver it. The gallery recently reopened after a ten-year redevelopment and extension ensuring it’s more earthquake proof and has sufficient space for the future. The gallery comprises the original Heritage building (originally opened in 1919) and an adjoining contemporary space, Te Pātaka o Tā Te Atawhai Archie John Taiaroa (named after local Maori leader Sir Archie John Taiaroa) that enables even more space, natural light and extended sightlines of the Whanganui river below.

Setting the Scene

Henry Sarjeant left a considerable sum of money for his wife, Ellen, to establish a local art gallery in Whanganui. She set about collecting works with her second husband and over a series of decades (and subsequent museum directors) works were acquired. While named after one man, it is not one person’s collection, nor is there a cohesive theme driving the collection’s structure and acquisitions. Fortunately, far-sighted directors in the 1970’s saw fit to widen the acquisition strategy to include both contemporary and historical works, local and international pieces and works by both Pākehā (white) and Māori artists.

The new gallery dedicates its series of rooms to short-term exhibitions, rather than a permanent collection on consistent display with a single exhibition space. This allows the curatorial team considerable creativity, but with a collection of 8,000 pieces, it’s also a challenge on how to best reflect the breadth of the collection and engage today’s varied audiences.

Introducing Nō Konei | From Here

The opening exhibition entitled Nō Konei | From Here ‘features over 200 extraordinary works… spanning four centuries of European and New Zealand art history… aiming to create conversations that span across time and media’. In addition to longstanding items in the collection, the Sarjeant commissioned new pieces from almost 20 artists. As the curators explain:

‘Galleries and their histories, collections, and exhibition programmes resemble families… They develop organically, and over a century after the Sarjeant Gallery originally opened, we find ourselves asking: How did an artwork arrive here? Why was it acquired or gifted? From here, we weave new narratives into the ongoing story, exploring new terrain and creating fresh frameworks… We hope you will be inspired by this building in its newly expanded footprint, equipped for the next century and beyond, together with the work of the many artists displayed. They are the lifeblood of this place, infusing it with energy, beauty, tension, and inspiration.’

Spoiler alert: I was completely inspired.

Walking through the galleries

Entering the original Heritage building you are immediately aware of the white walls, bright natural light and beautiful dome ceiling above. Hanging from the central dome are Matthew McIntyre Wilson’s woven works. Wilson has spent decades researching and reviving traditional Māori weaving techniques. The woven structures of hīnaki (eel trap), kupenga (net) and korotete (eel cage) are made from natural fibres, as well as metals like copper. Photographs on the wall show Māori men making eel traps and other items approximately 100 years ago. These photos reveal traditional methods and are a cornerstone for Wilson’s archival research. I found this room surprisingly calming and for items that seem very simple at first glance, the more I looked, the more I appreciated the complexity and the craftsmanship behind each one.

To the left of the dome is a large room dedicated to Edith Collier and I was blown away by the breadth of her work and the variety of genres she explored. Considerable research underpins this exhibition, with the curators pointing out it’s the ‘first major survey of [her] work since 1999’ and accompanied by a catalogue with 150 illustrations and contributions from 24 writers. It will likely prove the defining foundation for future art historians exploring Edith Collier’s work. The work is curated chronologically, with Edith’s time in London, Ireland and other parts of England called out and analysed as she explored prints, watercolour, landscape, the female nude and portraiture. ‘Adventurous and experimental’ are the perfect adjectives for her pioneering modernist work.

Within the rest of the Heritage building, key themes explored in the From Here exhibition include Concealment, Surface Detail, Light, Youth, Mortality and Hidden Narratives. Within the alcoves are works of different mediums including painting, sculpture, glasswork, photography and prints. I enjoyed seeing another work by Ida Carey, who I first encountered in the Waikato museum, as well a dramatic painting, Gethsemane, portraying Christ praying on the eve of his betrayal by A. Lois White, another pioneering New Zealand artist. It was a reminder of the number of works by women on display. With pieces by contemporary artists, as well as several by Maori artists, it was a delightful example of what a modern art museum could and should be.

Surface Detail was another standout theme. The irony is not lost on me as I write and photograph this for a digital blog:

‘With the increase in viewing and sharing of images via digital media, some may argue that visiting art galleries to see artworks in the flesh is now redundant. However, this bay of works that celebrate the sheer joy and sumptuousness of paint, colour, scale, texture and form demonstrates the kind of viewing experience that is only possible from being in the presence of the originals.’

Elaborate Meissen pottery, canvas as sculpture, glassworks that change with every angle you view them from and oil paint so thick you desperately want to stroke the ridges with your hands as you walk past it - as close a visible demonstration of tactility as there could be. I almost missed Philip Trusttum’s towering painting The Persian Garden. Its softness ensures it waits unassumingly until you address it with your full attention and see the world of beautiful colours, gently blended into each other.

Vivian Smith’s beguiling portrait entitled The Blue Feather was possibly my favourite piece outside of Edith Collier’s works. A woman sits on a chair, her body facing us but her head turned in profile. A dramatic blue feather flows out of her hat. Her attire is navy, she’s removed the glove on her left hand, revealing a wedding ring. Her neck is covered in beautiful lace fabric but your eyes hover where the light hits the painting on her face - what is she looking at? Is she confident, disinterested or sad? I could have stared at her for hours.

The Extension

Over in the new building the exhibition From Here continues but with responses from contemporary artists who’ve completed the Sarjeant’s residency at Tylee cottage, near the banks of the Whanganui river. The river is a key theme and it’s clear that many artists are moved and inspired by it. Other installations include a corrugated iron fence, a car, drawings by children and decorated ‘hats’. The latter, Lauren Lysaght’s 2024 Anywhere I Hang My Helmet is Home, was my favourite work on this side. As the label says,

‘This work relates to the period surrounding the 1981 Springbok Tour. Back then, I donned a safety helmet during the protests. Now, more than ever, I feel the need to don that helmet again and fight for Repletion (not hunger), Abundance (not poverty), Tolerance (not intolerance), Bona Fide (not fake), Integrity (not dishonesty), Shelter (not homelessness), Pacification (not war).’

Each theme is reflected in a specific helmet. I found Lauren’s words as impactful as her helmets, a key reminder of the power of written interpretation. While art may be purely defined by the onlooker, personally I find additional written context for contemporary pieces especially helpful. So often words remind us to look even closer or give pointers on what to look for - the material, or the colour or what’s not included - and with each observation we step closer to the artistic intentions and questions being explored before us.

In Summary

The whole museum is wonderfully curated. The Sarjeant is blessed with a beautiful, spacious and light building, which the curatorial and design teams have really leaned into. There are bold accent colour walls to signal changes in theme or display, with clear interpretation that both educates and leaves room for thought and further questions. The Sarjeant sits alongside the UK's Fitzwilliam Museum and the Courtauld for me, as an institution that knows who it is for, what it wants to say, how important its role is in the community and as a regional museum it punches well above its weight. It is a case study for national institutions across the world to learn from.

It feels fitting to close with a Māori proverb, one which concludes the History page on the Sarjeant Gallery’s website:

He pai te tirohanga ki ngā mahara mō ngā rā pahemo engari ka puta te māramatanga i runga i te titiro whakamua.

It is good to remember the past but true wisdom comes from preparing well for the future.