George Woods (artist)

George Woods
Born 1898
Kumara, Westland
Died 1963 (aged 64–65)

George Woods (1898 – 4 April 1963) was a New Zealand draughtsman, illustrator, and artist. His works show the influence of Māori culture and the Pacific Islands; he had a reputation as an excellent colourist.

Education

Woods undertook night study at the Wellington Technical College (forerunner to the Wellington Polytechnic) under Harry Linley Richardson, and Frederick Vincent Ellis in 1936.[1]

Commercial career

Woods' worked at a number of advertising agencies in New Zealand and Australia. While studying at the Wellington Technical College he worked at the Goldberg and Ilott Advertising studios.[2] He also worked in Sydney before moving to the Carlton Caruthers advertising agency in Wellington. While at Carlton Caruthers, he mainly designed posters for the Majestic Theatre, which was across the road from the agency, but also met Ernest Mervyn Taylor. In 1937, Taylor and Woods established a small freelance studio in Willis St, Wellington creating a number of illustrations for the Reed Publishing Company.

Art

As a modernist, George Woods is best known for his graphic, stylised images and is most readily contextualised alongside contemporaries Russell Clark (1905–1966) and E. Mervyn Taylor (1906–1964). His early work, particularly illustration of books, is associated with the New Zealand Nationalist art movement, with his work set firmly in a native environment. He recognised nature as the bottom line for artists, commenting: "I think artists should begin where Nature leaves off."[3] His colour linocuts exhibited a strong linear image, and his skills as a draughtsman allowed him to develop a sculptural element to his work. Woods frequently employed the technique of simplifying his subject matter by accentuating physical characteristics and omitting others entirely. He had an ability to capture form and light through simple line forms and use of unbroken colour. Many of his works show a flirtation with eroticism and exoticism.

His etching Nude (c. 1939) was one of the few prints selected for inclusion in the Centennial Exhibition of International and New Zealand Art at the National Gallery in Wellington. Woods was also included in the New Zealand Society of Artists Exhibition of Works by Contemporary New Zealand Artists, 1939.[4]

Woods was intensely interested in Māori culture and had a keen appreciation of Polynesian art and sculpture, borne out of his travels in the region after finishing studies at the Wellington Technical College. Both Woods and his contemporary E. Mervyn Taylor, reinterpreted Māori mythology from a New Zealand European perspective[4] at a time when attitudes of white New Zealanders to Māori were changing. Woods and Taylor created a new iconography to represent their mythological Māori world; Woods' Māori were archetypal, strong and powerful figures that lived in a timeless idyllic land. George Woods' illustrations for A.H. Reed's Myths and Legends of Māoriland (1946) demonstrate the iconography he used. His drawings emphasise Māori facial features and lithe muscular physiques and also include moko. He includes native birds and plants to provide a distinct New Zealand context. He often adopts a heroic character for the dramatic passages of the book. In the image The Battle of the Wind and Sea Gods (c.1946), Woods depicts sinuous tension in their muscles and frames them in turbulent clouds and waves. His drawings for this book attain a high standard in both design and execution.[5] Woods and Taylor were the country's most prominent book illustrators in the early 20th century. Many of the prints they created as illustrations for books were included in their solo and group exhibitions. The scraper-board print Battle of the Wind and the Sea Gods (1945), won Woods the Esther Glen Award from the New Zealand Library Association for outstanding contribution to children's literature.[4]

Woods' scraper-board print Māori Navigators (c1940.) was inspired by the Māori myth of the great fleet of canoes departed from the legendary Hawaiki on a voyage of discovery making landfall in New Zealand in 1350. His image of a canoe cresting a wave appealed to New Zealanders celebrating the centenary of the 1840 arrival of settlers' ships. The image was published as a frontispiece to A.H. Reed's The Story of New Zealand in 1945, placing it firmly in the public's imagination as an icon of nationhood.[4]

Woods also created a series of colour linocuts based on The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám; using rich colour and patterns to create the appearance of Persian miniatures.[4]

Illustrations

Works of art

Title Medium Date Image
Nude Monotype 1930s–40s
Nude No 1 Linocut 1930s–50
Nude No 2 Linocut 1930s–50
The Artist's Wife Aquatint 1930s–50
Girl Dressing Her Hair Monotype 1930s–50
Girl Monotype 1930s–50
Man Reading Monotype 1930s–50
Cat Monotype 1930s–50
Figures Monotype 1930s–50
Reflections Linocut 1931
Meditation Drypoint 1932
Nocturne Aquatint 1933
Portrait Study Aquatint 1933
Nude Etching 1939
Malama Aquatint 1940
Mamu Aquatint 1940
Maori Navigators Scraper-Board 1940
Joan Asleep Aquatint 1940s
Marine Pattern 2 Colour Linocut 1940s
Nude Aquatint 1940s
Design with Blue Girl Colour Linocut 1940s
Beethoven Aquatint 1943
Malama Scraper-Board 1943
Figure 1 Linocut 1944
Figure 2 Linocut 1944
Reclining Nude Linocut 1944
Maori Head Woodcut 1945
Standing Nude Colour Linocut 1945
Hinemoa Scraper-Board 1945
Battle of the Sea and Shore Birds Scraper-Board 1945
Ruarangi and the Turehu Scraper-Board 1945
Young Hatupatu Scraper-Board 1945
Tawhaki the Bold Scraper-Board 1945
Tawhaki Calls on the Gods Scraper-Board 1945
Battle of the Wind and the Sea Gods Scraper-Board 1945
Kahukura and the Fairy Fisherman Scraper-Board 1945
The Flying Taniwah Namu and Naeroa Scraper-Board 1945
Rupe as a Pigeon Scraper-Board 1945
Decorative Design No 1 Colour Linocut 1946
Marine Pattern 1 Colour Linocut 1946
Moorish Idol Colour Linocut 1946
Toy Fish Colour Linocut 1946
Banded File Fish (Topical Fish) Colour Linocut 1946
Decorative Design No 2 Colour Linocut 1946
Decorative Design No 3 (Woman with Foal) Colour Linocut 1946
Triangle Colour Linocut 1946
Figure and Landscape Colour Linocut 1946
Silver Morning Colour Linocut 1947
Wind (Strong Wind) Colour Linocut 1947
Leda Colour Linocut 1947
Woman Colour Linocut 1947 - Polynesian Mask Wood-Engraving 1947
Malia Colour Linocut 1947
Head Aquatint 1947
Come with Old Khayyam Colour Linocut 1950
And Leave with Wise to Talk Colour Linocut 1950
I Sent My Soul Through the Invisible Colour Linocut 1950
A Book of Verse and Thought Colour Linocut 1950
Driftwood Form Linocut 1950
William Colenso, botanist-printer Scraper-Board 1950

References

  1. ↑ National Centennial Exhibition of New Zealand Art Catalogue
  2. ↑ Wadman, H., "George Woods", Year Book of the Arts in New Zealand, No 4, 1948, pp. 103–105.
  3. ↑ [Woods, G. (9148) George Woods. Year Book of the Arts in New Zealand p.104]
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 New Zealand Prints 1900–1950: An unseen heritage
  5. ↑ The engaging line: E. Mervyn Taylor's prints on Maori subjects

Further reading

External links

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