Artists Illustrating Boys' Fashions: Gottfried Lindauer (Czech/New Zealand, 1839-1926)



Figure 1.-- Gottfried Lindauer and Henry Partridge set out to create a pictorial history of Māori. At the time, many in New Zealand believed that Māori people were dying out, both as a population group and a distinct cultural group. We note a Lindauer painting dated 1907, depicting Maori children playing knucklebones. The game was popular with Maori children who called it 'ruru'. It was played with five stones thrown into the air and caught deftly on the back of the hand.

One of the better known New Zealand painter is Gottfried Lindauer (1839-1926). He was a Czech-New Zealander painter. He was born in Pilsen, Bohemia which at the time was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Despite the German-name, he was ethnically Czech. He was originally named Bohumir. He studied at the Academy Fine Arts in Vienna. He migrated to New Zealand as an established artisy (1874). It is unclear why he decided to migrate. Some say he wanted to avoid compulsory military service, but he seema little old for that. Perhaps more important was the in portrait commissions because of photography, for instance. Lindauer became famous for his portraits, especially those of the Maori people, the indigenous Polynsian people the English found on New Zealand. He along with C.F. Goldie (1870-1947) were prolific painters of the Māori pople during the late-19th and early-20th centuries. Lindauer's first portraits of the Māori were done in Nelson on South Island. He moved to Auckland (mid-1870s). He became acquainted with Henry Partridge (1848-1931) who commissioned both portraits of eminent Māoris as well as Māori genre scenes. Lindauer and Partridge set out to create a pictorial history of Māori. At the time, many in New Zealand believed that Māori people were dying out, both as a population group and a distinct cultural group. We note a Lindauer painting dated 1907, depicting Maori children playing knucklebones. The game was popular with Maori children who called it 'ruru'. It was played with five stones thrown into the air and caught deftly on the back of the hand.








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Created: 4:57 AM 3/10/2014
Last updated: 4:57 AM 3/10/2014