Melvin Day

Melvin (Pat) Day is a New Zealand art icon. He is one of our most distinguished painters, and began his formal study at Elam aged only 11, in 1934. Over seven decades, he has painted, exhibited and studied internationally, his studies ranging from art to history and philosophy, all of which inform his painting. After becoming the first New Zealander accepted to study art history at London’s prestigious Courtauld Institute, Melvin Day also made a huge contribution as Director of the NZ National Art Gallery in the 1960s and 70s, and later as Government Art Historian.

Now in his 80s, Day brings the experience of a lifetime of painting and scholarship to a new body of highly collectible work, which allows no concession to age, in intensity, output or quality. Painter and peer Ray Thorburn noted in late 2005 that Day has ‘single-mindedly embarked on the most productive period of his career’.

Art writers comment that Day is ‘immune to fashion’ and ‘untouched by hype’, his subject matter or handling of it entirely driven by his own quest for answers. He is one of few contemporary painters to explore still life, or imbue it with such presence and individuality. His most recent suite Stabat Mater returns to his powerful abstraction, in luminous paintings each inspired by the eight movements of Vivaldi’s musical composition of the ancient Stabat Mater hymn, and complemented by texts and a catalogue by noted Franco-Mexican writer Frédéric-Yves Jeannet. This major series is touring South Island regional galleries in 2008-9, but the 16 works are available for sale.

Recent Work 

Day’s early career exploration of cubism, abstraction and modernism carries through to striking landscapes and contemplative still life works, as well as the abstracts which some regard as his most powerful painting.

The recent exhibition ‘The Still Centre’ presented still life paintings in egg tempera and oil on paper. He captures the restrained beauty of 17th Century Spanish painters but with a 20th-21st Century modernist edge.

The Stabat Mater suite began with philosophical discussions about Vivaldi’s composition, between Day and Frédéric-Yves Jeannet, who came to New Zealand as husband of the Mexican Ambassador. Thus they are best viewed while listening to the Vivaldi movements. The original hymn is about Mary standing before her son Jesus Christ at the Crucifixion, and Vivaldi’s interpretation captures the mother-son relationship, the stages of her sorrow, as she comes to terms with the events.

“From the outset I was inspired to paint forms and colours which would evoke the responses I felt when I listened to the music,” says Melvin Day “...The text of Stabat Mater deals with perennial problems and stresses. To this end, the sorrows expressed in Vivaldi’s music are constant and propose that each generation faces difficult choices. Vivaldi’s music offers us a path forward but the way is difficult and often distressing. But there is a glimmering of optimism.”

The full artist’s statement, and the writer’s statement by Jeannet, can be emailed to you, along with images of works not shown on the website – please contact us.

There are eight major paintings, and eight described as studies – these are substantial paintings in their own right, with beautiful subtlety and texture. This exhibition offers a very special opportunity for collectors to acquire from the finest works by an artist whose work is an important inclusion in any collection of contemporary New Zealand art, yet whose works are still affordable, priced between $3500 and $26,000.

More About the Artist 

Melvin (known as Pat) Day was born in Hamilton, New Zealand, in 1923. He began part-time study at the leading Elam School of Fine Art in Auckland in 1934 aged only 11, then studied fulltime from 1939 until being called up to the RNZAF in World War II.

In his early career he explored cubism, fascinated by the work of Picasso and Braque. Travels in Western Europe initiated his interest in Spanish painters, and his work tended increasingly towards abstraction particularly in the 1970s and 1980s. He was part of a group of NZ artists at that time exploring new ideas, his peers including the likes of Don Peebles, John Drawbridge and Ralph Hotere, although Day’s work attracted particular attention from the critics.

He married Oroya McAuley in 1952 and lived and worked for a time in Rotorua. He was the first New Zealander accepted to study at the Courtauld Institute in London – regarded as the most prestigious centre of art history studies in the world. After a period of studying, lecturing and exhibiting in London, the Days returned to Wellington, New Zealand when he accepted the post of Director of the National Art Gallery in 1968. His contribution to New Zealand art continued as Government Art Historian from 1978 to 1984. In 2003, Day was awarded the CNZM for his services to the arts.

Even while exploring various other forms of modernism, Day has continued to paint modernist landscapes particularly of Wellington (where he has lived most of his life) along with periodic exploration of still life, and luminous yet textural abstracts.

Day has participated by invitation in many major exhibitions in the leading public art galleries around New Zealand, including three substantial solo survey and retrospective exhibitions, an impressive history for a contemporary artist. The most recent were a major retrospective, Continuum, at Wellington’s City Gallery; Tracing the Tasman for the opening of the Nelson Provincial Museum, and Stabat Mater.

Please contact us to confirm current prices: most prices are posted at the time of exhibition, and may be revised as the artists’ values increase.