Drawbridge, John - 1930-2005
John Drawbridge
JOHN DRAWBRIDGE 1930 – 2005
From an early age it was clear that John Drawbridge was to make an indelible and significant mark on the New Zealand art scene. His knowledge of art theory and technique was vast, as many a fortunate student would attest to. His sense of aesthetic combined with his technical ability, (being both traditional and cutting edge, depending on the project at hand), enabled him to create a body of work more challenging, exciting and varied than any of his contemporaries. He cannot be categorized as just an oil and watercolour painter, printmaker, muralist, stained glass or textile creator, as he was all of these things. He was, in its true sense, an Artist.
In 1957 Drawbridge was awarded a National Art Gallery Travelling Scholarship to study at London’s Central School of Arts and Crafts (graduating in 1960 with a Diploma with Distinction). After marrying Tanya Ashken, also in 1960, they went to Paris for one year, benefiting from an additional 4th year to the Travelling Scholarship, where Drawbridge continued printmaking. This time with S. W. Hayter and Johnny Friedlander. After successful shows in early 1960s London, most notably at the Redfern Gallery in 1963, Drawbridge and Ashken returned to New Zealand. One of his reasons being, “I had got to know a lot about the kind of “type-casting” required for British artists to be recognised and promoted by critics and the art fraternity. I was scared that the price of possible fame in that society would limit my freedom to paint as I felt. I knew then that perhaps the best way for me to retain artistic freedom would be to return to New Zealand.”
Back in Wellington, New Zealand, Drawbridge not only taught for more than twenty years at the Wellington Polytechnic School of Design but also created some of this county’s most spectacular public art works (the 40 meter long Beehive Mural in the Banquet Hall, New Zealand Parliament) as well as continuing to exhibit with dealer galleries domestically and internationally.
AWARDS
2009 Inducted to the Massey University Hall of Fame
2006 Recipient of an NZ Arts Foundation grant (selected by Denis and Verna Adam: beneficiary of the Award for Patronage). Awarded posthumously.
2002 Honorary Doctorate (Literature) from Massey University
1989 Governor General’s Art Award, NZAFA
1982 QEII Arts Council Fellowship
1978 Awarded M.B.E. (Member of the British Empire)
1971 QEII Arts Council Scholarship
1968 Major Prize, X th International Exhibition, Bianco e Nero, Lugano, Switzerland
1960 Elected Associate Member of the Royal Society of Painter-etchers & Engravers, London
1957 New Zealand National Art Gallery Travelling Scholarship
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS (International)
2002 The 12th Space International Print Biennale, Seoul, South Korea
1994, 1997, 2000 Triennale of Small Prints, Chamalieres, France
1988, 1997, 2000 US Print Consortium, Members Travelling Exhibition, U.S.A.
1993 International Print Exhibition, Maastricht, Netherlands
1990, 1994, 1996 The Inoue Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1988 The Lumley Cazalet Gallery, London, England
1986 New York Art Expo, U.S.A.
1980 International Print Exhibition, Buenos Aires, Argentina
1978 International Print Exhibition, Cracow, Poland
1976, 1977 X th International Biennale of Prints, Tokyo, Japan
1971 II nd International Triennale of Prints, New Delhi, India
1970, 1972 II nd and III rd British International Print Biennales, England
1968, 1970, 1978 1st, 2nd and 6th International Exhibitions of Drawings, Yugoslavia
1968 – 1972 New Zealand Print Council Travelling Exhibitions
1968 X th International Exhibition, Bianco e Nero, Lugano, Switzerland
1968 Smithsonian Institute, Washington, U.S.A.
1967, 1969 7th and 8th Print Internationals, Yugoslavia
1966 Brandeis University, Unesco Exhibition, U.S.A.
1960 The London Group, London, England
1960 – 1986 The Royal Society of Painter/Printmakers, London, England
1963 The Commonwealth Institute Gallery, London, England
1963 – 1963 The Redfern Gallery, London, England
1960 The Whitechapel Gallery, London, England
1960 The Royal Academy, London, England
1959 – 1970 The Piccadilly Gallery, London, England
1958 – 1962 The Leicester Gallery, London, England
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS (New Zealand)
2005 Judith Anderson Gallery, Hawkes Bay 2001 - 2005 Williams Gallery, Petone
2001 - 2005 Tinakori Gallery, Wellington 2001 Wellington City Gallery
1994 - 1999 The Lane Gallery, Auckland 1987 - 1994 Portfolio Gallery, Auckland
1981 - 1993 Brooker Gallery, Wellington 1969 - 1971 Elva Bett Gallery, Wellington
1968 - 1981 New Vision Gallery, Auckland 1955 Architecture Centre
1949 Helen Hitchings Gallery, Wellington Gallery, Wellington
PUBLIC COMMISSIONS
1991 Carpet Design for British High Commission, Wellington
1989 – 1991 Stained Glass Windows for Home of Compassion Chapel, Wellington
1986 Mural for the National Library of New Zealand, Wellington
1985 Mural for CML Building, Wellington
1984 Mural for the School of Architecture Library, Auckland University, Auckland
1973 – 1976 Mural for the Beehive, New Zealand Parliament, Wellington
1972 Mural for Shaw Savill Ltd, Wellington
1971 Mural for IBM, Wellington
1970 Mural for New Zealand Pavilion, Expo ’70, Osaka, Japan
1962 Mural for Leicestershire Education Committee, England
1962 Mural for New Zealand House, London, England
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England
British Museum, London, England
Cincinnati Museum, Cincinnati, U.S.A.
San Francisco Museum, San Francisco, U.S.A.
Museo Lugano, Lugano, Switzerland
Te Papa Museum of New Zealand, Wellington
Wellington City Council, Wellington
Auckland City Art Gallery, Auckland
Waikato Art Museum, Hamilton
Manawatu Art Gallery, Palmerston North
Wairarapa Arts Foundation, Masterton
Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Dunedin
Leicestershire Education Committee , England
Department of Foreign Affairs, Wellington and Internationally
Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington
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