Donald highlights the next exhibition coming to the Reed Gallery.

An Exhibition

15 November 2024 to 16 March 2025

Reed Gallery, 3rd floor,

Dunedin City Library

Ralph Hotere (1931-2013) is regarded as one of New Zealand’s most important artists. In October 2021 his wife and artist Mary McFarlane gifted his library to the Heritage Collections of the Dunedin Public Library. Numbering some 900 items, the Hone Papita Raukura (Ralph) Hotere Collection is now fully catalogued and accessible through the City Library’s 3rd Floor reading room (use in library only).  It contains books, pamphlets, art catalogues, magazines, ephemera, and vinyl records.

As befits an artist, the Art and Recreation section of the Dewey classification (700s) contains the most items at 490 (54.4%). Literature (800s) follows at 247 (27.4%) and then History and Geography (900s) at 73 (8.1%). The remaining 101 publications cover Dewey areas such as Philosophy, Religion, and Social Sciences.

Importantly, the collection is a personal library, and it comprises a wide range of topics such as music, sculpture, social issues, te ao Māori, New Zealand history, dictionaries and encyclopaedias, cookbooks, and the Cuban Revolutionary War, especially Che Guevara. As might be expected of a personal library of a New Zealand artist, there are books pertinent to the New Zealand arts and literature scene, for example, books by and about James K. Baxter, John Caselberg, Colin McCahon, O.E (Ted) Middleton, Bill Manhire, Joanna Paul, Hone Tuwhare, Gordon Walters, and Bill Culbert.

Hotere spent significant time travelling overseas and while in London, France, Spain, Italy, and the Americas he viewed many original artworks. Publications on overseas artists and writers are also present in his collection, including Mondrian, Picasso, Matisse, Federico García Lorca, Ernest Hemingway, and artists of particular influence: William Turnbull, Antoni Tàpies, and Ad Reinhardt. As he visited galleries and museums, soaking up the artistic offerings of each, he collected numerous catalogues and guide-books. Some of the institutions represented include the Auckland City Gallery, John Leech Gallery(Auckland), the Getty Museum, the Tate Gallery (London), and the Vatican Library (Rome).

Presentation copies also form part of his library, gifted to Hotere by friends and well-wishers, many with personal inscriptions. He signed many of his books, often simply ‘Hotere’, and some contain fascinating marginalia and doodles.

The retention of an artist or writer’s personal library is a rare occurrence, and the Dunedin Public Library is fortunate, through the generosity of Mary McFarlane, that this has happened. It is an exciting addition to the library’s holdings. It is an exciting prospect for researchers and those who either knew of or were influenced by Hotere.  The upcoming Reed Gallery exhibition will allow the whole community the opportunity of a glimpse into this fascinating collection and to learn more about the man behind the iconic art.  

Displaying the entire collection is impossible. What will be on display is but a fraction, a selection of books from Hotere’s library that range in themes from Mitimiti and the North, the community of Dunedin and Port Chalmers, and his pastimes (golf and cooking), to the importance of Italy (Sangro River), book cover illustrations, and artistic collaborations. And there is so much more.

Bookman T.A. Birrell once wrote:

‘A private library is part of its owner’s biography. The known facts of his life may help in the understanding of his choice of books. Conversely, his choice of books may add to the understanding of the known facts of his life, and perhaps reveal unknown facts. A private statistical analysis of contents is inadequate.’ (1987).

The selection conjures up a glimpse of the man and artist through his books; some facts and details are well known, others not and are revelatory.

We hope visitors to the Reed Gallery on the 3rd floor of the Dunedin City Library will enjoy the exhibition which runs from 15 November 2024 to 16 March 2025.