Celebrating motherhood

The artwork in the Suter’s collection that first springs to my mind when thinking about Mother’s Day is Mother and Child by Mina Arndt, a sensitive rendering of the bond between a mother and her baby.  It was painted around 1919, and the subject matter was a favourite of Mina Arndt.  Rendered in a very painterly way, Arndt shows the mother in her everyday clothes looking tenderly at her baby, his or her little hand grasping the front of her dress.  Perhaps the bundled up baby has finally fallen asleep! 

Hermina ARNDT (New Zealander, b.1885, d.1926), Mother and Child, 1919, oil on canvas, 1005 x 853mm. Presented by Mr Leo Manoy in 1927

Mina Arndt was born in New Zealand and had the benefit of art school training in in London and Berlin.  Upon her return to New Zealand she set up a studio in Wellington, but moved to Motueka after she married Lionel (Leo) Manoy, a prominent businessman, in 1917.  She was very active in the local art scene as an art teacher and administrator.  Her life was tragically cut short by a brief illness in 1926 and it wasn’t until 1960/61 that comprehensive exhibitions of her work were shown.  Not long after that, a number of other art works by Mina Arndt were given to The Suter by May and John Manoy, her stepdaughter and son.

Today our art learning space at The Suter- the Mina Arndt Education Room recognises her contribution to art and teaching, made possible by the next generation of the Manoy family.

Raymond CHING (New Zealander, b.1939), Marks and Spencer, 1994-1997, oil on panel, 699 x 737mm. Gifted by the artist in 2004

Another painting capturing maternal relations, is the astonishingly lifelike double portrait of a grandmother and her disabled grand-daughter by Raymond Harris Ching.  The painting’s title Marks and Spencer alludes to this pair’s almost daily ritual of visiting their local Marks & Spencer store.  Apparently even their holidays were arranged around destinations that had M & S stores.  Raymond Ching was born in New Zealand in 1939.  Largely self-taught, he has earned an international reputation for his superb draughtsmanship and is recognised particularly for his depictions of birds and animals.  He lives most of the time in Wiltshire, England, (where the subjects of this painting were his neighbours) but returns to New Zealand from time to time to work and hold exhibitions.

Julie Catchpole
Suter Director