A special feature of the exhibition is the sequence of over 80 studies of ‘Erua’, a Greymouth schoolboy whom Woollaston employed as a model in the early 1960s. ‘Erua’ (a pseudonym chosen to protect the young man’s identity) was Maori and his strongly Polynesian features intrigued the artist as a challenge to his observational abilities and draughtsmanship.
Images in order of appearance
Toss Woolaston
Erua Series - Watercolour - 1961
Mapua - Oil on Canvas - 1934
Tasman Bay - Oil on Board - 1986