John Boys Drawbridge (27 December 1930 – 24 July 2005) was a New Zealand artist, muralist and printmaker. He was famous for his murals in public places: for the foyer of New Zealand House in London in the 1960s, the Beehive in the 1970s, and for the New Zealand Pavilion at Expo 70 in Japan.

Early life and career

Drawbridge was the son of Samuel Drawbridge, Wellington's City Treasurer, and Elma Wylie. He was born in the Wellington suburb of

Karori Karori is a suburb located at the western edge of the urban area of Wellington, New Zealand, from the city centre and is one of New Zealand's most populous suburbs, with a population of in The name Karori used to be Kaharore and is from th ...

and attended the Wellington Teachers College from 1948 to 1949 completing his teacher training the following year in Dunedin. During the fifties Drawbridge was a regular contributor to the ''School Journal'', ''Primary School Bulletin, Tusitala'' ''mo vasega tetele Samoa'', ''School Bulletin'' on Niue along with doing design work and covers for the literary journal ''Hilltop'' in 1949 and a ''Design Review'' in 1953. Charles Brasch also published Drawbridge's work in ''

Landfall Landfall is the event of a storm moving over land after being over water. More broadly, and in relation to human travel, it refers to 'the first land that is reached or seen at the end of a journey across the sea or through the air, or the fact ...

'' during the fifties and in 1964 Drawbridge was asked to design the ''Landfall'' cover for the four issues of vol 18 and used again in a range of different colours the following year. In 1957 he was awarded a National Art Gallery Traveling Scholarship taking him to the UK to study at the

Central School of Art and Design The Central School of Art and Design was a school of fine and applied arts in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1896 by the London County Council as the Central School of Arts and Crafts. ...

in London for three years. Three years later in 1960 Drawbridge married the sculptor

Tanya Ashken Joan Tanya Handley Drawbridge (née Ashken; born 1939 in London, England), known as Tanya Ashken, is a New Zealand silversmith and sculptor. She was one of a number of European-trained jewellers who came to New Zealand in the 1960s and transfor ...

who was also a student at the Central School of Arts and together they moved to Paris so he could study under SM. Hayter at

Atelier 17 Atelier 17 was an art school and studio that was influential in the teaching and promotion of printmaking in the 20th century. Originally located in Paris, the studio relocated to New York City during the years surrounding World War II. It moved ...

and later under Johnny Friedlaender. In 1963 Drawbridge showed his work at the Redfern Gallery run by Rex Nan Kivell in London.

Return to New Zealand

Drawbridge, along with Ashken, returned to New Zealand at the end of 1963 and in 1964 he was appointed as a tutor in printmaking at the Wellington Polytech School of Design (now Massey University, College of Creative Arts) and taught there for 25 years. After his return Drawbridge was considered one of New Zealand's most significant artists, but fell out of favour with the art critics of the late 1970s and 1980s (his work being seen as too international during a time when regional realism was helping define a New Zealand identity). After his death in 2005 his contribution to the New Zealand art scene has been revisited, on a number of occasions, by an increasing number of champions (notably by Dr. Damian Skinner, of Auckland Museum). He lived at

Island Bay Island Bay is a coastal suburb of Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, situated south of the city centre. Island Bay lies on the bay which shares its name, one of numerous small bays off Cook Strait and west of Lyall Bay. 500m offshore i ...

in Wellington for over 40 years with his artist wife

; they had two sons, Tony and Cameron. In 1967 there was controversy about one of his oil paintings of Island Bay which was gifted to Canada. He was born and died in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

Selected commissions

1962 Drawbridge was commissioned to make mural for

New Zealand House New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 19 ...

in London Watching the Queen open the building and view the mural in 1963 Drawbridge was reportedly a bit to see the Queen's gown brush close to his mural and its still freshly painted surface. The mural has since been removed from New Zealand House and is now displayed in Victoria University's Maclaurin Building. 1970 Drawbridge's mural for the Osaka Expo’70 was later reinstalled in the

National Library A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike public library, public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, ...

The mural was based on Drawbridge's fascination with the pin-point light sources he saw created by glow worms in the

Waitomo Caves Waitomo is a rural community in the King Country region of New Zealand's North Island. There are several solutional cave systems in the area around the village, which are popular tourist attractions. Restaurants and accommodation are centred in ...

. 1973 Wins the competition for the

Beehive A beehive is an enclosed structure which houses honey bees, subgenus '' Apis.'' Honey bees live in the beehive, raising their young and producing honey as part of their seasonal cycle. Though the word ''beehive'' is used to describe the nest of ...

(Executive wing of the New Zealand Parliament) mural. 1990 Creates stained glass windows and stations of the cross for the Home of Compassion chapel designed by Structon Group. In 2019 Tennent Brown designed a side chapel dedicated to Suzanne Aubert's life and with the Drawbridge family's help converted Drawbridge drawing into a stained glass window for the building.

Documentary film

In 1949, at the age of 19, Drawbridge had been invited to produce a water colour record of an ascent of Mount Aspiring by

Brian Brake John Brian Brake (27 June 1927 – 4 August 1988) was a photographer from New Zealand. He is best known for his 1955 photographs of Pablo Picasso at a bullfight, his 1957 and 1959 series of China, and his 1960 ''Monsoon'' series of India. Early ...

(acting as cinematographer),

Douglas Lilburn Douglas Gordon Lilburn (2 November 19156 June 2001) was a New Zealand composer. Early life Lilburn was born in Whanganui and spent his early years on the family sheep farm in the upper Turakina River valley at Drysdale. He attended Waitaki ...

(composer) and James K Baxter the poet to be filmed by the

National Film Unit The National Film Unit (NFU) was a state-owned film-production organisation originally based in Miramar, New Zealand. Founded in 1936 when the government took over a private film studio, Filmcraft, the NFU produced newsreels, documentaries and ...

. The attempt failed and the film never realised but the experience left a deep impression on Drawbridge. The 45 watercolour and pastel drawings and Drawbridge's storyboard survived and are now held in the Turnbull Library in Wellington. Fifty seven years later in 2006 Drawbridge traveled back to the

Matukituki Valley The Matukituki River is a short braided river in the Southern Alps (New Zealand), Southern Alps of New Zealand's South Island. Both its West Branch and East Branch originate from the Main Divide mountain ranges near Mount Aspiring / Tititea. Th ...

with a film crew, and revisited the Aspiring Hut for the documentary film ''Aspiring''.

Selected exhibitions

* ''Group Show 1952'', Christchurch. 1952 * ''The Group Show ‘56'', Christchurch. 1956 * ''The Group Show ‘66'', Christchurch. 1966 * ''20/20 Vision''. (group) 1966 * ''New Zealand Painting'' (group)

Auckland City Art Gallery Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki is the principal public gallery in Auckland, New Zealand. It has the most extensive collection of national and international art in New Zealand and frequently hosts travelling international exhibitions. Set be ...

. 1966 * ''10th International Exhibition of Drawings and Engravings'' (group)

Lugano Lugano ( , , ; ) is a city and municipality within the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. It is the largest city in both Ticino and the Italian-speaking region of southern Switzerland. Lugano has a population () of , and an u ...

, Switzerland. 1968 Prize winner. * ''The Group'', Christchurch. 1968 * ''Local Colour'' (group). City Gallery Wellington. 1995 * ''John Drawbridge: Wide Open Interior'' City Gallery Wellington. 2002 * ''Pieces of Eight'' ''(group)'' ''

Dunedin Public Art Gallery The Dunedin Public Art Gallery holds the main public art collection of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand. Located in The Octagon in the heart of the city, it is close to the city's public library, Dunedin Town Hall, and other facilities such as ...

.'' 2011 '' ''Curated By Aaron Kreisler.

Selected public collections

Auckland City Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki

Aratoi, Wairarapa Museum of History and Art
Masterton
British Museum
London
Christchurch Art Gallery
*

Dowse Art Gallery The Dowse Art Museum is a municipal art gallery in Lower Hutt, New Zealand. Opening in 1971 in the Lower Hutt CBD, The Dowse occupies a stand-alone building adjacent to other municipal facilities. The building was completely remodelled in 2 ...

, Lower Hutt
Dunedin Public Art Gallery

Govett-Brewster Art Gallery
New Plymouth
National Gallery of Australia
Canberra
Sarjeant Gallery
Whanganui * Suter Gallery, Nelson
Te Manawa Museum of Art, Science and History
Palmerston North
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
Wellington
Victoria and Albert Museum
London
Victoria University
Wellington
Waikato Art Museum
Hamilton
Wellington City Council

Awards

1971 Manawatu Art Prize 1972 Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council Fellowship. 1978 Appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in the

1978 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1978 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, to celebrate the year passed and mark the begin ...

list for services to art. 1988 National Bank Art Award for Abstract Art. 2002 Honorary Doctorate of Literature from

Massey University Massey University () is a Public university, public research university in New Zealand that provides internal and distance education. The university has campuses in Auckland, Palmerston North, and Wellington. Data from Universities New Zealand ...

and inducted into the Massey Hall of Fame.

References

Publication references

* Cape, Peter, 'John Drawbridge: techniques and values’, ''Landfall'' 106 (June) 1973: 130-47. * Cape, Peter, ''Prints and printmakers in New Zealand,'' Auckland: William Collins Pub. Ltd, 1974. * Foster, Susan, ‘Wellington: Chris Booth, John Drawbridge, Ans Westra’, ''Art New Zealand'' 33 (summer) 1984: 16–17. * Hutchings, P, 'Eight New Zealand abstract painters, ''Art International'' XIX/1 (January 20) 1975: 23–24. * Kirker, Anne, 'John Drawbridge: From print to construction'', Art New Zealand'' 24, (Winter) 1982: p 18–21. * McIntosh, Jill (ed.), ''Contemporary New Zealand prints'', Wellington: Allen & Unwin with Wellington City Art Gallery, 1989. * Morel, Mary, 'Printmaker/Illusionist’, ''Pacific Way'', 1987: 57–60. * National Art Gallery (ed.), ''Face to face: a survey of artists’ prints'', Wellington: National Art Gallery, New Zealand, 1986. * O’Sullivan, Vincent, ''Brother Jonathan, Brother Kafka,'' Wellington: Oxford University Press, 1980. * Roberts, Ian The New Zealand Print Council’, ''Ascent'' 1(1) November 1967: 45. * Skinner, Damian (ed), ''John Drawbridge'', Auckland: Ron Sang Publications, 2008. * Stocker, Mark, 'A window into John Drawbridge’, ''Art New Zealand'' 103 (Winter) 2002: 74–79. {{DEFAULTSORT:Drawbridge, John 1930 births 2005 deaths 20th-century New Zealand artists 20th-century New Zealand male artists 21st-century New Zealand artists 21st-century New Zealand male artists Artists from Wellington City 20th-century printmakers New Zealand art educators New Zealand Members of the Order of the British Empire Academic staff of Massey University