Peter Joseph John McLeavey (21 September 1936 – 12 November 2015) was a New Zealand art dealer and advocate based 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 ...

Early life

Born in

Raetihi Raetihi, a small town in the centre of New Zealand's North Island, is located at the junction of New Zealand state highway network, State Highways 4 and 49 in the Manawatū-Whanganui region. It lies in a valley between Tongariro National Park, ...

on 21 September 1936, McLeavey was the son of Leslie Francis McLeavey and Elizabeth Theresa McLeavey (née McTiernan). His father worked on the railways and his childhood was spent moving around railway settlements in New Zealand's North Island, including

Ohakune Ohakune is a small town at the southern end of Tongariro National Park, close to the southwestern slopes of the active volcano Mount Ruapehu, in the North Island of New Zealand. A rural service town known as New Zealand's Carrot Capital, Ohaku ...

, Levin, Napier,

Feilding Feilding is a town in the Manawatū District of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on New Zealand State Highway 54, State Highway 54, 20 kilometres north of Palmerston North. The town is the seat of the Manawatū District Council. ...

New Plymouth New Plymouth () is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, in Devon, from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. The New Pl ...

, Waitara, and

Lower Hutt Lower Hutt () is a list of cities in New Zealand, city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. Administered by the Hutt City Council, it is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropoli ...

. He credited the beginning of his interest in art to a teacher at his high school in Waitara.

Career

Jeremy Diggle, Professor of Fine Arts at

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 ...

, called McLeavey "the most important commercial gallerist New Zealand has ever had, effectively the pre-eminent publisher of modern New Zealand art in the past 50 years". His eponymous gallery is the longest-lived in New Zealand. McLeavey started his art dealing career in 1966, showing art in the bedroom of his apartment on central Wellington street The Terrace. His first sale was a

Toss Woollaston Sir Mountford Tosswill "Toss" Woollaston (11 April 1910 – 30 August 1998) was a New Zealand artist. He is regarded as one of the most important New Zealand painters of the 20th century. Life Born in Toko, Taranaki in 1910, Woollaston attende ...

landscape. In a 2009 documentary about his life, ''The Man in the Hat'', McLeavey stated that he set up the gallery to "feed the culture, and to expose the culture to people who didn't know about it". In 1968 he opened a gallery in two rooms on the first floor of 147 Cuba Street in

. Alongside other early emerging dealer galleries, such as

Barry Lett Galleries Barry Lett Galleries was a dealer gallery focused on contemporary New Zealand art that operated in Auckland in the 1960s and 1970s. History Barry Lett Galleries was opened in 1965 by Barry Lett (1940–2017), who had graduated from Elam Schoo ...

in Auckland, Peter McLeavey Gallery played an important role in encouraging collectors to support contemporary New Zealand artists. Among his major sales were

Colin McCahon Colin John McCahon (; 1August 191927May 1987) was a New Zealand artist whose work over 45 years consisted of various styles, including landscape, figuration, abstraction, and the overlay of painted text. Along with Toss Woollaston and Rita Angus ...

's '' Northland Panels'' to the then National Art Gallery (now the

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. Usually known as Te Papa ( Māori for ' the treasure box'), it opened in 1998 after the merging of the National Museum of New Zealand ...

) in 1978. This is now seen as one of McCahon's most important works. Over the years Peter McLeavey ran his gallery he exhibited some of the key names in New Zealand art including: Laurence Aberhardt,

Billy Apple Billy Apple (born Barrie Bates; 31 December 19356 September 2021) was a New Zealand artist whose work is associated with the London, Auckland and New York schools of pop art in the 1960s and NY's Conceptual Art movement in the 1970s. He worke ...

Don Binney Donald Hall Binney (24 March 1940 – 14 September 2012) was a New Zealand painter, best known for his paintings of birds. Biography Born and raised in Auckland, Binney was educated in Parnell, Auckland, taking classes with John Weeks ...

Julian Dashper Julian Dashper (29 February 1960 in Auckland, New Zealand – 30 July 2009), was regarded as one of New Zealand's most well known contemporary artists. History In 2001 he was awarded a senior Fulbright fellowship to be based as an artist in re ...

Neil Dawson Francis Neil Dawson (born 6 November 1948) is a New Zealand artist best known for his large-scale civic sculptures. Early life Dawson was born in Christchurch in 1948. The son of Methodist minister John Brent Dawson and Florence Emily (), ...

, Jacqueline Fraser,

Bill Hammond William Hammond (29 August 1947 – 30 January 2021) was a New Zealand artist who was part of the post-colonial Gothic movement at the end of the 1990s. He lived and worked in Lyttelton. The theme of his works centred around the environment and ...

, Jeffrey Harris,

Pat Hanly James Patrick Hanly (2 August 1932 – 20 September 2004), generally known as Pat Hanly, was a prolific New Zealand painter. One of his works is a large mural ''Rainbow Pieces'' (1971) at Christchurch Town Hall. Early life Born in Palmerston N ...

Michael Illingworth Michael Harland Illingworth (3 August 1932 – 15 July 1988) was a New Zealand painter and farmer. Life and times Michael Illingworth was born in Yorkshire and emigrated with his family to Tauranga in the early 1950s when he was 20 working ...

, Robert Jesson,

Richard Killeen Richard John Killeen (born 1946) is a significant New Zealand painter, sculptor and digital artist. Biography Killeen was educated at the Elam School of Fine Arts, where his lecturers included Colin McCahon, before graduating in 1966. He has won ...

, Tony Lane,

Allen Maddox Allen Maddox (1948 – 23 August 2000) was an English-born New Zealand painter, known for his bold abstract works and specifically his use of the cross motif. Biography Born in Liverpool, Maddox migrated to New Zealand in 1963 with his family ...

, Colin McCahon,

Milan MrKusich Milan Mrkusich (5 April 1925 – 13 June 2018) was a New Zealand artist and designer. He was considered a pioneer of abstract painting in New Zealand. Retrospective exhibitions of his work were organised by the Auckland Art Gallery in 1972 and 19 ...

Peter Peryer Peter Chanel Peryer (2 November 1941 – 18 November 2018) was a New Zealand photographer. In 2000, he was one of the five inaugural laureates of the Arts Foundation of New Zealand. Career Born in Ōtāhuhu, Auckland, on 2 November 1941, Perye ...

, John Reynolds,

Peter Robinson Peter Robinson may refer to: Entertainment * Peter Robinson (sideshow artist) (1873–1947), American actor and sideshow performer, known for his appearance in film ''Freaks'' (1932) * J. Peter Robinson (born 1945), British musician and film score ...

, Ian Scott, Carl Sydow, Ray Thorburn,

Yvonne Todd Yvonne Todd (born 1973) is a contemporary New Zealand photographer known for her manipulation of conventional photographic techniques and genres. Early life and education Todd was born in Takapuna, Auckland. In the mid 1990s, she studied profes ...

, Charles Tole, Warren Viscoe,

Gordon Walters Gordon Frederick Walters (24 September 1919 – 5 November 1995) was a Wellington-born artist and graphic designer who is significant to New Zealand culture due to his representation of New Zealand in his Modern Abstract artworks. Education G ...

, Robin White and Toss Wollaston. The gallery continues to operate at that location, and more than 500 exhibitions have been mounted there. McLeavey's daughter, Olivia McLeavey, took over the running of the gallery in 2011, when his health declined. The Peter McLeavey Gallery currently represents some of New Zealand's best-known modern and contemporary artists, including Laurence Aberhart, Bill Hammond, Richard Killeen, Colin McCahon, Yvonne Todd, Robin White, Toss Woollaston, and Jeffrey Harris. McLeavey died in Wellington on 12 November 2015 at the age of 79. In September 2018 his archive was acquired by the Alexander Turnbull Library. It will be available by request in late 2019 or 2020.

''The Man in the Hat''

In 2009, a documentary about McLeavey was released, directed by

Luit Bieringa Luit Bieringa (1942–2022) was a New Zealand art historian, art gallery director and documentary film maker. Bieringa was born in Groningen in the Netherlands and emigrated to New Zealand with his family in 1956. Museum career He was Direct ...

, produced by Jan Bieringa, and filmed by cinematographer

Leon Narbey Leon Gordon Alexander Narbey (born 2 August 1947) is a New Zealand cinematographer. Born in Helensville, Narbey was educated at the Elam School of Fine Arts, specialising in sculpture. He married Anita Janske Narbey (1944 - 2019) in 1966 and th ...

. The documentary intersperses scenes of McLeavey going about life at home, in inner-city Wellington, and in his gallery with readings by New Zealand actor

Sam Neill Sir Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill (born 14 September 1947) is a New Zealand actor. His career has included leading roles in both dramas and blockbusters. Considered an "international leading man", he is regarded as one of the most versatile acto ...

from McLeavey's correspondence with artists.

''Peter McLeavey: The life and times of a New Zealand art dealer''

In 2013 a biography of McLeavey by Jill Trevelyan was published by

Te Papa Press The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. Usually known as Te Papa (Māori for ' the treasure box'), it opened in 1998 after the merging of the National Museum of New Zealand an ...

. The biography, ''Peter McLeavey: The life and times of a New Zealand art dealer'' was named the 2014

New Zealand Post Book Awards The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are literary awards presented annually in New Zealand. The awards began in 1996 as the merger of two literary awards events: the New Zealand Book Awards, which ran from 1976 to 1995, and the Goodman Fielder Wa ...

Book of the Year.

Honours

Massey University awarded McLeavey an

Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts Doctor of Fine Arts (DFA) is a professional doctoral degree in fine arts. It may also be awarded as an honorary degree. Description Doctoral programmes leading to DFAs in the UK are of equivalent level to a PhD, with the same requirement to demon ...

(DFA) in 2010 and he was appointed an

Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have r ...

for services to the arts in the 2012 Queen's Birthday and Diamond Jubilee Honours.

Early life

Career

''The Man in the Hat''

''Peter McLeavey: The life and times of a New Zealand art dealer''

Honours

References

Further reading