Art is our jam.
Art acts as currency for us at Dicey. It adds value to our lives on a daily basis. It can be music or a painting or a poem. Great art feeds you and can fill you up. Bad art (arguably there isn’t such a thing) can form the foundations of a wine-soaked discussion right into the wee hours of a night spent with friends. Those of you who know us well, likely own one of Odelle’s sculptures or paintings. The Dicey wine label was developed from the translation of the colour of our landscape. Colour, culture. It’s actually right in front of us all the time. So when we were invited to contribute wine for the McCahon House Trust it just felt right but what is the McCahon House Trust?
First, you need to meet Colin. Then we’ll talk about McCahon House.
Barry Millar, Colin McCahon on the balcony of his French Bay home with friends, 1957. From Left: Diana Millar, Colin McCahon, Anne McCahon, Peter Tennant, Pat Hanly and Connie Larson
Colin McCahon (1919-87) could well be referred to as The Big Daddy. Like the Kauri trees depicted by his famous brush strokes, he is a giant of the New Zealand art scene.
A gifted teacher, McCahon made important contributions to the lives of many New Zealand artists, teaching classes at the Auckland Art Gallery and the Elam School of Fine Arts.
“If his career is dated from 1937 (when he enrolled at the age of 17 as a student at the Dunedin School of Art) to 1982 (when his last paintings—those based on texts from Ecclesiastes—were completed at age 63), his active career as a painter lasted approximately 45 years. The midpoint, therefore, in chronological terms, falls in 1959, towards the end of the Titirangi years.
In the early Titirangi years McCahon was largely concerned with coming to terms as a painter with a completely different landscape and environment from the South Island regions of Otago, Nelson and Canterbury where he had previously lived and which were reflected in his art. In the several series he completed in his first years in Auckland, including Towards Auckland, Kauri, Manukau, and French Bay, McCahon wrestled experimentally with the fresh visual stimuli of his immediate Titirangi environment of bush, hills, sea and sky.”
— Colin McCahon: The Titirangi Years 1953-1959, by Peter Simpson.
From 1953 to 1960 a tiny cottage in French Bay, Titirangi was home. This period was important to Colin’s own personal artistic evolution.
The cottage where Colin, his wife Anne (a promising young artist in her own right) and their two children lived during this time remains mostly untouched save for the renovations Colin himself undertook. The house was a gathering place for many of New Zealand’s leading artists and literary figures during the time the McCahons lived there.
It stands, protected, as an homage to his life and work and as a place of great cultural heritage. McCahon is acknowledged as New Zealand’s greatest painter. However, it is what the property offers now that truly cements McCahon’s contribution to New Zealand art.
A place for future emerging artists to pursue their practice, a modern building designed by New Zealand Architect Pete Bossley, sits adjacent to the original cottage. It acts as home to the resident artist. Welcome to McCahon House Trust.
McCahon House is our toast.
McCahon House Artists’ Residency, named Parehuia by local kaumatua Eru Thompson in 2008, is amongst the most prestigious artists’ residencies in New Zealand. Three residencies a year, each of three months duration, are available to outstanding professional artists. Artists receiving the residency live and work in the purpose-built French Bay house with attached studio.
The McCahon House Gate programme helps build the careers of New Zealand artists. The Gate Project — a patron’s programme rewards supporters with unique insights and experiences into the creative process of artists and art making.
McCahon House Director, Viv Stone has worked hard to facilitate an environment where the property can be shared and the spirit of artistic collaboration. This is enabled via bespoke ‘Gate Dinners’, pairing culinary talents to respond the to the work of the current artist in residence and that is where we get Dicey.
Delighted to pour our wines for events that introduce new resident artists and their work to the Gate Project supporters, we can’t wait for a time soon when we can sit amongst the Kauri trees at McCahon House and soak it all up in person.
Supporting Viv and her team to ensure this incredible place remains open to New Zealand’s artists of tomorrow is a privilege we are proud to take part in.
Take a moment to learn a little more. After all, a world without art would just be far too dicey to contemplate.
To visit McCahon House: click here
To support McCahon House Trust: click here
Copy Sources:
McCahon House — mccahonhouse.org.nz
Colin McCahon: The Titirangi Years 1953-1959, by Peter Simpson
Emma Fitts, Muse with Lace in the Laundry, 2018. Photo Credit: Neeve Woodward.