The Art and life of the early surveyor

"An astonishing proportion of New Zealand's best known early colonial artists were also surveyors. This exhibition reveals the extent and variety of their work. It includes most of the great names of early New Zealand art history along with those who would never have defined themselves as artists ... A major section of the exhibition is given over to the work of the New Zealand Company surveyors. William Mein Smith, Samuel Charles Brees, and Charles Heaphy were all closely involved in the Company's settlement of Wellington ... Many of the artists, however, were simply keeping a visual note of their surroundings or of events in their lives for their own benefit. This is particularly the case with the work of Felton Mathew, Edward Ashworth and Walter Mantell ... Others painted to make additional money ... artists like Joseph Merrett and Edmund Norman supplemented their meagre incomes by working on commission for a range of patrons ... They drew both Maori and Pakeha dwellings as well as roads and bridges ... Maori feature frequently in this exhibition" -- Introduction.