PAT HANLY, born 1932, Palmerston North. Died 2004, Auckland.
Graduated Diploma of Fine Arts, University of Canterbury School of Fine Arts, 1956.
Throughout his long career, Hanly juggled his need to express his response to matters of social conscience with his gift for creating paintings that convey great joyfulness. The resulting works were, variously, political, reflective of ‘the human condition’ or observational, particularly of family and friends. Only four of his series were abstract – New Order (1962), Pacific Icon (1966), Energy (1968-72) and Condition (1976).
Early series, painted in London and Italy, were ‘Fire’ (his response to the threat of nuclear war), ‘Showgirl’, ‘Massacre of the Innocents’ and ‘New Order’. On returning to New Zealand, Hanly was struck by the clarity and harshness of the sun’s light on the land here, and he explored this in ‘Figures in Light’ (1963).
Women are depicted in many of Hanly’s paintings, not just for themselves, but as part of a larger context. They are not individual women, but represent the universal experience of women. Of the 13 series between 1960 and 1994, women have featured in nine – Fire (1959), Showgirl (1962), Figures in Light (1963), Girl Asleep (1970), Torso (1977), Golden Age (1979), Innocence (1983), Bride and Groom (1990-94), and Bouquets (1994).
Hanly retired after the ‘Bouquets’ series of 1994. His paintings are available now only infrequently and are strongly sought after. Above, examples from all Hanly’s series are shown.
LINKS
. Pat Hanly Ferner Gallery site with good information and link to other images
. Pat Hanly in Auckland Art Gallery collection
. Pat Hanly in Chartwell Collection, their website
. Pat Hanly ‘Torsos’, article by Stephen Ellis, Art New Zealand, 1978
. Pat Hanly on The Arts Foundation website
. Pat Hanly Hamish Keith talks to Pat Hanly in Art New Zealand
. Pat Hanly obituary in The Independent, London, November 2004
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
New Zealand Art: Painting 1827-1927, Hamish Keith, P A Tomory and Mark Young, Reed, Wellington, 1968.
An Introduction to New Zealand Painting, Gordon H Brown and Hamish Keith, Collins, Auckland. (First edition 1969, second edition 1982)
Two Hundred Years of New Zealand Painting, Gil Docking, Reed, Wellington, 1971.
Patrick Hanly Retrospective, D P Millar, Dowse Art Gallery, Lower Hutt, 1974.
Prints and Printmakers in New Zealand, Peter Cape, Collins, Auckland, 1974.
Art New Zealand 14 ‘Patrick Hanly – A Conversation’, Hamish Keith, 1979.
New Zealand Painting since 1960: a Study in Themes and Developments, Peter Cape, Collins, Auckland, 1979.
Contemporary New Zealand Painters Volume 1, J & M Barr, Alister Taylor, Martinborough, 1980.
Art New Zealand 21, ‘Patrick Hanly: The Painter as Printmaker’, Anne Kirker, 1981.
New Zealand Painting 1940-60: Conformity and Dissension, Gordon H Brown, Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council of New Zealand, Wellington, 1981.
Hanly, The Painter as Printmaker (catalogue for touring retrospective exhibition of prints and print editions made between 1959 and 1980), Wairarapa Arts Centre/QEII Arts Council of New Zealand, 1981.
Frames on the Land, Francis Pound, Collins, Auckland, 1983.
Art New Zealand 35, ‘The Barry Lett Gallery & RKS Art: Two Decades – A Conversation with Pat Hanly’, 1985.
New Zealand Art: A Modern Perspective, Elva Bett, Reed Metuen, 1986.
Women by Hanly (catalogue for survey exhibition, 1988), with essay by Tony Martin, Manawatu Art Gallery, 1988.
Art New Zealand 50, ‘Women by Hanly’, Kevin Ireland, 1989.
Hanly, A New Zealand Artist, Russell Haley, Hodder & Stoughton, 1989.
Art New Zealand 53, ‘A Painter and his Generation’, Cheryll Sotheran, 1989.
Art New Zealand 64, ‘Pat Hanly’, John Daly-Peoples, 1992.
Art New Zealand 70, ‘The Fire’, Alan Rogers-Smith, 1994.
100 New Zealand Paintings, Warwick Brown, Godwit Publishing, 1995.
Contemporary New Zealand Art 1, Elizabeth Caughey & John Gow, David Bateman Ltd, 1995.
The Food of Art: New Zealand Painters and their Food, Keith Stewart, Craig Potton Publishing, 2000.