About

In 2026 the Gallery is taking a new approach to titling Māori portraits in the collection, starting with Lindauer’s works in the Partridge Collection. The argument against changing titles in the past has been that we should retain the ‘artist’s title’. We have, however, discovered that some Lindauer portraits have had up to six different titles since they were first painted. Given this, continuing to use Lindauer and Partridge’s (frequent mis)spellings seems out of step with thinking in the 21st century. Further, including macrons takes into account the wishes of descendants. We want to uplift the mana of the tūpuna portrayed by Lindauer and continuing to use historic titles does not do this.  

The Gallery has decided to use the names of tūpuna as written today by descendants as the headline title for the portrait. We have used the biographical portrait texts in the Gallery’s 2016 Lindauer exhibition catalogue and Te Ara’s Dictionary of New Zealand Biography as a guide in this. If there are any errors or omissions in the use of macrons or spelling of tūpuna names, please contact us so that these can be corrected. Previous titles are retained under other titles with the source and date.  

Similarly, we discovered multiple titles for Lindauer’s genre paintings. We were also interested to find many of these titles originally used kupu Māori which were no longer included in their present title. The approach to retitling these paintings was less clearcut, but we have opted to use the historic title (if not offensive) over more recent titles, correcting the spelling of Māori words, and updating archaic, anachronistic or anglicised words. 

This approach is the result of a great deal of research and discussion by Jane Davidson-Ladd, Curator, Historical New Zealand Art and Nathan Pōhio, Senior Curator, Māori Art. They have consulted with Joe Pihema, Pou Matua, and his Kaupapa Māori Team in developing this approach.  

Iwi   
We have provided iwi relationships for those people depicted in the portraits. These have been arrived at after much research, including consultation with descendants. Hapū information is excluded from the headline information with the tupuna name, but may be included in the extended text. We welcome your feedback, or input if any details are incorrect, please contact us. 

Takiwā 
We have included takiwā or the region associated with each portrait to allow filtering and searching by broader area. We have adopted the eight takiwā identified by Māori Maps, with the names slighted adapted for consistency with our site. Multiple takiwā have been used in some instances where a tupuna had long associations with more than one region. If there are any errors or omissions in the takiwā please contact us so that this can be corrected. 

Life dates 
Birth and death dates are frequently not recorded for tūpuna from the period the portraits were painted. We have sought to only include this information when found in published sources. 

Date 
This is the date the work was painted by Lindauer. Estimated production dates are indicated by a c before the date, short for circa meaning ‘about’.  

Of the 62 Lindauer portraits in the Partridge Collection, 29 were undated. In late 2024 curator Jane Davidson-Ladd established a latest possible date for all of these works. Those 10 dated 1901 or before appeared in the catalogue for the collection that Partridge published in 1901. The 19 dated c1910 are included on a copyright assignment letter from Lindauer to Partridge dated 19 May 1910 [see RC2009/4/1/64].  

Jane has also established that it is highly unlikely that the four earliest works dated 1874 were painted that year. Aside from the biographical fact that Lindauer only arrived in New Zealand in August 1874, there is evidence on the paintings themselves that they have been backdated. For this reason, they are dated 1874? and the year they were likely painted is indicated in square brackets. 

Measurements 
These are recorded height by width in millimetres. Unframed dimensions are given, unless otherwise specified, for the Partridge Collection as none of the frames are original. Their current frames date to 1987, when exhibited alongside Te Maori: Te Hokinga Mai The Return Home. 

Other titles 
As noted under painting titles above these are previous titles. The source and date of these titles are included in square brackets. 

Inscriptions 
This refers to information that Lindauer has written on the portrait including signatures and titles.  

• We have noted whether this inscription is on the front or back (sometimes referred to as recto and verso). 
• The location is indicated by the abbreviations: U for upper, C for centre, L for lower; and L for left and R for right. For example: LL is lower left, LR is lower right. 
• A slash indicates a new line in the inscription. 
• Any other punctuation, as well as spelling and capitalisation follow the original.
• Gallery annotations or insertions are indicated by square brackets. 
• Notations by any other person are recorded as such.

Note: Lindauer frequently included the word ‘pinx’, or a variation, after his name. This is a Latin abbreviation for ‘painted it’. 

Credit line 
This names the institution in which a painting can be found, and usually includes information on how the painting entered the collection – whether it was gifted, purchased, transferred – and the date it was acquired. 

Accession number 
This is the institutional number associated with the painting which is used to administer gallery and museum collections. These are generally applied when a work enters a collection and are the one part of the record that never changes. 

Display status 
This information is included for works in the collection of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki. Descendants are invited to contact us if they wish to view a portrait of their tupuna that is not on display. Please allow at least a month to six weeks to arrange this, as those works not on display are stored off-site. 

We recommend contacting other institutions to confirm whether works in their collection are on display. 

Macrons  
Macrons are used as standard, except in quotes or in a publication or exhibition title that did not originally include macrons. 

Related images 
Permission was sought from institutions to use the images on the site that illustrate the sitter texts and essays. We follow each institution’s protocol with respect to securing iwi permission before publishing online. 

This transcription records the comments as written at the time, almost entirely without macrons, and follows the punctuation and capitalisation of the original. The transcription and translation were completed in 2010 by Te Haumihiata Mason and Hohepa MacDougall of Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori – Māori Language Commission. 

There is graffiti in the Visitors’ Book, which we define as ‘comments or scribbles that are unrelated to a signature’. We have taken the following approach to this material: 

• Graffiti with expletives was not transcribed but the place on the page where it occurred contains the insertion [Graffiti]. 
• Graffiti without expletives has been transcribed followed by [Graffiti] – this is in order to distinguish it from the genuine comments which it often follows. 
• The Māori Visitors’ Book includes comments in English usually written by Pākehā visitors towards the end of the book. These comments have not been translated into te reo Māori. 

Some historical material within the Visitors’ Book and Partridge Correspondence contains language, attitudes or representations that are inaccurate, racist, discriminatory or offensive. This material may cause discomfort, we ask readers to use their discretion. It is available as it forms part of the historical record relating to the Partridge Collection, its inclusion does not reflect the contemporary views or values of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki. 

We welcome input to correct errors, omissions or to share additional kōrero. If you wish to do this, please contact us or share you story directly on the relevant page. 

Permission from descendants was sought before including an image of their tupuna on the 2010 website and in the Gallery’s subsequent publishing projects associated with the Lindauer exhibitions in Berlin, 2014; Pilsen, 2015; and Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, 2016.  

Our guiding principles were informed by Museums Aotearoa’s A Strategy for the Museum Sector in New Zealand (2005) and its Code of Ethics (2003). 

1. Museums are the kaitiaki or stewards of collections on behalf of their communities. 
2. Iwi are the cultural kaitiaki or stewards of their tūpuna and contribute to the care and management of taonga, and the knowledge and stories associated with tangible and intangible natural and cultural heritage. 
3. There must be iwi involvement in digital initiatives incorporating heritage collections. 
4. Further permission is sought if images of portraits are used for any purpose other than the Gottfried Lindauer website. 

The protocols for obtaining descendant permissions were developed with the assistance of Haerewa, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki’s Māori Advisory group. 

The Privacy Act 2020 seeks to provide protection for individual privacy in relation to the collection, use, access, correction and disclosure of personal information held by any public and private sector ‘agency’. This includes Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki. 

Personal information may be collected only for a lawful purpose connected with a function or activity of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki and only if necessary for that purpose. Such information must be collected directly from the individual concerned and that person must be told why the information is needed. We ask that contributors respect the privacy of others by not naming them in any supplied text unless that person has given their approval first. 

Although Gottfried Lindauer’s paintings are out of copyright, we ask that you treat them respectfully. Portraits of tūpuna Māori are venerated by their descendants, are tapu and should not be reproduced without their permission. Any use of images from this site requires an iwi permission process. For reproduction information please contact us. 

All contributed stories will be reviewed before being published on the site. We ask that all contributions are respectful and keep in mind that the portraits represent tūpuna whose mana endures through their images. We will endeavour to check any inappropriate content and may amend text where necessary. It is the responsibility of the person sharing the story to ensure it is accurate and balanced. 

There was graffiti within the historic Visitors' Book featured on this site. For the purposes of this site we define 'graffiti' as comments or scribbles that are unrelated to a signature. We are guided by the rules of Auckland City with respect to expletives and so took the following approach:

• graffiti with expletives was not transcribed but the place on the page where it occurred contains the word [Graffiti] - in a very few places we made minor adjustments to the visuals of the Visitors' Book
• graffiti without expletives was transcribed in a grey font followed by the word [Graffiti] - this is in order to distinguish it from the genuine comments which it often follows

This website was initially researched and built between 2008 and 2010 by Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki in partnership with Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori – Māori Language Commission, who provided transcriptions and translations of the Māori Visitors’ Book. Funding for the website was received through a grant from the Department of Internal Affairs’ Community Partnership Fund. The site was redesigned and substantially updated in 2026 by the Gallery and Tātaki Auckland Unlimited.

The current focus of the website is documenting portraits and paintings in public collections. We hope to continue to add paintings to the website over time. 

To request reproductions please contact the institution listed in the credit line.  

For reproductions from Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki’s collection, please contact reproductions@aucklandartgallery.com. Requests for portrait reproductions are subject to iwi consultation. 

Other contributing institutions: 

• Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū 
• Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa 
• National Library of Australia 
• Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery 
• The Suter Art Gallery Te Aratoi o Whakatū  

Reproductions of artworks are not generally sold by dealer galleries or auction houses as they usually have little monetary value, often being produced in great numbers. However, they are appreciated for other reasons. 

If your question is not answered here please contact us