NCEA Level 2 Art History (90230) 2007 — page 1 of 15
Assessment Schedule – 2007
Art History: Examine an art movement (90230)
Judgement Statement
Achievement
The context of the art movement is
described
Achievement with Merit
Achievement with Excellence
How selected works are
representative of the movement is
explained.
The relationships between art works,
the art movement and its context are
explained comprehensively.
1M
1E
and
the key characteristics of the art
movement are identified.
1A
Candidates answer ONE question.
Evidence Statement
QUESTION ONE
Social and historical factors that underlie the focus on land, are described.
Key issues concerned with the land, as depicted by Māori artists, are identified.
Social and historical factors may include:
 Te Tiriti and its importance in New Zealand history
 Ownership, use and appropriation and changing values
 Shifting values in rural and urban environments
 Socio-cultural associations with place
 Spiritual values and land
 Environmental awareness and conservation
Key issues may include:
 Appropriation of te whenua, the land, and specific history
 Conservation of land
 Spiritual or cultural values and land
 Land and socio-cultural identity
Grade
A
NCEA Level 2 Art History (90230) 2007 — page 2 of 15
As for Achievement, AND TWO art works / taonga by Māori artists that represent the focus on
land are explained in terms of how they represent land issues.
M
Eg
Ralph Hotere, And Daisies Falling, 1989
Hotere’s Oputae series, to which this work belongs, were concerned with the conservation of a
site of specific cultural significance. Oputae headland was an historic lookout point in the Otago
Harbour town of Port Chalmers. The local authorities wished to remove the headland to
provide more loading facilities at the wharf, and a local protest ensued. Hotere’s image
contains identifying local landmarks – the cross-like flagpole, the old Māori name for the
headland, and the word Cut, indicating where they were going to destroy the land. The daisies
drawn across the hillside resemble those that grew there and that would fall with the hillside.
The Oputae site was also historically linked with the important local sites of Aramoana and
Otakau.
Jacqueline Fraser, Ko Aoraki te Maunga, 1991
Te whenua, the land, and the significance of place. This installation surrounds an emblematic
representation of the floor and walls of the wharenui. The woven matting on the floor
represents a place to gather; the vertical figures are kaitiaki, or protective spirits, guardian
spirits; the triangular patterns refer to tukutuku. Other motifs – koru for example – refer to
identity through traditional Māori culture. The greenstone chips denote mana. The centre motif
is Aoraki (Mt Cook), the dominant landmark of the Southern Alps. The greenstone – pounamu
– refers to the South Island of New Zealand.
As for Achievement with Merit, AND the relationships between the art works / taonga, the
artist(s) concerns, and the social and historical factors that underlie land issues, are
comprehensively explained.
Hotere’s work was one of a whole body of works he developed in response to the threat to the
land, and one of several series, including the Aramoana series, that he developed in
connection with the issue of conservation of the land. There were three important concerns
underlying Hotere’s feelings about the land:
 it was the site of his own studio, and of a number of major and historically important
sculptures concerned with this site;
 it was a protest over the domination of commercial interests over those of the
individual, and over the value of the land itself;
 it was a site of historical and spiritual importance for the local Māori community.
Although much of Hotere’s work is abstract, many works are to do with political themes about
protecting the land.
Some cultural and land issues revolve around the loss of traditional identity and values
associated with specific landmarks or sites – here Aoraki, the significant landmark for Kai Tahu
iwi. The identification of the mountain as Mt Cook led to the loss of much of its traditional
significance for Māori, as it became a symbol representing more Eurocentric interests. Fraser
reclaims its earlier Māori identity as Aoraki, a landmark of special significance for Kai Tahu, by
refocusing on its role as a culturally identifying landmark, and relating it to notions of marae or
wharenui, traditionally closely associated with place and key sites or landmarks. Fraser
effectively integrates the forms of mountain and house and kaitiaki to refer to the ways these
entities frame identity through place.
E
NCEA Level 2 Art History (90230) 2007 — page 3 of 15
QUESTION TWO
Key historical issues that have formed a central focus for Māori art are identified.
Social and cultural factors that underlie the focus on historical issues, are described.
A
Historical issues may include:
 Historical loss of cultural knowledge
 History of conflicting cultural values – eg on land or place
 Changing status of artifacts / taonga
 History of race relations
 Changing developments in technologies, forms, or structures
 Maintaining carving traditions
 Preserving key colour conventions
 Preserving traditional themes – whakapapa, mythologies etc
 Sustaining traditional craft technologies – eg weaving, knotting (tāniko)
Social and cultural factors may include:
 Changing materials and technology – custom board, routers, synthetic materials
 Loss or change of cultural knowledge
 Changing cultural interests in urban and rural environments
 Time
 Loss, reclamation, or replacement of cultural identities and practices
As for Achievement, AND TWO Māori art works / taonga that represent historical issues are
explained in terms of how they represent those issues.
M
Eg Protest-related works focusing on reclaiming cultural heritage
Robert Jahnke, Ngā Ata O Te Whenua, 1990
This sculptural installation comprises a number of structures resembling tools – picks, axes,
and sledgehammers. The tools represent those used in early trading and in the pioneering
enterprise, the processes of colonisation and appropriation. The works also resemble Tau
cross shapes. They carry signs – including crosses, triangles, and spirals – that have their
origins in signs used in earlier Māori traditions – at Parihaka, for example. They are stained on
browns, blacks, deep reds; the colours of earth and blood, and colours found in whakairo of
earlier Māori art. In drawing together from this range of sources, the work combines signs from
often disparate sources that reveal something of the complexity of the sources that inform
notions of identity, and competing traditions that inform this, today and since Pākehā
settlement. The work is a statement of protest against both the Pākehā appropriation of the
land and the associated loss of identities.
Emare Karaka, Treaties (Nuclear Mother, ANZUS, Waitangi, Gleneagles), 1984
In the four panels that constitute this work, Karaka draws together images and events from our
dual European heritage that have come to signify failed or uncomfortable cultural relations:
failed treaties (ANZUS, Waitangi, Gleneagles), the crucifixion, and images of skulls, dead
bodies, contorted mask-like forms. The image is suffused with dark blacks and bloodlike reds.
It is an uncomfortable, confrontational work that forces the viewer into uncomfortable
associations of ideas.
As for Achievement with Merit, AND the relationships between the art works / taonga, the
issues that have occupied Māori artists, and the social and cultural factors that underlie these
issues, are explained.
Ngā Ata O Te Whenua
The interplay of Christian and Māori iconography suggests the interrelationships woven through
the Treaty of Waitangi – “the shadow of the land has been taken by the Queen, while the
substance remains with the Māori”. (Nopara Panakero) In this instance, Jahnke uses the series
of structures to invert the relation: “Inversion of form, the waxing and waning of structures, refer
to the usurpation of mana and land. The substance of the land has been taken by the Queen
while the shadow remains with the Māori”.
Treaties
“All art is politics, and all politics is art”. The moko and the cross remain potent images of
protest. The cross, with its additional religious meaning and subtexts of domination, has been a
primary symbol for artists dealing with the polemics of issues involving the Treaty of Waitangi.
Māori women like Emare Karaka, Robyn Kahukiwa, Kura Te Waru Rewiri and Diane Prince
have embraced the cross as “an indictment of Pākehā colonization”. (Mataora p. 126)
E
NCEA Level 2 Art History (90230) 2007 — page 4 of 15
QUESTION THREE
For the nineteenth century period in which New Zealand was colonised, TWO circumstances
are described in which the art of that period was made.
Key characteristics of the art of the colonisation period are identified.
A
Contexts (circumstances):
 Topographical landscapes done in the 1830s to 1860s were made for the purpose of
recording the lie of the land, and for encouraging new colonists. Areas which would be
suitable for clearing for farmland, and areas which had easy access to water transport were
primary concerns. Paintings were used to demonstrate that a civilised life was possible in
New Zealand, that there was plenty of wood available to build homes etc, and that there
were employment opportunities.
 Watercolours used because they were portable, quick drying, more readily available than
oils and suitable for small paintings to be sent back to England. The artists were often
amateur, without formal art training, and were unskilled in the use of oils.
 Later, photography reduced the need for making a painted record of settlements, allowing
artists to freely capture landscapes that appealed because of their drama or grandeur.
 A small number of artists worked professionally in the late 19th century.
Characteristics:
 Landscapes were more numerous than figure paintings.
 Early colonial landscapes – “topographical” – artists faithfully recorded the geographical
forms of the landscape and the progress made in settling New Zealand.
 Use of watercolours with pastel hues
 Early landscapes were often panoramic, giving an expansive view of the land with the
inclusion of small settlements.
 Later 19th century landscape artists romanticised the landscape by depicting the most
spectacular scenes and enhancing the scale and power of mountains, waterfalls etc.
 Later in the century, works increased in size and the use of oils increased.
As for Achievement, AND TWO appropriate art works are discussed to explain how they are
representative of the nineteenth century period in which New Zealand was colonised.
Eg Charles Heaphy, Kauri Forest on the Wairoa River, Kaipara, 1840
 As a colonial artist, Heaphy’s role was to record colonial life, hence the milling of Kauri.
Heaphy illustrates the success of logging without any sign of the dangers involved in
logging.
 Heaphy was an amateur artist – he uses simple devices – compositional divisions of
foreground (men manoeuvring logs), middle ground (trees) and background (forest).
Vertical emphasis created by trees is balanced by horizontals in the foreground and the
diagonal direction of the forest in the background. The middle distance trees are a framing
device providing a backdrop for the activities in the front and a method for leading the eye to
view the great expanse of trees still to be milled.
 The function of the work is to inform – the audience is given specific information on the
location (“on the Wairoa River”), lending credibility to the image.
Eg John Kinder, St. Paul’s, Auckland, 1856
 Illustrates the nature of settlement in an area of Auckland following colonisation – the
importance of the Church is evident in its placement at the top of the hill, where it is able to
be sighted from a distance, and because of its size, as the largest building in the painting.
 It shows the neat, civilised character of colonial settlement with solidly built houses (some
several stories high), picket fence, and grassy roads.
 The painting is executed in wash – use of watercolour was convenient and more
straightforward to use than oils for amateur artists.
M
NCEA Level 2 Art History (90230) 2007 — page 5 of 15
As for Achievement with Merit, AND the discussion comprehensively explains relationships
between the art works, the nineteenth century period in which New Zealand was colonised,
and their contexts (the circumstances).
E
Eg Charles Heaphy, Kauri Forest on the Wairoa River, Kaipara, 1840
 Heaphy was an artist and draughtsman for the New Zealand Company – the company used
such images as advertisements for the prosperity that was promised for settlers coming to
New Zealand. The painting depicts an abundance of excellent wood for trade and building.
Eg John Kinder, St.Paul’s, Auckland, 1856
 Kinder was an Anglican churchman and a respected resident of the new colony. He records
the development of the colony and presents it in its best light as a tidy and prosperous
place.
 Like many artists of the colonial period, he was an amateur artist with no formal training in
art, but his paintings and drawings serve as a valuable historical record of what New
Zealand looked like in the colonial period.
QUESTION FOUR
TWO key contexts that led to the emergence of Modernism in New Zealand art are described.
Key characteristics of Modernist art in New Zealand are identified and the contexts are
described.
Note: Answers may be very varied here depending on which artists the candidate selects as
Modernist.
Contexts:
In New Zealand, the influence of modernism took varied forms as each artist selected different
aspects of the wide-ranging forms of modernism to explore.
Peter Childs, in his book “Modernism”, Routledge, 2000, p.129, comments that “Modernism is
not a precise label but instead a way of referring to the efforts of many individuals across the
arts who tried to move away from established modes of representation.”

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Colour images of works from overseas became more readily available in magazines and
books.
Artists travelled and returned with new ideas – sometimes they became teachers passing
on their awareness to younger artists.
Widening acceptance of various styles in New Zealand by art schools, critics, and art
buyers.
Exhibitions eg Henry Moore 1956, British Abstract Art 1958. (Brown and Keith state that the
British Abstract Art exhibition “exerted an influence quite out of proportion to the importance
of the actual works it contained”, New Zealand Painting: An Introduction, p.174).
Key styles that influenced New Zealand artists included Fauvism, Expressionism, Cubism
and Abstraction.
Characteristics
Characteristics will be dependent on the artist selected.
eg John Weeks – was influenced by Cubism and emphasises formalist concerns, as does
McCahon in works such as Kauri 1953.
A
NCEA Level 2 Art History (90230) 2007 — page 6 of 15
As for Achievement AND with reference to TWO art works an explanation is given of how the
works show the influence of the Modernist art movement.
M
Eg John Weeks, Cavern, date unknown
 Cubist interest in shape and colour – rather than representing the exact surfaces of a
cavern, the forms creating the cavern are suggested by contrasting light and dark areas
and contrasting colours such as cream and green.
 The textural effects of the paint enliven the painting surface and perhaps give an
impression of water and rough rocky cavern walls.
Eg Colin McCahon, Northland Panels, 1958
 Shows the influence of Modern American artists such as Pollock and De Kooning.
 Adopts a large-scale format with his “paintings to walk by”.
 Combines abstract and figurative features as Pollock and De Kooning do.
 Canvas is left un-stretched.
 Brushwork is loose, providing the freedom that is associated with Modernism.
 Parallels Rothko in his expression of spiritual aspects.
Eg Colin McCahon, Here I give thanks to Mondrian, 1961
 Shows the influence of abstract art from Europe and America, and in particular the
influence of Mondrian.
 References the abstract rectangular forms frequently used by Mondrian but McCahon’s
work is freer – he tips the rectangle on the diagonal (compared to Mondrian’s well-known
horizontal versus vertical grids).
 Applies the paint more freely too than Mondrian’s smooth surfaces, so introduces the
abstract expressionist features into the work.
As for Achievement with Merit, AND the relationships between the characteristics of the art
works and the context of the Modernist art movement are comprehensively explained.
Eg Colin McCahon, Northland Panels, 1958 – McCahon visited America in 1958 – this work
was painted on his return and demonstrates some new stylistic features that appear to derive
from the experiences of his trip – eg he saw a show of Japanese scroll paintings by Tomioka
Tessai – their long narrow format is echoed in the Northland Panels – however McCahon
claimed that Tessai had little direct influence. The huge size of some American art works
appears to have had a greater impact. On his return, McCahon‘s works are a blend of new and
former elements.
Eg Colin McCahon, Here I give thanks to Mondrian, 1961 – McCahon was living in Grey Lynn
at this time, and his work in this period has less focus on landscape. Here, the elements are
almost fully abstract. He commented that “The painting reflects the change I felt in shifting from
Titirangi… to that of the urban environment… based on the landscape I saw through the
bedroom window” (M. Bloem and M. Browne, Colin McCahon – A Question of Faith, 2002,
p.193). McCahon attempted to follow the modern practice of using masking tape to create the
lines in the composition but had difficulty and did them by hand. McCahon also shared some of
the Modernist painter’s interests in spirituality, such as Mondrian’s “proposals for transcending
the local and earthly in order to occupy a cosmic and spiritual realm” (ibid. p.194).
E
NCEA Level 2 Art History (90230) 2007 — page 7 of 15
QUESTION FIVE
A description is given of TWO contexts in which the Romantic art movement developed.
Key characteristics of the Romantic art movement are identified.
Contexts:
Artists were reacting against the Neo-Classical movement that had dominated the French
academic system since the 1780s.
The Romantic movement in literature and music had a similar impact in changing the nature of
these arts also.
19th c. political circumstances and revolution altered people’s perceptions and personal
circumstances – the class system was shaken and middle-class citizens began to demand
more say in the affairs of the country and to explore new opportunities. Baudelaire, an
influential art critic in mid 19th c., wrote of the need to “seize the epic quality of contemporary
life”. The Romanticists initially supported the Napoleonic desire for dominance in Europe but
after his fall they often sided with the revolutionaries. Interest in the sublime was distinguished
from focus on the beautiful. The Romantic ideals are also expressed in landscape paintings,
and French artists would have been aware of the developments of Turner and Constable.
Characteristics:
Subjects – Contemporary references – artists often depicted the tragic and dramatic events of
their time. Exotic subjects – the interest in the Islamic world of North Africa and the Middle East
is shown in exotic dress, accessories and environment.
Composition – asymmetric compositions replaced the symmetry and balance of NeoClassicism. There was strong use of diagonals, pyramidal compositions, and complex,
interlocking forms.
Figures – often had complex poses and showed extensive movement.
Colour – an important vehicle for expression of emotion – rich, warm tones are often used.
Light – use of bright, exotic light and chiaroscuro effects.
Line – little emphasis on outline.
Brushwork – expressive brushwork and lightly textured surfaces.
Space – complex spatial relationships and often a sense of extensive depth.
A
NCEA Level 2 Art History (90230) 2007 — page 8 of 15
As for Achievement, AND with reference to TWO OR MORE art works an explanation is given
of how the works are representative of Romanticism.
Eg Gericault – The Raft of the Medusa, 1818–19
Contemporary subject
 In July 1816 the French frigate Medusa ran aground off the African coast. Because there
were not enough lifeboats, 150 passengers and crew constructed a raft while the captain
(who owed his position to his social connections), and other crew, embarked in the
lifeboats. The raft had little food or water and drifted for 13 days. Only 15 survived the sun,
murder, madness, cannibalism, and suicide.
 Gericault shows the moment when the survivors see the sails of their rescue ship.
 The dramatic subject is conveyed through expressive gesture.
 Incorporates the sublime, uncontrollable nature in a storm setting.
Complex composition
 Forms are contained within two large triangles, or pyramids, extending from their apexes at
the top of the mast and the head of the standing figure. There are also smaller triangles
within these that serve to unify the figures. Romantic art often employed strong
compositional designs to contain the chaos of individual forms within the work.
Light
 Chiaroscuro is used to highlight some bodies eg the limbs of the figure falling towards the
spectator out of the picture plane, and to provide strong contrasts between dramatic
gestures and the stormy sky.
Form
 Gericault’s poses are complex with overlaying of forms.
 Muscular, perfect body structure.
Colour
 A restricted palette and a wide tonal range.
 Does not have the warm tones associated with many Romantic works.
Eg Delacroix, Horses Emerging from the Sea, 1860
Subject exotic – the rider with turban suggests that Delacroix has been inspired by his earlier
visit to Morocco. An idyllic setting is suggested through the sweeping, fairly isolated coastline
and fishing boat.
Composition – The composition is less complex than some Romantic works but uses diagonals
to create a sense of movement, eg the diagonal formed by the horses.
Light – The bright light of an exotic setting is suggested in the white caps of the water but a
stormy sky also threatens – such combinations are typical of Romanticism as it creates a
dramatic effect.
Brushwork – Loose brushwork suggests the movement of the water in the bottom right of the
canvas and light brushstrokes are used to indicate the buildings on the hills behind – this
serves to create a hazy appearance, reducing the emphasis on the background scene.
Colour – The red tunic on the man riding the grey horse is the only bright hue in the canvas
and draws the spectator’s attention to the key subject – reds were frequently used in Romantic
works because they are associated with passion and drama.
M
NCEA Level 2 Art History (90230) 2007 — page 9 of 15
The discussion comprehensively explains relationships between art works, the Romantic art
movement, and its contexts.
Eg Gericault – The Raft of the Medusa, 1818–19
 Gericault was the archetypal Romantic artist – he travelled widely to broaden his
experience and explore new exotic subjects.
 Gericault was deeply moved by the tragic events of the Medusa – he interviewed survivors,
studied the newspaper reports, observed the movement of the sea, and collected limbs
from the local hospital to understand the different stages of decaying flesh.
 The composition with strong diagonal stresses refers back to Baroque rather than NeoClassical examples.
 The “classicised” idealisation of figures was continued by the Romantic artists.
Eg Delacroix, Horses Emerging from the Sea, 1860
 The impression of the wildness of the subject with horses rising on their hind legs and the
man twisting back to control them is typical of the dramatic subjects selected by Romantic
artists. Horses also appear in other works by Delacroix, such as The Abduction of Rebecca
1856–8, and he did numerous paintings of lions, which he claimed to have seen roaming in
the mountains of Morocco.
 The loose brushwork is typical of his later works, through which he captures the fluid
movement of the horses, sky and water.
 The impact of Moroccan light influenced his increasingly light palette.
E
NCEA Level 2 Art History (90230) 2007 — page 10 of 15
QUESTION SIX
TWO social and / or artistic factors that led Post-Impressionist artists to develop their individual
styles are described.
Key characteristics of Post-Impressionist artist’s individual styles are identified.
Social and artistic factors (Contexts):
 Earlier in the century, artists were often concerned to show the social impact of the
revolutionary period and of industrialisation, but by the late 1880s and 1890s these
concerns were less prominent. Instead, Post-Impressionist artists frequently explored
personal concerns (eg Van Gogh), or artistic concerns (eg Cézanne) or exotic subjects (eg
Gauguin).
 “Post-Impressionist” – these artists built on Impressionist principles to move in a new
direction ie the Impressionist movement had began to disintegrate and lose favour by the
mid 1880’s. Post-Impressionists, in part, reacted against some features of Impressionism
eg its formlessness.
 While Paris remained a major artistic centre, artists did not always focus their attention on
Paris eg Cézanne – Provence, Van Gogh – Arles, Gauguin – Tahiti.
 Colour theories of Chevreul.
Characteristics:
Eg Seurat (Neo-Impressionist).
 Subjects – middle class at leisure.
 Pointillism.
 Solidity of form.
 Deliberate compositional structure and balance.
 Vibrant colour.
Eg Gauguin
 Subjects – the landscape and people of Brittany and Tahiti – man uncorrupted by modern
life, people living in their natural state.
 Forms are often strongly outlined.
 Space appears flattened.
 Use of high viewpoints.
 Broadly brushed planes – sometimes thinly applied.
 Use of arbitrary colour.
Eg Van Gogh
 Subjects – portraits of friends, landscapes around Arles – he painted what he felt – a sense
of the personal.
 Incorporates Japanese prints in some works.
 Bold forms.
 Brushstrokes follow form – appearance of rapid strokes, broadly applied with a palette
knife, emotion-filled strokes, creates textures.
 Colour based in naturalism but enhanced to create an emotional response.
 Sometimes uses rapid recessions, awkwardness of spatial relationships.
A
NCEA Level 2 Art History (90230) 2007 — page 11 of 15
As for Achievement AND, with reference to TWO art works of the Post-Impressionist period,
the characteristics of artists’ individual styles is explained.
Eg Seurat – Le Chahut, 1889–90
 Depicts a typical café concert or music hall nightclub – a main form of entertainment in
Paris in this period.
 Employs pointillism – a painting technique where small dots of different colours are
juxtaposed in order that the colours will, at a distance, blend in the eye of the viewer
(optical mixing). For example, blue and red dots of colour are placed side by side to create
a purplish hue for the bass player’s jacket in the foreground.
 Forms are well-defined, and sometimes an outline of dots is used to more precisely define
forms eg the legs of the dancers. Seurat developed a new way of modelling form through
careful selection and placement of dots, eg the use of lighter tones to model the back of the
head of the bass player.
 The repetition of forms (legs of dancers) reinforces the rhythms played by the musicians.
 Forms are also deliberately flattened by selection of similar colours, eg the chests of the
dancers and the lamps. Simplification of form adds to the clarity of the image.
 A low viewpoint has been adopted so the spectator aligns with the musicians – this
emphasises the kicks of the dancers.
 Well-ordered composition – the diagonal emphasis created by the alignment of the
dancer’s legs and neck of the double bass, is balanced by the vertical pole and upright
stance of the bass player. The lamps provide a framing device at the left and top.
 The figures in Seurat’s Chahut are frozen, static and stable despite the active poses they
adopt.
Eg Van Gogh – Wheatfield with Crows, 1890
 Applies black paint in thick strokes to represent the crows and yellow paint for wheat
moving in the wind. His expressive brushwork, which follows form, is identifiable as his
personal style.
 The composition appears to be simplified to a horizontal band for the sky and a further
horizontal band for the wheat and grass below.
 Forms are simplified – the sun is an irregular patch of pale blue while the pathways through
the wheat are sweeping lines of red and green paint.
M
NCEA Level 2 Art History (90230) 2007 — page 12 of 15
As for Achievement with Merit, AND the discussion comprehensively explains relationships
between the art works, the contexts in which Post-Impressionism developed, and PostImpressionist styles.
Eg Seurat – Le Chahut 1889–90
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Seurat titled the work Chahut, which means uproar, which probably refers to the audience
reaction to the popular Can-Can dancers (featuring high kicks) shown here. The works of
Toulouse-Lautrec in the same period also feature nightclubs as a main subject.
Deliberate clarity of form is a reaction against the dissolution of form in Impressionist art.
Seurat had adopted a theory that lines express emotions, so the viewer might sense that
the “diagonals … following the raised arms and legs of the dancers, encourage mirth, as do
the little bows on the girls’ shoes and hair”. (Discovering the Great Paintings, Seurat,
Fabbri, p22).
The regular use of dots of colour differs from the Impressionist use of short, rapidly applied
brushstrokes.
Seurat drew on Chevreul’s theories in his book On the Law of Simultaneous Contrasts of
Colours, but Seurat uses this knowledge of colour relationships to intensify effects through
juxtaposing complementary colours.
The inspiration for Seurat’s painting was probably Degas’s The Orchestra of the Opera, but
the figures in Degas’ work are, by contrast, more relaxed and informal which gives a sense
of movement. This demonstrates the more spontaneous approach of the Impressionists
when compared with the slower, more preplanned approach of Seurat.
Eg Van Gogh – Wheatfield with Crows, 1890
 The expressive qualities of his art relate to his intense and passionate personality. He
suffered from mental illness and depression in the last years of his life, and this may have
contributed to the subjects of his work, eg the depressed looking Portrait of Dr. Gachet
June 1890 or to the distortions of space eg Bedroom at Arles 1889.
 The violence of the brushwork in Wheatfield with Crows can be partially explained by the
deterioration in his mental health in mid-1890. He worked furiously, simplifying the
elements of crows, sun, and wheat fields to the essentials of colour and rhythm. The
impasto application of paint in broad sweeping strokes makes the work seem restless and
agitated.
 Several weeks after painting this work, he returned to these wheat fields with a pistol and
tried to end his life.
E
NCEA Level 2 Art History (90230) 2007 — page 13 of 15
QUESTION SEVEN
A description is given of TWO factors that led to the Neo-Gothic style being chosen by
architects.
Key characteristics of the Neo-Gothic style are identified.
A
Contexts and Characteristics:
The competition for the Houses of Parliament in London had established Neo-Gothic as
the favoured style in England in the 1840s.
The Anglican revival of the 1840s established Neo-Gothic as the only acceptable style for
an Anglican church.
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The Gothic style was Bishop Selwyn’s preferred style for many of the churches built in New
Zealand in the 1840s. Selwyn believed that through adopting ecclesiological principles
evident in medieval forms of architecture, “the church would be spiritually renewed”
(P. Shaw, A History of New Zealand Architecture, p.24).
The materials available in New Zealand determined the development of Selwyn’s building
programme. Construction in wood emerged from the failures experienced with stone eg the
scoria structure used for St. Stephen’s Church, Parnell, began to disintegrate from the
moment it was built.
Rather than the renowned stone Gothic Cathedrals in England and Europe, wooden
medieval buildings became the models for the wooden churches built in New Zealand.
The new church building programme arose from the context of the development of the
Anglican Church from its initial missionary functions to the development of a church to cater
for the new colonists.
In the mid- to late 19th century, some architects also adapted Gothic styles for public buildings
– by that time there was a slightly wider range of materials available, such as brick.
Key features: pointed arches, rose windows, steeply pitched roofs, tall spires and bell
towers, contrasting use of colour eg grey stone structure with white decoration.
As for Achievement, AND TWO appropriate buildings are discussed to explain how they are
representative of the Neo-Gothic style in New Zealand architecture.
Eg Old St.Paul’s, Wellington, 1866
 Originally consisted of a nave, apsidal sanctuary, two side aisles, octagonal vestry and tower
over the entry – this was in keeping with the wishes of ecclesiologists and follows Gothic
practices.
 Large Gothic pointed arch windows and contained within them are two smaller arched
windows.
 The steep spire and decorative windows are Gothic in style.
 The interior has exposed Gothic pointed rafters.
 The trefoil motif (symbolic of the Trinity) is employed to decorate the wood where the beams
and columns join.
Eg Christchurch Cathedral, 1860
 Gothic appearance through the solid stone exterior; comprises Gothic features such as
buttresses – here, rather than the large flying buttresses required to support the height of
Gothic stone cathedrals, the buttresses are small rectangular projections.
 The cathedral has a Gothic pointed arch entry porch, steep spire upon a square tower,
narrow pointed-arch windows, a large rose window, and steep roofs.
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NCEA Level 2 Art History (90230) 2007 — page 14 of 15
As for Achievement with Merit, AND the discussion comprehensively explains the relationships
between the selected buildings, the Neo-Gothic style, and its context.
 Classical styles rather than Gothic were favoured for public buildings, so the most numerous
examples of Gothic Revival design are churches.
 Selwyn was a member of the Ecclesiological Society (also known as the Cambridge
Camden Society), whose ideas led to neo-Gothic Churches that followed strict
ecclesiological principles being built all around the world – eg the design of Old St. Paul’s
follows the layout deemed appropriate for ecclesiastical buildings.
 The Ecclesiological Society preferred the “Pointed Gothic” style, but economics in the new
colonies led to more modest adaptations – eg St. John’s College Chapel built in wood with
small rectangular, rather than arched windows, small bell tower etc.
 The ecclesiologists condemned the covering of beams and rafters, so framing was exposed.
This suited the wooden constructions that Thatcher designed, where exterior vertical framing
could be both decorated and functional through the addition of cross-bracing, eg St. John’s
College Chapel. The use of exposed interior bracing and beams is demonstrated in Old St.
Paul’s.
 Following his desire to revive Medieval building designs, Sir George Gilbert Scott originally
suggested a wooden building for Christchurch Cathedral, but the discovery of suitable stone
in Canterbury led to an alternative plan in stone.
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NCEA Level 2 Art History (90230) 2007 — page 15 of 15
QUESTION EIGHT
A description is given of TWO OR MORE contexts that led New Zealand architects to adopt the
International Style.
A
Key elements of the International style of architecture are identified.
Contexts:
 Modernism and the International Style had largely been ignored in New Zealand during the
interwar years; but by the 1940s, some young architects, many of whom had worked
overseas, were determined that Modernist practices would prevail.
 There were also architects who emigrated from Europe to New Zealand to escape antiSemitism and Fascism, eg Friedrich Neumann (Frederick Newman) and Ernst Plischke. The
modernist International Style was introduced into New Zealand substantially by Plischke and
Newman.
 Plischke arrived in New Zealand in 1939 having already gained an international reputation.
He was influenced, among others, by Le Corbusier and Peter Behrens.
 Viennese architect Frederick Newman arrived in New Zealand in 1938 having been trained
at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris and having worked in Moscow and Vienna before
coming to New Zealand.
 The term “International Style” derives from the title of a book (exhibition catalogue from the
Museum of Modern Art 1932) by Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson, which
identified the characteristics of Modernism and recognised that it had become an
international style.
Characteristics (key elements):
 Radical simplification of form.
 Rejection of ornament.
 Preference for glass, steel, and concrete as building materials.
 Transparency in manner of construction.
 Acceptance of mass-production and industrial techniques and aesthetics.
As for Achievement, AND an explanation is given of the ways in which TWO OR MORE
appropriate buildings are representative of the International Style in New Zealand architecture.
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Eg Mt. Eden Flats, Ernst Plischke, 1942
 A design for thirty-five flats arranged in a U-shape around a grassed quadrangle – most of
the flats faced this courtyard rather than the street.
 The flats were arranged in blocks that were regular in form and simplified to their key
rectangular elements.
 Included a roof garden, as in some of Le Corbusier’s designs.
 His design was compromised through demands that more flats be added and the courtyard
scaled down.
eg Symonds Street Flats, Frederick Newman, designed 1939, built 1947.
 Constructed from reinforced concrete.
 Simple, but distinctive, curved façade.
 Each floor and flat is identical with its balcony and window placement so that a symmetrical
and regular pattern of windows is apparent.
 Flat roof, in the manner used by Le Corbusier, Gropius and other Modernist architects.
As for Achievement with Merit, AND the discussion comprehensively explains the relationships
between the selected buildings, the International style and the contexts in which they were built.
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Both Plischke and Newman worked for the Department of Housing Construction and
contributed to projects such as the Kupe Street multi-unit development in Orakei, the Dixon
Street Flats, Wellington and the Mt. Eden Flats. The development of multi-unit buildings lent
itself to the International Style’s functionalist, simplified forms made from the preferred
materials of concrete and glass.
Newman promoted Modernist principles in New Zealand, through published articles and
lectures, and believed that “high blocks of flats will lead to a more dynamic interpretation of
new society…” (P. Shaw, A History of New Zealand Architecture, p.143). The design and
function of the Symonds Street Flats fulfils his stated beliefs.
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