Soldier, artist, then educator

John Weeks (1886-1965) was an influential painter and educator in New Zealand during the 1940s and 1950s. He was born in the United Kingdom before immigrating to Aotearoa as a young boy with his family, who were farmers and who chose to settle in rural Te Awamutu.

Weeks later relocated to Auckland, where he worked as a signwriter and began night classes at Elam School of Fine Art.

As a young man, Weeks pursued study and travel enthusiastically, and both were important in the formation of his artistic style. Firstly as a soldier and later as an art student, Weeks went to Europe; he spent time at the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture in Edinburgh, and he wandered around the continent and to parts of Northern Africa.

His encounters overseas – with other Modern-minded artists and with lifestyles drastically different to that which he had known in rural New Zealand – contributed to the development of the cubistinspired aesthetic for which he came to be known.

Study for ‘The Bull’ isa maquette for his wellknown painting, The Bull. The earthy tones, interrupted by blocks of bright blue, recall the dusty streets of southern Spain or northern Africa, demonstrating the lasting influence that these places had on Weeks’ sense of colour and structure.

Returning to Auckland in 1929, he took on a teaching position at Elam. His interest in the formal and expressive qualities of painting was anomalous within the staff (who were committed to more technical concerns) and galvanising among the students – who Weeks encouraged to experiment. He is remembered as much for his contribution as a teacher as for his many paintings.

Study for ‘The Bull’ is on display this week at the Aigantighe as part of an exhibition of recent acquisitions of the permanent collection.