New Zealand Post General Non-fiction and Book of the Year Winner 2014
From Montana award-winning author Jill Trevelyan comes the first biography of Peter McLeavey, the charismatic, pioneering art dealer who since the 1960s has shaped – even transformed – New Zealand art. McLeavey's personal story is remarkable, but his contemporaries will recognise common themes: the religious upbringing, the struggle to be bohemian in repressive mid-century small town New Zealand, the challenges of marriage and fatherhood, the dilemma of whether to stay or leave New Zealand, and the need to make a mark. Through exclusive access to McLeavey's extensive and hitherto untapped archive of letters, diaries, exhibition files and more, this book offers insights into the artists McLeavey has represented across half a century. Here, in their own words – lively, salty, and often heart-breaking – are Colin McCahon, Toss Woollaston, Len Lye, Milan Mrkusich, Michael Smither, Gordon Walters, Michael Illingworth, Don Driver, Robin White, John Reynolds, Yvonne Todd and many more. Far more than a simple biography, this is the big story of contemporary New Zealand art itself, in a period of massive change and growth, and Trevelyan offers an utterly fresh and compelling historical account of the birth of the modern art market and the status of art today. A must-read for anyone interested in New Zealand's art, culture or recent history.
Accolades
New Zealand Post General Non-fiction and Book of the Year Winner 2014
Winner of PANZ Book Design Awards: Best Cover 2014.
Shortlisted for PANZ Book Design Awards: Best Illustrated Book 2014.
Shortlisted for New Zealand Post Book Awards: General Non-Fiction 2014.
Author Biography
Jill Trevelyan is a Wellington curator and writer with an interest in New Zealand art from the mid-twentieth century. She was the editor of Toss Woollaston: A Life in Letters (Te Papa Press, 2004), shortlisted for the Montana Books Awards in 2005, co-curator of Te Papa's exhibition Rita Angus: Life and Vision, 2008, and co-editor of the accompanying catalogue, and author of Rita Angus: An Artist's Life (Te Papa Press, 2008), winner of the Montana Medal for Non-Fiction in 2009.
