Jenny Partington reviews Edith Collier: Early New Zealand Modernist by Jill Trevelyan, Jennifer Taylor and Greg Donson for takahē:
‘Edith Collier: Early New Zealand Modernist paints a portrait as vivid and lively as one of Edith’s own artworks. Despite working alongside celebrated artists such as Frances Hodgkins, Edith was one of many women who fell between the cracks of art history. Moving seamlessly between fragments of personal storytelling, conversations, and critical essays, this publication captures her life with warmth and vibrancy. This illumination of her life and work is not only an important art historical record, but a sincere collection of memories connecting the many people and communities that remember and value Edith Collier.
When we are first introduced to Edith in chapter one she is 35 years old, painting in St Ives, France, in the summer of 1920. Within the first few paragraphs, it is made clear that she must return home to Whanganui due to her parents’ financial situation. In opening with this pivotal moment, the editors highlight just how important her journey from Europe back to Aotearoa was. We later discover that this was the moment that halted Edith’s blossoming career as a modernist painter.
Edith returned to Whanganui when her parents could no longer support her financially in Europe, and took up the duties of the eldest unmarried daughter. Her family, most notably her elderly grandmother and 37 nieces and nephews, became her greatest priority. She could only paint when time allowed, and towards the 1940s she stopped painting altogether. Domestic responsibilities weren’t the only catalyst for this—many contributing factors are outlined, including financial, societal, and cultural pressures. In her opening chapter, Jill Trevelyan describes the challenging climate faced by artists at the time, especially those committed to modernism, and ‘those challenges were compounded in Edith’s case by her gender, personality and temperament, and also by her family environment.’ Despite the confidence she had developed in Europe, Edith’s work was savagely critiqued by her local community. Some of her finest works were destroyed when her father, outraged by a collection of nude portraits in her studio, decided to burn them. On top of this, though her works were exhibited occasionally throughout Aotearoa, Edith rejected the idea of self-promotion, meaning much of her work went unseen by the public.
With Edith situated beside her successful mentors Frances Hodgkins and Margaret Preston throughout, the privilege needed to sustain a successful art career during the early 20th century is made clear. The question is posed early in this book: How would things have been different for Edith if she had been able to stay in Europe? Would the name Collier be as commonly known as Hodgkins or Preston?
By observing the factors that impacted Edith’s short-lived career, but not dwelling on them, the excellence of her work is forefronted. The many ‘what ifs’ of Edith’s life could probably fill their own book, but while they are treated with care and consideration throughout Edith Collier: Early New Zealand Modernist, they certainly don’t take centre stage. No excess mourning for what could have been looms through these pages, and therefore no shadows are cast across Edith’s great achievements.’
Read the rest of the review here.
