Marti Friedlander's portrait of Gordon Walters in 1978 shows him in front of one of his famous koru paintings. Walters had become interested in Māori designs through the influence of fellow artist Theo Schoon in the late 1940s, and he began using the koru (unfurling fern) shape in his work in the 1950s. However, his painting was not widely recognised until the 1970s, partly because the nationalist movement in art did not find much place for either abstraction or Māori culture.
Using this item
Auckland Art Gallery – Toi o Tāmaki
Reference:
2000/28/138
Photograph by Marti Friedlander
Permission of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki must be obtained before any re-use of this image.
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