This 2001 painting by Hamish Foote, titled ‘Allegorical triumph of Sir George’, parodies Governor George Grey as the ‘king’ of his extravagant domain. In 1862 Grey bought Kawau Island in the Hauraki Gulf. He imported many exotic plants and animals in an ambitious plan to transform it into an earthly paradise. His menagerie included kangaroos, wallabies, antelopes, monkeys, zebras, gnu, emus, peafowl and kookaburras.
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
by Hamish Foote
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