
Heaphy
Explorer, Artist, Settler
Iain Sharp(Author)
Auckland University Press
Published on 1. January 2008
Book
Hardback
300 pages
978-1-86940-421-5 (ISBN)
Description
Born in England c1820, Englishman Charles Heaphy - the first 'New Zealander' to win the Victoria Cross, the first European to explore the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island and the most distinguished 19th-century landscape painter in that country is, by any measure, a central figure in colonial history. In this engaging book, lavishly illustrated with Heaphy's paintings, drawings and maps, author Iain Sharp reveals the story of Heaphy's life and art.From his earliest surviving watercolour of birdlife in the Marlborough Sounds in August 1839 to his last known sketch on the back of an envelope, showing Maori witnesses at a Native Land Court hearing in December 1879, Charles Heaphy's paintings and drawings represent a remarkable visual diary of settler life. The works are without parallel in their evocative richness and have been a prototype for artists from Colin McCahon to Bill Hammond.Drawing on newspapers, diaries and letters as well as Heaphy's art, Sharp depicts a man who embodied the contradictions of European life in the colonies. Heaphy could be both a dreamy romantic and a self-serving opportunist, a man able to shoot a wild pig one day and discourse to scholars on geological science the next, someone who became almost as familiar with the back country as his Maori companions while thinking all the time of Europe. In charting the course of Heaphy's extraordinary life as artist, explorer, surveyor and soldier, Sharp tells us much about the settler culture and history.
Reviews / Votes
'In a scholarly, thoughtful and beautifully presented way, the book is also a major contribution to our understanding of the man and his entire fascinating career.' - Philip Temple, NZ BooksMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Auckland
New Zealand
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
colour illustrations, maps
Dimensions
Height: 264 mm
Width: 229 mm
Thickness: 30 mm
Weight
1157 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-86940-421-5 (9781869404215)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
11/2013
Auckland University Press
€31.49
Available for download
Person
Scholar, poet and critic Iain Sharp was born in Scotland and now lives in New Zealand. Since completing a PhD on Jacobean comedy at The University of Auckland, he has worked as books editor at national weekly the Sunday Star-Times, fiction editor of Landfall and manuscripts librarian at Auckland City Libraries. Sharp is a frequent reviewer and the author of Real Gold (AUP, 2007) as well as various books of poetry.