Year 12 Art History students visited the Auckland Museum as part of their internal assessment activity on a cold Wednesday 27 July.
Our museum building is one of the finest examples of Neoclassical architecture in the Southern Hemisphere. The students have studied Neoclassical art style earlier this year, so it came as a fresh learning experience being able to identify and analyse the important architectural features, even though many had already been to the museum on several occasions. Students will be considering unique aspects such as the integration of traditional Māori motifs within the classical style of the interior, to generate their own personal response for the internal assessment.
Inside, we were able to view the Māori portrait paintings by the highly acclaimed New Zealand painters Charles Goldie and Gottfried Lindauer. These paintings are regarded as national taonga and students were able to bring in their knowledge of the 19th century New Zealand cultural context to analyse their importance.
The trip was a meaningful experience which deepened the students’ understanding of the art styles and contexts previously learned.