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William Mathew Hodgkins (1833 - 1898) was a 19th century New Zealand painter. New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island

According to his daughter Frances Hodgkins the 'father of art in New Zealand', he was certainly the chief advocate of art in Dunedin when the city led New Zealand in the 19th century. Frances Mary Hodgkins ( 28 April 1869 - 13 May 1947) was a New Zealand abstract painter who lived in England Dunedin (dəˈneɪdɪn) Ōtepoti in Maori is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the region of The founder of New Zealand's first public art gallery and the first person to publish at any length about New Zealand art, he was a considerable water colour painter in his own right. An art gallery or art museum is a space for the exhibition of art, usually Visual art. He encouraged his daughters, one of whom, Frances Hodgkins, was regarded as Britain's most distinguished woman artist at the time of her death and is still New Zealand's best regarded expatriate painter.

Baptised in Liverpool 23 September 1833 in the heart of the city's slums he was the son of a brushmaker, also called William Hodgkins. Liverpool ( is a City and Metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary Events 1122 - Concordat of Worms. 1459 - Battle of Blore Heath, the first major battle of the English Year 1833 ( MDCCCXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common His mother had been Jane Grocott or Groocock and his sister Jane was born in 1835. William Mathew went to school at Staveley, Derbyshire and his exercise book in penmanship survives, prefiguring his adult career as a law clerk and lawyer and his lifelong interest in graphics. See also Staveley Cumbria, Staveley North Yorkshire. Staveley is a Town to the north east of Chesterfield in Derbyshire A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person who provides assistance to a Judge in researching issues before the Court and in writing opinions A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law as an attorney, Counsel or Solicitor; a person By 1852 his father was in business in Birmingham but William Mathew was a law clerk in London. Birmingham ( ˈbɜːmɪŋəm Ber -ming-um London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. He lived in Holborn, worked for Waterlow and Sons, famous printers of stamps and bank notes, and for the Patent Office. Holborn (ˈhoʊbɚn or /ˈhoʊbɝːn/ "ho bun" is an area of Central London, England A patent office is a Governmental or Intergovernmental organization which controls the issue of Patents List of patent offices For a By 1855 he was in Paris where he assisted in 'literary work' at Versailles, perhaps copying correspondence or graphic works. Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city Versailles (vɛʀsaj in French) formerly de facto capital of the kingdom of France, is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and is still an important Back in London about 1857 he studied J.M.W. Turner's paintings and those of other artists, at Hampton Court and the National Gallery. Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 1775 &ndash 19 December 1851 was an English Romantic landscape painter, Watercolourist and Hampton Court Palace is a former royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, south west London, England. In 1859 he worked at the National Portrait Gallery in London.

Sometime between 1856 and 1858 Hodgkins's family emigrated to Melbourne in Australia. Melbourne ( is the second most populous city in Australia, with a Metropolitan area population of approximately 3 For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. In 1859 he followed them on the White Star whose surgeon was Thomas Hocken. Thomas Morland Hocken ( January 14 1836 - May 17 1910) was a prominent New Zealand collector bibliographer and researcher By April 1862 Hodgkins had left Melbourne and was living in Dunedin.

He worked as an ornamental writer and then for Gillies and Richmond, no doubt as a law clerk. He met Rachel Owen Parker and married her at St. Paul's, Dunedin, 19 September 1865. Events 335 - Dalmatius is raised to the rank of Caesar by his uncle Constantine I. Year 1865 ( MDCCCLXV) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year He was admitted to the Otago Bar in 1868. History See also History of Otago The Otago Settlement sponsored by the Free Church of Scotland, materialised in March 1848 with the arrival of the first

Hodgkins earliest known painting is dated 1862. It is not known how he learnt the craft but his association with George O'Brien may be significant. George O'Brien (1821-1888 was an engineer of aristocratic background who turned to art in 19th century Australasia, dying in poverty but leaving a body of remarkable work He did not exhibit in the New Zealand Exhibition, held in Dunedin in 1865 but took charge of its photographic department. He organised a Fine Arts exhibition in Dunedin in 1869 with the aim of starting a public art gallery. That did not eventuate but in 1875 he founded what soon became the Otago Art Society. Although there was resistance to his plans to start an art gallery under his presidency in 1881 the society started to collect pictures and in 1882 its council agreed to start a 'national collection of works of art'. A resolution of 14 October 1884 effectively founded the Dunedin Public Art Gallery the first institution of its kind in New Zealand. Events 1066 - Norman Conquest: Battle of Hastings - In England on Senlac Hill seven miles from Hastings, the forces Year 1884 ( MDCCCLXXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year The Dunedin Public Art Gallery holds the main public art collection of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand.

Hodgkins's career as a lawyer went into decline. In 1884 he moved his family from a house in Royal Terrace, a good address in the city, to a rented cottage at Ravensbourne, a harbourside suburb. In 1888 he was declared bankrupt. Bankruptcy is a legally declared inability or impairment of ability of an individual or organization to pay their Creditors Creditors may file a bankruptcy petition against Hodgkins struggled out of these difficulties, eventually moving the family back to a large rented house in town. He became involved organising the art department of the New Zealand and South Seas Exhibition held in Dunedin in 1889 to 1890. In 1889 he proposed the idea of a government-funded national gallery with collections in each of the four main centres. While that did not happen, the collection of the Dunedin gallery was augmented from the exhibition, a new building erected, and a support group was founded: the Dunedin Public Art Gallery Society.

Hodgkins' own art had developed considerably. An accomplished landscape painter in the Romantic manner of Turner the most notable characteristic of his work is its use of colour. Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 1775 &ndash 19 December 1851 was an English Romantic landscape painter, Watercolourist and New styles were brought to New Zealand in 1890 by G.P. Nerli, Petrus van der Velden and J.M. Nairn. Girolamo Nerli ( 21 February 1860  – 24 June 1926) was an Italian painter who worked and travelled in Australia and Petrus Van der Velden ( 5 May 1837 – 10 November 1913) was a New Zealand artist of Dutch descent James MacLauchlan Nairn (1859 – 1904 was a Glasgow -born painter who (along with G Hodgkins embraced the newcomers and with Nerli in Dunedin the resulting twin circles of painters made the city for a while the foremost centre of art in New Zealand.

Hodgkins died in Dunedin on 9 February 1898, survived by his wife, two daughters and four sons. Events 474 - Zeno crowned as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire. Year 1898 ( MDCCCXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common He left his family poor but they and the community remembered a cheerful, persevering, ambitious man. The society and the public gallery he had founded endured and prospered. He had published the first considered statement of any length on New Zealand art and he left behind a body of works the best of which are among the best of their kind in New Zealand. The Southern Alps of New Zealand. . of 1885 is often mentioned; The South Canterbury Plains from near Peel Forest of 1882 is remarkable for its breadth and simplicity. Both are now in the collection of the Dunedin Public Art Gallery. Hodgkins's daughters Isabel, and particularly his younger daughter Frances furthered his interest in art. In retrospect Frances's estimation of him does not seem exaggerated. He is undoubtedly one of New Zealand's most influential artistic figures of the 19th century.

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