Locating Paul Olds Within New Zealand Modernism

Abstract

The place in New Zealand art history of Paul Olds (1922–1976) remains relatively obscure. Olds’ oeuvre defies easy categorisation and does not readily align with established notions of New Zealand modernism. He made a considerable impact as a painter and teacher in Wellington, where he settled in 1957 after six years in Europe. However, his reputation dwindled after his premature death. Olds’ paintings juxtapose figurative and non-figurative elements, organic and inorganic forms and employ nuanced texturing and complex colour layering. Observing his oeuvre chronologically reveals his distinctive approach and his subtle and nuanced contribution to New Zealand’s post-war modernist narrative.[i]

[i] The author (Miriam Olds Spence) was born in Wellington in 1963 to Elisabeth and Paul Olds. When I was three years old, my parents separated and my mother and I moved to Germany, where I grew up. My mother was engaged in postgraduate research at the University of Tübingen, and later became a lecturer there. After we moved, I only saw my father twice, briefly. I did not return to Wellington until 1979, three years after my father died. My research stems from a desire to better understand my father’s place in New Zealand’s postwar art history.