Goldie, Charles F. and Steele, Louis John. The Arrival of the Maoris in New Zealand (1899). Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland.
One of New Zealand’s most famous artworks is “The Arrival of the Maoris in New Zealand” painted in “1898” and it was created by Louis John Steele and Charles F Goldie. This canvas portrays the Maori’s founding New Zealand through their long journey across the ocean. Back with the first Maori everything was shared through the tongue they didn’t have any written history “All Maori and Moriori knowledge about the past was handed down over the generations in the form of oral traditions attached to generations, or whakapapa. “ (Anderson, 42) this painting shows the figures to be tired and hungry but there is still a sense of hope through their eyes as they are seeking new land. Theodore Géricault painting “The Raft of the Medusa” influenced this painting, when he portrayed the shipwreck where there were 147 people and only 15 of them survived from this disaster, waiting 13 days till they saw a rescue ship. This painting is important to the history of New Zealand as is shows the struggle but yet passion the early Maori went though to come to Aotearoa.
Anderson, Atholl. “Chapter 2: Speaking of Migration”. Tangata Whenua: An Illustrated History. Ed. Atholl Anderson Judith Binney, and Aroha Harris. Aotearoa: Bridget Williams Books, 2014. 42-69. Print.
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