“I feel that if I had known what was before me, I should never have had the courage to begin”.

Frances Mary Hodgkins (1869 – 1947) is regarded as one of New Zealand’s most renowned artists. Her works capture the spirit of an era greatly influenced by Impressionism and the beginnings of en plein air* painting, Post-Impressionism*, Fauvism* and two World Wars.

With a professional life that spanned fifty-six years, Hodgkins was one of the foremost artists of her generation. During her time in Britain she became one of the leaders of the English avant-garde during the 1930s and 1940s, and was one of the first New Zealand-born artists to achieve such stature.

Born in Dunedin, New Zealand on the 28 April 1869 to th...