At almost 96, still living in Paris, New Zealand artist Douglas MacDiarmid is the oldest survivor of his extraordinary generation of creative New Zealanders.
His biography Colours of a Life by niece and journalist Anna Cahill, launched last week, tells the story of the remarkable boy from the small
rural town of Taihape.
Somehow the story of MacDiarmid got away from New Zealand art aficiondos because he chose to pursue a global career rather staying home and being a domestic Kiwi lad.
According to the book, MacDiarmid has achieved an international reputation as an expatriate New Zealand painter, long based in France but staying in tune with his homeland.
"He defies labelling, acclaimed particularly as a superb colourist and for the diversity, technique and intellectual rigour of his paintings," the book says.
He is the son of Taihape doctor and surgeon Gordon MacDiarmid and his wife Mary.
