Edith Collier's Grannie O'Ready's Kitchen, circa 1914, oil on canvas on board.
The donation of an artwork to the Sarjeant Gallery collection can be a wonderful way to commemorate a dear friend or family member.
The painting Grannie O'Ready's Kitchen by Edith Collier was gifted to the gallery in 1998 by advertising executive Geoffrey and his wife Di Martin to honour the memory of Richard Priest.
Richard was the youngest of four sons of Alec and Ethna Priest, a well-known Whanganui family. Alec was a chest physician at Whanganui Hospital from 1946 until his death in 1972. He was also a cricketer of note who played Plunket Shield for Otago. On settling in Whanganui, he became active in the administration of the game and coaching schoolboys. The pavilion at Victoria Park is named in recognition of his contribution to Whanganui Cricket.
Richard attended Gonville Primary, Whanganui Intermediate and Collegiate schools, and was a graduate from Victoria and Auckland universities. A keen sportsman, he represented New Zealand Universities in cricket on a tour of Australia.
Richard worked overseas for several years in Canada with the multinational Procter & Gamble, and also for the airline Wardair, now part of Air Canada. On his return to New Zealand, he settled in Auckland and his skills were sought by many in his fields of expertise, which were marketing and tourism, his brother Duncan said.
"Richard's friendship with Geoffrey Martin was based on their mutual love of being creative, especially as both were wordsmiths, combined with a serious sense of fun. Geoffrey, who was a successful advertising executive, admired Richard so much that he donated the Collier painting in Richard's memory," Duncan said.
Sadly, Richard died in August 1995, aged 44, and is survived by his widow Mary Vavasour and their daughter Francesca who live in Auckland.
Among the many letters Duncan received on the death of his brother was one from John Clarke, aka Fred Dagg, who was one of Richard's closest friends.
In the letter, Clarke wrote, "Richard was a spectacular and steadfast friend ... What often drew people to him was his brilliant expression of ideas ... He took great joy in all sorts of things ... and wherever it was possible he shared this joy immediately. His humour, already wonderful, had also this deeper value. To laugh with Richard was not just to share a joke. It was to communicate with a very generous spirit."
Donald Trott, executive chairman of the New Zealand Opera School and trustee of the New Zealand Opera Foundation Trust, chose the painting among six of his favourites in the Sarjeant Collection that can be viewed online. Trott knew both Geoffrey and Richard, who he remembers as "a really lovely young man" and a good friend and mentor for Martin.
Martin and Trott became close friends, both working in the same building in Auckland when Trott was director of New Zealand Opera Ltd. Martin was Trott's go-to man for marketing and advertising the New Zealand Opera Company.
"He put such a lot of effort in and did a marvellous job making fantastic posters and billboards all around Auckland."
When Richard died, Trott remembers how deeply unhappy Martin was and in 1998, he accompanied Martin to Whanganui to present the painting to the gallery at a function organised by Bill Milbank. The connection of Edith Collier, and Martin's two friends Richard Priest and Donald Trott, with Whanganui made Grannie O'Ready's Kitchen a fitting choice.
The painting depicts a homely, peasant-type cottage kitchen with hens pecking the earthen floor. It was among many Collier painted in the Irish fishing village of Bonmahon.
"In this work, as with other portraits completed in Bonmahon, Edith takes the traditional if not cliched 19th-century theme of the worthy but impoverished peasant, and applies to it a new Post-Impressionist vision," wrote Greg Donson in the text for the exhibition Edith Collier Selected Irish Works February 2012.
"It's a lovely idea, people making presentations in memory of [those they care for]," Trott said. "It's something that is there for all time."
The painting has also benefited from the philanthropic spirit of Colin and June Whitlock, who paid for conservation work on it in 2004.
Each time the painting is exhibited, it is accompanied by the following line: "Collection of the Sarjeant Gallery Te Whare o Rehua Whanganui. Gift of Geoffrey and Di Martin in memory of Richard Alec Priest, 1998. This work was conserved with the generous support of Colin and June Whitlock in 2004."