Sarjeant Happenings: Remembering Minnie Izett

Descendants of Whanganui artist Minnie Izett gathered at Sarjeant on the Quay to view her paintings in the gallery's collection. Photo / Supplied

A cousins get-together in Whanganui recently included a special visit to the Sarjeant Gallery where they enjoyed a display of paintings, created and gifted by deceased relatives.

Hosted by siblings Joanna and Michael Leighton Jones and Helen Benge, the get-together commemorated their parents' 100th birthdays, which took place within two weeks of each other. The Jones side of the family came to the gallery while the Gilligan cousins visited Whanganui Collegiate School.

Jennifer Taylor Moore, curator of collections, brought eight paintings out of storage and displayed them for family members who trace their genealogy to artist Minnie Izett. The Sarjeant holds six paintings by Izett, who was the great-grandmother of the Leighton Jones siblings.

Born Mary (known as Minnie) McNeill in 1862 in Dunedin, the artist's first husband was their great-grandfather, Lieutenant Leonard Henry Jones. The couple married on October 1, 1884, but sadly, he died three years later at the age of 35.

"Minnie and Lennie had a son, Eric Leighton Jones, who was my grandfather. Dad - Howard - wouldn't have known his grandparents. He was only 2 when Minnie died but by then she was married to [Andrew] Pattle Izett," Joanna Leighton Jones said.

Minnie Jones married Pattle Izett in 1903 and painted under the name Izett until her death. She died in Whanganui in1924, and is buried in the Aramoho cemetery.

The largest of her paintings in the Sarjeant's collection is a watercolour of a cottage garden with hollyhocks in the foreground and native New Zealand ferns in the background. The label on the ornate frame says "Gifted by Mrs Pattle Izett 1924", according to the custom of the times when women formally took their husbands' names. The other paintings by Minnie, gifted by Barry Nixon in 2004, are predominantly Italian scenes, possibly painted in the field during travels overseas.

Joanna said little is known about Minnie; however, it was a moving experience seeing the paintings that her relative had painted so long ago.

"She painted with Frances Hodgkins and other women artists of the time. It's quite emotional thinking that our great-grandmother three generations ago was there, painting. I have an image in my mind of her with her easel. I like things that look beautiful so her paintings appeal to me. I think Minnie was obviously a very talented woman."

The family brought two woodcarvings believed to be by Minnie to show the gallery, one of a male and female lion, another of the Archangel Michael, handed down through her father's sister's family.

Minnie was active in the Whanganui arts community. She was an art teacher at Wanganui Technical School in the early 1900s where Edith Collier was among her pupils and became the first secretary of the Wanganui Society of Arts and Crafts. The inaugural meeting to discuss forming the arts society was held in Minnie's (then Jones) studio on July 1, 1901, and she became secretary in August, a position she held until ill health forced her resignation 23 years later. By then she was the last remaining member of the original committee.

Minnie also exhibited at the Auckland Society of Arts, Canterbury Society of Arts, Otago Art Society and the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts.

In 1912, Minnie was among the founding members of the Sarjeant Art Gallery Committee, which comprised the then Mayor TB (Tom) Williams, an auctioneer, two councillors and four others including her close friend Ellen Sarjeant, wife of Henry Sarjeant. The committee reportedly had to deal with a wide range of issues, from occasional vandalism of the premises to the purchase and hanging of works.

The Sarjeant Gallery very much appreciates gifts of such historic and artistic value from the community, Taylor Moore said.

"We enjoy providing opportunities for family members to access artworks held in the collection made by their relatives or ancestors."

Two works gifted by Colonel Howard Jones accompanied the display and Taylor Moore said the work by Nigel Brown entitled The Suicide of Van Gogh Arama Avenue (Titirangi) was a fantastic example of the artist's work, bringing the story of Van Gogh into the New Zealand context. The other work, White Series No. 1 by Rob Taylor, was an example of his earlier work.