Joe Bootham
Encyclopedia
Joe Bootham (12 December 1911-1986) was a New Zealand
painter who was noted for his landscape drawings and paintings and for portraiture.
, Lancashire, England. His formal art training, mostly undertaken in the late 1920s, consisted of various short art courses and private tuition. He married Amy Yates In 1937.
He was a sometime member of the Bolton Art Circle, Burnley
Modern Art Group, and The Independents. The latter were a group of Bolton artists who, in the early 1950s, met and exhibited at “Smokey Joe’s”, a coffee bar popular with patrons of the nearby theatres and cinema.
In 1961 he emigrated to New Zealand, travelling on the passenger liner The Southern Cross
. Among his pocketbook-sized sketches of passengers on board the ship was one of Peter McLeavey, who, from 1966 onwards, was to become a well-known dealer in contemporary New Zealand art. Their shipboard acquaintance was to become a friendship of significance in 1962, when McLeavey spent time in Wanganui
, where Bootham was then living. During McLeavey's many visits to Bootham's home, the artist executed the large pastel portrait of him now in the Alexander Turnbull Library collection.
In Wanganui, Bootham was a frequent exhibitor with the Wanganui Art Society. He also taught at Society meetings. Rejection for exhibition of his painting "The Day I Rode the Blue Bull Through China" provoked some controversy in local art circles.
During the 1960s he came to know and admire the work of Edith Collier
. Though she died before he had the chance to meet her, in 1974, in the company of other Wanganui Art Society members, he visited her former home where he met two of her surviving sisters. He also took the opportunity while there to do four drawings of trees and shrubbery in the garden about the home. The drawings are dated in the artist's hand 27.3.74.
In 1966, when visiting New Plymouth
, he met New Zealand regionalist painter Michael Smither
and began a continuing friendship that was artistically stimulating and rewarding.
From the mid-1960s until about 1970 he rented an old farm house in the Longacre Valley on the outskirts of Wanganui for use as a weekend retreat and studio. He responded to the New Zealand light and contour of the land and independently evolved a clear-edged style. During this period he produced a particularly distinctive group of paintings and drawings.
Bootham's ability to capture the unique light and landscape characteristics of a particular country is a skill also revealed in his paintings done in England
, Scotland
, Australia
, and North Africa
and Palestine
(when posted there 1945-47 with the Royal Signals).
After a heart attack
in 1969, his health did not allow him to engage as directly with the natural world as he had hitherto. Now more studio-bound he became experimental in his treatment of subject matter. In 1973 he developed his concept of merging subject matter with light, which culminated in a number of visionary watercolours, such as: Daybreak Over the Falls, the series That Indwelt With Light, and Woodland.
In 1973 he moved to Castlecliff on the outskirts of Wanganui, which resulted in increased physical and mental isolation. His art work became more reliant on past experiences and the inner life. His art of this period was influenced by his interest in myth, religion, history, memory, time and space, psychology (general and autobiographical), and philosophy. In 1979 he finished the last of five oils
known as the Quest Series.
He ceased painting in 1982 due to deteriorating health. His last works are drawings of a Coromandel
river, done while on holiday.
He spent the last years of his life pursuing his long-held interest in other languages (Anglo Saxon, Middle English
, Spanish
, French
), listening to recorded music (during his last months a record of Schubert trios was an almost permanent resident on the turntable), and reading widely — something he had always done.
On his death he left behind a substantial body of work: drawings, watercolours, pastels, and oils
. As an indicator of what that number might be, consider that in the spare time available to him when in the Royal Signals (mid-1944 to January 1947) he completed 722 art works — predominantly drawings, but also many watercolours and some pastels — and the vast bulk of that number were done in the period November 1945 (when posted to Benghazi
) to October 1946 (when posted to Haifa
) through to January 1947.
Joe Bootham is the father of New Zealand writer and composer Ivan Bootham
.
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
painter who was noted for his landscape drawings and paintings and for portraiture.
Life and works
Joe Bootham was born in BoltonBolton
Bolton is a town in Greater Manchester, in the North West of England. Close to the West Pennine Moors, it is north west of the city of Manchester. Bolton is surrounded by several smaller towns and villages which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, of which Bolton is the...
, Lancashire, England. His formal art training, mostly undertaken in the late 1920s, consisted of various short art courses and private tuition. He married Amy Yates In 1937.
He was a sometime member of the Bolton Art Circle, Burnley
Burnley
Burnley is a market town in the Burnley borough of Lancashire, England, with a population of around 73,500. It lies north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Brun....
Modern Art Group, and The Independents. The latter were a group of Bolton artists who, in the early 1950s, met and exhibited at “Smokey Joe’s”, a coffee bar popular with patrons of the nearby theatres and cinema.
In 1961 he emigrated to New Zealand, travelling on the passenger liner The Southern Cross
SS Southern Cross (1955)
SS Southern Cross was an ocean liner built in 1955 by Harland & Wolff, Belfast, Northern Ireland for the United Kingdom-based Shaw, Savill & Albion Line for Europe—Australia service...
. Among his pocketbook-sized sketches of passengers on board the ship was one of Peter McLeavey, who, from 1966 onwards, was to become a well-known dealer in contemporary New Zealand art. Their shipboard acquaintance was to become a friendship of significance in 1962, when McLeavey spent time in Wanganui
Wanganui
Whanganui , also spelled Wanganui, is an urban area and district on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is part of the Manawatu-Wanganui region....
, where Bootham was then living. During McLeavey's many visits to Bootham's home, the artist executed the large pastel portrait of him now in the Alexander Turnbull Library collection.
In Wanganui, Bootham was a frequent exhibitor with the Wanganui Art Society. He also taught at Society meetings. Rejection for exhibition of his painting "The Day I Rode the Blue Bull Through China" provoked some controversy in local art circles.
During the 1960s he came to know and admire the work of Edith Collier
Edith Collier
Edith Collier was an early modern painter from New Zealand. She came from Wanganui. Her work is largely unknown at home and overseas....
. Though she died before he had the chance to meet her, in 1974, in the company of other Wanganui Art Society members, he visited her former home where he met two of her surviving sisters. He also took the opportunity while there to do four drawings of trees and shrubbery in the garden about the home. The drawings are dated in the artist's hand 27.3.74.
In 1966, when visiting New Plymouth
New Plymouth
New Plymouth is the major city of the Taranaki Region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after Plymouth, Devon, England, from where the first English settlers migrated....
, he met New Zealand regionalist painter Michael Smither
Michael Smither
Michael Duncan Smither, CNZM is a New Zealand painter and composer.He was born in New Plymouth and was educated at New Plymouth Boys' High School and Elam School of Fine Arts, Auckland...
and began a continuing friendship that was artistically stimulating and rewarding.
From the mid-1960s until about 1970 he rented an old farm house in the Longacre Valley on the outskirts of Wanganui for use as a weekend retreat and studio. He responded to the New Zealand light and contour of the land and independently evolved a clear-edged style. During this period he produced a particularly distinctive group of paintings and drawings.
Bootham's ability to capture the unique light and landscape characteristics of a particular country is a skill also revealed in his paintings done in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, and North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
and Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
(when posted there 1945-47 with the Royal Signals).
After a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
in 1969, his health did not allow him to engage as directly with the natural world as he had hitherto. Now more studio-bound he became experimental in his treatment of subject matter. In 1973 he developed his concept of merging subject matter with light, which culminated in a number of visionary watercolours, such as: Daybreak Over the Falls, the series That Indwelt With Light, and Woodland.
In 1973 he moved to Castlecliff on the outskirts of Wanganui, which resulted in increased physical and mental isolation. His art work became more reliant on past experiences and the inner life. His art of this period was influenced by his interest in myth, religion, history, memory, time and space, psychology (general and autobiographical), and philosophy. In 1979 he finished the last of five oils
Oil painting
Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium of drying oil—especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil. Often an oil such as linseed was boiled with a resin such as pine resin or even frankincense; these were called 'varnishes' and were prized for their body...
known as the Quest Series.
He ceased painting in 1982 due to deteriorating health. His last works are drawings of a Coromandel
Coromandel, New Zealand
Coromandel is the name of a town and harbour on the western side of the Coromandel Peninsula, which is on the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand...
river, done while on holiday.
He spent the last years of his life pursuing his long-held interest in other languages (Anglo Saxon, Middle English
Middle English
Middle English is the stage in the history of the English language during the High and Late Middle Ages, or roughly during the four centuries between the late 11th and the late 15th century....
, Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
), listening to recorded music (during his last months a record of Schubert trios was an almost permanent resident on the turntable), and reading widely — something he had always done.
On his death he left behind a substantial body of work: drawings, watercolours, pastels, and oils
Oil painting
Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium of drying oil—especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil. Often an oil such as linseed was boiled with a resin such as pine resin or even frankincense; these were called 'varnishes' and were prized for their body...
. As an indicator of what that number might be, consider that in the spare time available to him when in the Royal Signals (mid-1944 to January 1947) he completed 722 art works — predominantly drawings, but also many watercolours and some pastels — and the vast bulk of that number were done in the period November 1945 (when posted to Benghazi
Benghazi
Benghazi is the second largest city in Libya, the main city of the Cyrenaica region , and the former provisional capital of the National Transitional Council. The wider metropolitan area is also a district of Libya...
) to October 1946 (when posted to Haifa
Haifa
Haifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel, Daliyat al-Karmel and Nesher...
) through to January 1947.
Joe Bootham is the father of New Zealand writer and composer Ivan Bootham
Ivan Bootham
Ivan Bootham is a New Zealand novelist, short story writer, poet and composer.- Life and literary works :Ivan Bootham was born in Farnworth, Lancashire, in 1939, and migrated to New Zealand as a teenager, working in a variety of jobs in provincial centres...
.
Exhibitions
- 1990 One-man show Christopher Moore Gallery, Wellington.
- 1988 Group exhibition Images of the Wanganui River, Sarjeant Gallery.
- 1988 Group show Self Portraits, Christopher Moore Gallery.
- 1987 One-man show Christopher Moore Gallery.
- 1975 Group show Downtown Gallery, Wanganui.
- 1974 Three-person show, Rothmans Cultural Centre, Wellington.
- 1972 Three-person show, Rothmans Cultural Centre, Wellington.
- 1971 One-man show The Dutch Mill Tea and Coffee House, Wanganui.
- 1967 One-man show The Dutch Mill Tea and Coffee House, Wanganui.
- 1962-c1974 Exhibited with North Taranaki, Hutt and Wanganui Art Societies.
Represented
- Alexander Turnbull Library, WellingtonWellingtonWellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
(a portrait of Peter McLeavey, 1962). - Sarjeant GallerySarjeant GalleryThe Sarjeant Art Gallery is located in Queen's Park, Wanganui. The Gallery was built as the result of a bequest to the city by Henry Sarjeant in 1912, and is listed as a Category I Historic Place and has the highest possible listing under the New Zealand Historic Places Trust Act .Among its...
, Wanganui.