Early New Zealand Prints and Drawings

European settlement in New Zealand occurred at large from the 1840s. During this time there was a proliferation of imagery relating to the New Zealand landscape and its people. This imagery came in the form of painting, photography, drawings and printmaking and was intended for British and European audiences.

The medium of printmaking, particularly etchings and lithographs, was arguably one of the most widely distributed art forms at this time. Although English travelling artists such as George French Angas, Samuel Cousins and Richard A. Oliver produced suites of prints relating to New Zealand imagery, it was the French printmakers who produced the majority of early New Zealand prints. These artists include Francois-Louis Lejeune aboard Coquille (1824) (whose works where later revised by Antoine Chazal), Louis-Auguste de Sainson aboard the Astrolabe (1827) and Lois Le Breton and Pierre-Alexandre Dumoutier travelling on the Astrolabe and Zalee (1840). Imagery and information which featured in these early prints were generally gathered on these voyages, and later developed into prints upon the artists' return to Europe.

Aside from printmaking, many of these early artists also produced a number of drawings and watercolours. These mediums were easily portable and allowed them to record features of the landscape and people with ease. Of particular interest to Victorian audiences at this time, aside from the landscape, were depictions of Maori. Artists therefore focussed much of their attention on Maori people and their culture.