Hommage to Gottfried Lindauer, 2017 - Present

This series of paintings on wood by Heimler & Proc has been developed over many years with a remarkable thread. Gottfried Lindauer, who came to Aotearoa, was a pupil of Gustav Klimt. In Budapest, decades later, Gabriel Heimler’s own art professor was also a pupil of Klimt. In the 1970s, another artist of that Viennese lineage — Hundertwasser — brought his art to these shores.

Heimler & Proc, arising from that same Secessionist spirit, created this series in tribute to their masters. But most of all, in tribute to Lindauer’s gaze. One of the first artists in Aotearoa, he saw no division in his art between Māori and Pākehā. He painted both with the same dignity, the same light, the same respect. It is on that ground of equality that this homage stands.