Grace Joel’s Art Unveiled

Grace Joel: An Impressionist Portrait is the first extensive survey of the work and life of Dunedin-born artist Grace Joel (1865-1924). The book includes reproductions of paintings held in private collections that have never been made available to the public before.

Art historian Peter Entwistle has described Grace Joel as ‘the finest New Zealand portrait painter of the 1890s’. At a time when landscape held the ascendency in New Zealand art Joel’s focus on the human figure and on portraits in particular was pioneering.

‘Her portraits show a deep engagement with her subject,’ says author Joel Schiff. ‘She captures the essence of an individual. They are a moment in time. Mother and child was an important subject for her and her portraits of women communicate a sense of stillness and dignity. Her feeling for rich colour, present in her earliest paintings, remained a signature throughout her career.’

Grace Joel left New Zealand for London in 1899 having studied in Melbourne for five year, and aside from a brief return in 1906 London remained her base for the rest of her life. She travelled in Europe working and studying. Her paintings were shown at the Royal Academy (London), the Paris Salon and the Royal Scottish Academy.

Unlike her compatriot Frances Hodgkins, who wrote over 1000 letters, Grace Joel left no personal papers of significance. The lack of primary information has contributed to her work being relatively unknown and Grace Joel: An Impressionist Portrait endeavours to redress this. The author retraces Grace’s steps, fleshing out the context in which she worked and lived.

‘We will never know her innermost thoughts on most matters, but we can still gain insight into the life of this gifted artist,’ says Joel Shiff.

Joel was a determined professional artist. At the forefront of New Zealand art in her early years, she went on to gain a foothold in the European arena but the status of ‘unknown’ has cast a long shadow on career.

Painting above left - Her Child 1901. Oil on canvas.

Grace Joel: An Impressionist Portrait raises our appreciation of this talented, unique artist —with colour reproductions of over 100 paintings, many seen for the first time.A beautiful book about a remarkable artist.

About the author:

Joel L. Schiff was born in Chicago, and has a PhD in mathematics from the University of California, Los Angeles. He spent his career at the University of Auckland and written three books on various mathematical subjects. He has been a successful part-time asteroid hunter and is the founder/publisher of an international journal on meteorites.  Dr Schiff first encountered the work of Grace Joel in 1981 at the Auckland City Art Gallery. The interest sparked then never died, and grew to an obsession over the decades. This book on her life and work is the result

Grace Joel An Impressionist Portrait By Joel L. Schiff - Otago University Press paperback, full colour, 182pp ISBN 978-1-877578-86-1, $45 Painting right - Study of a boy nude to the waist. c 1894. Oil on canvas.