'A Shepherd and His Ships' Frank Barnes Exhibition Thu, 02 Mar 2006

Edmiston Gallery - New Zealand National Martime Museum Viaduct Harbour, Auckland 1 March - 5 June 2006

Little is known about Frank Barnes although he is one of New Zealand's most prolific maritime artists. Believed to have jumped ship he lived in Wellington during the late 1890s before moving to the Hutt Valley where he worked as a shepherd and boundary rider for the Riddiford family.

As a boundary rider he would have checked the 7,000 acre farm owned by the Riddifords between the Wainuiomata and Mukamuka Rivers as well as the Te Awaiti Block on the East Coast which covered 30,000 acres. He worked and lived alone in a station hut near Turakirae Head, Palliser Bay, where it is said that he trained sheep dogs.

In his leisure time he painted the ships that passed through the Wellington Heads. The few stories known about the artist describe him as a loner and binge drinker, who painted ship portraits to pay for drink on his few trips to town. His heavy drinking could have contributed to his move to the isolated Orongorongo Station.

During the 1890s Frank lived on Hawker Street, Mt Victoria where he was commissioned to paint the Union Steam Ship Company vessel Takapuna, by her engineer, George Robinson. The painting was inherited by his grandson Graeme Smith who had been enthralled by the painting as a young boy. Graeme asked for the painting and enquired about the artist. He remembered his grandfather saying 'Frank is always drunk but he paints good ships' There is another story that the locals would purchase paintings down at the Hutt and Wellington pubs where Frank could also be persuaded to accept commission work.

He worked in oils and occasionally painted on feathers or eggs. His paintings include a range of vessels from the Wellington harbour tug 'Toia' to the Royal Navy cruiser 'HMS New Zealand', coastal traders to passenger liners.

Frank Barnes died in Wellington Hospital on 27 April 1941 from hypostatic pneumonia after fracturing his arm. He is buried in Taita Cemetery in an unmarked grave.

Pictured: Two examples of Frank Barnes paintings sold recently by International Art Centre.