Pare Watene

Pare Watana (also known as Pare Watene) of the Māori Ngāti Maru culture was famous for her beauty. Her chiefly status is confirmed by the rare huia feathers in her hair and her mere pounamu (type of short, broad-bladed weapon in the shape of an enlarged tear drop). This painting is a powerful example of the precise method of portraiture made famous by Gottfried Lindauer, a New Zealand artist. How did he become a leading painter of Māori in the 19th century? Lindauer met Partridge, a young Auckland businessman, soon after Lindauer's arrival in New Zealand in 1874. Partridge became his greatest patron, commissioning large numbers of portraits that he eventually displayed in a room above his Queen Street shop. He kept a visitors' book in which many people expressed their delight in the lifelike qualities of the portraits. The Lindauer Gallery became a significant tourist attraction and, with historian James Cowan, Partridge even produced a catalogue of the portraits.

P.S. You might also be interested in beautiful portraits of Native Americans by Karl Bodmer.

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