Don Binney
{{Short description|New Zealand artist (1940–2012)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox artist
| name = Don Binney
| image =
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| field = Painting
| training = Elam School of Fine Arts
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| birth_date = {{Birth date|1940|03|24|df=y}}
| birth_place = Auckland, New Zealand
| spouse = {{ubl|Judith Binney|Philippa Binney}}
| children = 1
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2012|09|14|1940|03|24|df=y}}
| death_place = Auckland, New Zealand
}}
Donald Hall Binney {{post-nominals|country=NZL|OBE}} (24 March 1940{{Efn|Sources—including Binney himself—are inconsistent on his age or date of birth, saying he was 72 or 73, yet born in 1940, resulting in a possible range of birth dates from 15 September 1938 to 14 September 1940. However 24 March 1940 seems likely to be correct,{{cite web |last=Stringer |first=John |title=My Friend Don Binney Has Died |url=http://conzervative.wordpress.com/2012/09/16/my-friend-don-binney-dies/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019065658/http://conzervative.wordpress.com/2012/09/16/my-friend-don-binney-dies/ |archive-date=2012-10-19 |access-date=16 September 2012 |publisher=coNZervative}} and more sources are starting to list his age as 72 as time passes.}} – 14 September 2012) was a New Zealand painter, best known for his paintings of birds.
Biography
Born and raised in Auckland, Binney was educated in Parnell, Auckland, taking classes with John Weeks and R B Sibson, who became his good friend and guide to the field of ornithology. From 1958 to 1961, he studied at Elam School of Fine Arts in Auckland, gaining a Diploma of Fine Arts. Binney's tutors included Ida Eisa, James Turkington, Robert Ellis and Robin Wood. In 1963, he held his first solo exhibition at Ikon Gallery, Auckland and began teaching at Mount Roskill Grammar School, where he taught until 1966.{{cite web |url=http://www.artisgallery.co.nz/artists_show.asp?id=132 |title=Don Binney - ARTIS Gallery - Artists |publisher=ARTIS Gallery |accessdate=16 September 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130205183926/http://artisgallery.co.nz/artists_show.asp?id=132 |archivedate=5 February 2013 }}
In 1962, Binney began painting at Te Henga, and views of Puketotara with indigenous birds became a common motif in his artworks. In birdwatching, Binney said he discovered a passage into the landscape and the opportunity to develop a personal relationship with it.
Binney described himself as a figurative painter concerned with the psychic metaphor of the environment.{{cite web|title=New Zealand painter Binney dies|url=http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/new-zealand-painter-binney-dies-5084600|publisher=Television New Zealand|accessdate=18 September 2012|date=18 September 2012}} Working in oil, acrylic, charcoal, ink and carbon pencil, many of his works depict the west coast of Auckland and Northland, containing sea, sky, native birds, still life and occasionally, figures.
Binney was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, for services to art, in the 1995 Queen's Birthday Honours.{{cite web |url=https://dpmc.govt.nz/publications/queens-birthday-honours-list-1995 |title=Queen's Birthday honours list 1995 |date=19 October 2012 |publisher=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet |accessdate=6 September 2020}}[http://www.papergraphica.co.nz/artist_detail.asp?id=52 Don Binney] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081229222620/http://www.papergraphica.co.nz/artist_detail.asp?id=52 |date=29 December 2008 }}, PaperGraphica. Retrieved 1 April 2010. He was appointed as one of Waitakere City's inaugural arts laureates in 2004.{{cite book |last1=Tyler |first1=Linda |chapter=Look this Way |pages=284–285 |editor-last1=Macdonald |editor-first1=Finlay |editor-link1=Finlay Macdonald (editor) |editor-last2=Kerr |editor-first2=Ruth |title=West: The History of Waitakere |publisher=Random House |date=2009 |isbn=9781869790080}}
Binney died of a heart attack while in hospital in Auckland{{cite web|title=Auckland artist Don Binney dies|url=http://home.nzcity.co.nz/news/article.aspx?id=154262&cat=985&fm=newsmain%2Cnarts|publisher=NewZealandCity|accessdate=15 September 2012|date=15 September 2012}} for an unrelated illness on 14 September 2012, at the age of 72, and was survived by his second wife Philippa and daughter Mary.{{cite web|last=Wynn|first=Kirsty|title=Don Binney's death a 'complete shock'|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=10834306|work=The New Zealand Herald|accessdate=16 September 2012|date=16 September 2012}} – mis-spells Philippa as Phillipa, but later obit and other sources confirm Philippa."[https://archive.today/20130222220005/http://www.3news.co.nz/Artist-Don-Binney-dies/tabid/418/articleID/269412/Default.aspx New Zealand painter Don Binney dies]," 3news.co.nz, 15 September 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.{{cite web|url=http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/auckland/news/nbent/173266255-painter-don-binney-passes-away|title=Painter Don Binney passes away |date=14 September 2012 |publisher=NewstalkZB}} His first wife was the historian Judith Binney.
Exhibitions
Binney represented New Zealand at the Third Paris Biennale in 1963.{{Cite journal |date=2013 |title=Don Binney: artist |journal=Journal of Parnell Heritage Inc |issue=3 |pages=20}} In 1965, Binney was included in a survey show of New Zealand painting, held in London and in the "Eight NZ Artists" touring show of Australian state galleries. In 1967, he was the recipient of a Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council travel fellowship. He lived in Mexico, London and Australia, but returned to teach at Elam, becoming the senior lecturer in fine arts in 1979.
Binney has exhibited widely throughout New Zealand and was the subject of a thirty-year survey show at the Fisher Gallery, Pakuranga in 1989. He also had a retrospective exhibition curated by Damien Skinner that toured the country from 2003 to 2004. His work is represented in many public collections including the Auckland Art Gallery, The University of Auckland and Te Papa.{{cite web|author=Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa |url=http://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/objectdetails.aspx?oid=39082&term=pacific+frigate+bird+I |title=Pacific frigate bird I - Collections Online - Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa |publisher=Collections.tepapa.govt.nz |date=20 May 2009 |accessdate=16 September 2012}}
Selected works
- Eastern Journey 1962 [https://fletchercollection.org.nz/artworks/eastern-journey/ view]
- Pipiwharauroa mating 1963 [https://www.aucklandartgallery.com/explore-art-and-ideas/artwork/3166/pipiwharauroa-mating view]
- Southern Journey 1964 [https://fletchercollection.org.nz/artworks/southern-journey/ view]
- Colonial Garden Bird 1965 [https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/object/40862 view]
- Sun shall not burn Thee by day nor moon by night 1966 [https://www.aucklandartgallery.com/explore-art-and-ideas/artwork/3354/sun-shall-not-burn-thee-by-day-nor-moon-by-night view]
- Pond Bird, Te Henga 1967 [https://collection.temanawa.co.nz/objects/31975/binney-donald-hal view]
- Canterbury Garden Bird 1970 [https://christchurchartgallery.org.nz/collection/7040/don-binney/canterbury-garden-bird view]
- Te Henga from Man’s Head III 1971 [https://fletchercollection.org.nz/artworks/te-henga-from-mans-head-iii/ view]
- Landscape 1974 [https://www.aucklandartgallery.com/explore-art-and-ideas/artwork/24690/landscape view]
- Winter Maungaroa 1981 [https://fletchercollection.org.nz/artworks/winter-maungaroa/ view]
Notes
{{Notelist}}
References
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External links
- [http://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/Person/207 Don Binney] in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
{{Authority control}}
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Category:Elam Art School alumni
Category:New Zealand Officers of the Order of the British Empire