Patara Te Tuhi

2021 – 32×22″ – Pencil on Paper – Custom Framed with Art Glass

Often portrayed by the popular New Zealand artist, Charles Goldie, in a solemn or depressed mood, as some kind of dying relic of a forgotten era, Waikato Chief Patara Te Tuhi was far different. Seeing the need for communication with the greater population in early colonial New Zealand, he installed the first printing press in the country for his newspaper, Te Hokioi e Rere Atu Nā. He was the secretary and advisor to the Maori King Tawhiao. He foresaw the need for peace or his family would not survive.