Philippa Blair


Philippa Blair is a New Zealand artist. Her works are held in the collection of the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki and Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.

Early life

Philippa Blair was born in 1945 in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Education

Blair studied at the University of Canterbury from 1965–67, under Rudolf Gopas and Don Peebles. She graduated with a Diploma of Fine Arts in 1967. At age 22 Blair married and went to live at Wairoa, teaching art at the local college, before living in Australia for several years. It was at this point that she began to commit herself seriously to painting.
In 1976 Blair completed a Diploma of Teaching in Secondary School File Art at Secondary Teachers' College in Auckland, New Zealand.

Career

Philippa Blair's early painting works produced while living in Australia include Open Window - Brisbane and Primary Reflection. Initially, Blair's intuitive and expressionistic style was not readily accepted in New Zealand, but was accepted by Kees and Tina Hos who began exhibiting Blair's work at New Vision Gallery in Auckland from 1975.
Blair works primarily as a painter, and makes semi-abstract work. Her works from the 1980's are reminiscent of works by Jackson Pollock and Len Lye, which Blair was familiar with and admired for their 'movement' and 'fugitive' qualities. She has worked as both a secondary school art teacher and university painting tutor from 1968 onward.
Philippa Blair moved from New Zealand to the United States in 1995 with her husband John Porter, and they lived at Venice Beach and San Pedro, before moving back to Auckland, New Zealand in 2015. Their daughter Alice Hutchison is an art curator and writer.
Blair has exhibited as a solo artist and in group shows widely in New Zealand and the United States, including: