WHITE, Robin, 1946-
Mana Railway Station (Print)
Dame Robin White’s portrayals of New Zealand
and the Pacific are instantly recognisable.
Although the word is often overused, these are
iconic images, especially because her subject
matter is usually anything but. Rather than
grand buildings and sweeping landscapes, she
prefers quiet unassuming structures like the
Maketu Fish’n Chip Shop or the Portobello Pub;
simple architecture that is ubiquitous. But they’re
always specific settings that bring a personal
response to a place, usually including a local
occupant, such as the painting of Sam Hunt at
Bottle Creek that hangs in the General Library,
or the more autobiographical This is me at
Kaitangata. They remind us that these are social
places used by people and bring a human scale
to the landscape. Mana Railway Station
continues in this vein and perhaps pays homage
to the famous painting of Cass railway station by
Rita Angus, an artist whose clarity of depiction
was an important influence on White.