100 years of the School Journal
Over the course of its 100-year history, the New Zealand School Journal has attracted work from some of New Zealand’s greatest artists and illustrators.
Before 1940, the vast majority of illustrations in the School Journal were drawn from overseas publications. In the course of the Second World War however, a strong local element asserted itself. Led by Russell Clark and E Mervyn Taylor, the work of New Zealand artists began to fill the Journal's pages.
As well as being a site of artistic excellence and experimentation, the School Journal was one of the most important employers of illustrators and artists in New Zealand. Some artists, like Colin McCahon, only contributed the odd cover work or illustration; for others, like Rita Angus, it was an important source of income.
This online exhibition highlights the contributions of 14 artists to the School Journal. Spanning approximately 25 years, it moves from the elegant and refined black and white illustrations of Clark and Taylor through the joyously colourful work of Juliet Peter and Roy Cowan in the 1950s, and ends with the contribution of Jill McDonald, credited with redefining the Journal’s visual style in the early 1960s.
This online exhibition was been designed to complement the exhibition 'A Nest of Singing Birds: 100 years of the New Zealand School Journal', which showed at the National Library Gallery 23 April – 21 July 2007.
Texts in this online exhibition have been adapted from Gregory O'Brien's book A Nest of Singing Birds: 100 years of the New Zealand School Journal, with kind permission of the author. Images appear with the permission of the Ministry of Education. Many thanks to the staff of Learning Media for their assistance with this project.
More about Gregory O’Brien’s book – Learning Media website
More about the School Journal centenary – Learning Media website
E Mervyn Taylor's iconic illustrations played a significant role in shaping the early aesthetic of the School Journal.
Russell Clark's enormous contribution to the School Journal was recognised in 1975 with the establishment of the Russell Clark Award.
Doris Lusk's playful 1960 School Journal cover makes the most of the potential of two-colour printing.
Juliet Peter's work was a regular feature of the School Journal between 1946 and 1960, and the artist herself was profiled within its pages.
Working at the School Journal profoundly influenced Roy Cowan's life direction.
Jean Angus' School Journal work from the 1950s reveals the influence of modern art on illustration at this time.
Rita Angus' work for the School Journal provided the artist with an important source of income in some precarious times.
John Drawbridge's playful and dynamic designs appeared in the School Journal in the mid 1950s.
Anne McCahon was a regular contributor to the School Journal in the 1950s, partly due to the encouragement of art editor Roy Cowan.
One of the most abstract covers ever to appear on an issue of the School Journal was designed by the painter Colin McCahon.
The work of mountaineer, writer and photographer John Pascoe appeared in the School Journal frequently between 1947 and 1970.
The work of photographer Ans Westra was an important feature of the School Journal in the 1960s.
Former School Journal art editor Terence Taylor remembers this Gordon Walters' illustration fondly as the "paper-clip" cover.
Under Jill McDonald's art editorship, the School Journal of the early 1960s adopted a more playful and relaxed tone.
