Pictorial Web Exhibitions

As part of our birthday year celebrations, we have assembled images from several periods in the life of Auckland Museum, from its days in a small building on Princes Street to the new building up on the hill. The first photographs were taken after the installation of the new plaster casts of antique sculpture, which arrived in 1882. The photographs by J.D. Richardson were taken shortly before the collections were moved to the new building in the Domain, in 1928, and the last group were taken for Grierson, Aimer and Draffin, architects of the new building.

From water supply and grazing grounds to playing fields and winter garden, the Auckland Domain has a rich and varied history. This exhibition provides a range of images covering various activities and events in the Domain.

This is an exhibition of Auckland Museum material of both an interesting and humourous nature relating to the building and associated activities. Elephants, Planes, Whales and UFOs all feature in the museums photographic archives.

Painters and photographers have been picturing Auckland from the earliest days of European settlement. These images show the rapid changes that occurred in the first 100 years of the life of the city.

Look at how photographers have been captivated by our harbour, islands, yachts and sea.

As a War Memorial museum we have a commitment to commemorating our soldiers and military history. Here is a small selection of photographs, paintings and drawings of people at war, soldiers in training, at the front lines, preparing for battle and in action. These range from depictions of early European and Maori conflict to photographs from World War One.

A number of photographers and artists whose work is in the Museum travelled through the Pacific, capturing images of the people and places they encountered. A small selection from the extensive holdings of the negatives of John Watt Beattie and Henry Winkelmann, as well as the work of Thomas Andrew and George French Angas, gives an idea of the variety in subject and style of these images.