New Zealand Post Book Awards 2010 Illustrated Non-Fiction Finalist.
"This book spans the entire art collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa -- from its superb early European prints to its most exciting contemporary acquisitions. International artworks by Rembrandt van Rijn, Pablo Picasso, Marcel Duchamp, Barbara Hepworth and Robert Mapplethorpe feature alongside iconic New Zealand art by Charles F Goldie, Rita Angus, Colin McCahon, Frances Hodgkins, WD Hammond and many others. Over four hundred key artworks are beautifully reproduced here, accompanied by brief essays. Written by the museum's own curators and other leading art historians, these give expert and engaging commentary on every work. A revealing full-length introduction by editor William McAloon provides further engrossing background to the collection, its origins and its changing fortunes over the centuries. The history of the national art collection is part of the story of New Zealand itself -- the landscapes, its people and its developing national identity. The first book to tell that story, 'Art at Te Papa' will surprise and enrich its readers, becoming a treasured resource for New Zealanders, international visitors and lovers of art". -- Book jacket.