But an artist\u2019s temperament is one of self-reflection and Sydney, widely regarded as one of New Zealand\u2019s greatest living painters, isn\u2019t a man who has always moved easily through the world. <\/p>\n
A lion in winter. At 78, Grahame Sydney believes he is yet to produce his best work. Photo \/ Tim Hawkins<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a serious person, I suppose, and it\u2019s a serious moment,\u201d he says, when I ask what he sees of himself in the portrait now. <\/p>\n
\u201cI look at things acutely and probably more clinically than most people. I\u2019m thoughtful and internal rather than flamboyant and extravagant, and I think that shows.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m looking back at myself in the mirror, but it\u2019s also looking back on a life and saying, \u2018This is what it feels like being me.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n
As with so many of Sydney\u2019s paintings, the self-portrait has never been exhibited. <\/p>\n
Grahame Sydney, “Myself at 76”, 2024. Egg tempera on gesso on board. Private collection of the artist. Photo \/ Glenn Frei<\/p>\n
His depictions of Central Otago, where he\u2019s spent most of his life, have been widely reproduced and speak to the stark grandeur of that landscape so deeply it\u2019s called \u201cSydney Country\u201d. <\/p>\n
Yet in recent years, the vast majority of his work has been seen by only a select few, going straight from his studio into the hands of private collectors and rarely coming up for auction.<\/p>\n
So today\u2019s announcement of a new exhibition, Close to Home \u2013 his first in 15 years \u2013 is a big deal. As one insider puts it: \u201cPeople in the art world are fizzing.\u201d <\/p>\n
Grahame Sydney, “Evening Shadows at the Shearer’s Kitchen”, 2021. Oil on linen. Private collection, Queenstown<\/p>\n
More than 30 paintings and possibly several drawings will be on show, spanning work from the early \u201990s onwards, including half a dozen new pieces. <\/p>\n
Most of the artworks are on loan from private collections; only a handful are expected to be available for sale. All but two have never been exhibited before.<\/p>\n
Close to Home opens on August 22 at Milford Galleries, which moved into new bespoke premises in Queenstown last year. A second survey collection, featuring a further 20-plus paintings, is set to follow in early 2028.<\/p>\n
While the exhibition\u2019s title Close to Home references t\u016brangawaewae \u2013 a deep connection to the land \u2013 it\u2019s also an opportunity for Sydney to display the breadth of his practice beyond the landscapes that have come to define him. <\/p>\n
Image 1 of 9: Grahame Sydney, “The Rabbiters’ House, Gimmerburn”, 2026. Oil on linen. Private collection, Queenstown<\/p>\n
The silent, haunting beauty of Becks, Gimmerburn and Waipiata sits alongside scenes from Antarctica, Amsterdam and France, where a crucifix stands on the rocky coastline looking out across the Mediterranean Sea. <\/p>\n
There are half a dozen portraits of his wife, Fiona \u2013 love letters, he says, to the woman he calls \u201can extraordinary enabler of my work\u201d. <\/p>\n
He considers his figure studies, a classical art form he\u2019s pursued since the early 80s, to be among his most significant achievements. <\/p>\n
Grahame Sydney, “In Amsterdam 2023”, 2026. Egg tempera on gesso on board. Private collection of the artist.<\/p>\n
Sydney\u2019s long career has been filled with accolades. In 1996, the New Zealand Government gifted his painting Moonrise on the Maniototo to South Africa\u2019s new President, Nelson Mandela, and Elton John famously bought one of his figure paintings<\/a> \u2013 paying full price after his request for a discount was declined.<\/p>\n Still, he\u2019s nervous about how this new show will be received.<\/p>\n \u201cI never go into these situations confidently because I\u2019ve never taken for granted the fact that there\u2019s either interest or support for me,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n \u201cI often look at my paintings and find it hard to believe that I did them, but that\u2019s part of the magic of it, really. A tiny trapdoor opens and you\u2019re transported back in time.<\/p>\n \u201cThe nature of the profession is that you send them out to adoptive homes and hope they\u2019re in a loving family. This will be like an assembly of long-lost children for me.\u201d<\/p>\n Close to Home is Sydney\u2019s first solo exhibition since 2011, when Porirua\u2019s P\u0101taka Museum of Arts and Cultures showed a selection of his landscape paintings. <\/p>\n A 25-year retrospective, curated by the Dunedin Public Art Gallery in 1999, toured New Zealand for three years, attracting record attendance. <\/p>\n Timeless Land, the book he published in 1992 with writer Owen Marshall and poet Brian Turner, has been reprinted multiple times. <\/p>\nGrahame Sydney in his studio with a work in progress on the easel. Photo \/ Tim Hawkins <\/p>\n