Towards modernism: The Walter Cook collection at Te Papa
Schedule
Tue Nov 11 2025 at 07:30 am to 08:30 am
UTC+13:00Location
Corner Molesworth and Aitken Streets, Thorndon, Wellington, New Zealand 6011 | Wellington, WG
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Curator and author Justine Olsen will explore Te Papa’s Walter C. Cook Collection of Decorative Arts. Walter intended to trace modernism’s roots from the Arts and Crafts Movement to post-war designbut, but how did he achieve this aim?Join us at the Library or online. Register for a Zoom link: https://dia-nz.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_rIsWduErQL-Qy3k-k-5P2Q#/registration
Modernism through the eyes of a collector
Between 1965 and 1990, collector Walter Cook built up an extensive collection of British and European decorative arts, mostly purchased in Wellington. In 1992 he gifted the collection to Te Papa, significantly adding to the museum’s holdings of international decorative arts.
In the research for her book, Towards Modernism: The Walter Cook Collection at Te Papa, Justine Olsen drew on Turnbull and National Library collections, including the Wises Street Directories and Papers Past, to understand market trends through the flow of design from Europe to the market in New Zealand.
In this talk, Justine will explore the story of the market and changing taste, both at the time of production and half a century later, when these objects were sought after by dealers and collectors.
The Walter C. Cook Collection of Decorative Arts
The collection was built up over a twenty-five-year period by Walter Cook, a discerning and determined collector of modest means. The glass, ceramic, and metal objects — by designers including Susie Cooper, Clarice Cliff, William De Morgan, Christopher Dresser, and Inge-Lise Koefoed — track the evolution of design from the Arts and Crafts movement through to the British and European modernism of the 1970s.
A Friends of the Turnbull Library event
The Friends of the Turnbull Library, Ngā Hoa o te Whare Pukapuka Turnbull, offers a monthly programme of free public talks. These talks are held in the National Library in Wellington and on Zoom. Some of these talks will be repeated in Auckland. The public programme highlights the work of researchers who draw on Turnbull material for their projects and staff who care for and research the collections.
About the speaker
Justine Olsen has been Curator of Decorative Art and Design at Te Papa Tongarewa the Museum of New Zealand, since 2009. Her special interests include late nineteenth and twentieth century design, and contemporary New Zealand craft especially ceramics and jewellery. With history curator Michael Fitzgerald, she developed the exhibition ‘Walter Cook: a collector’s quest’ in 2012.
Image: Justine Olsen, author of The Walter Cook Collection at Te Papa.
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Where is it happening?
Corner Molesworth and Aitken Streets, Thorndon, Wellington, New Zealand 6011, New ZealandEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
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