New Zealand official war artists

The rôle of the artist and his work embraces the causes, course and consequences of conflict and it has an essentially educational purpose.

[5] New Zealand's National Art Gallery considered the collection to be of historic rather than artistic worth; and few were displayed.

Archives New Zealand loans items from the collection on application from institutions, such as art galleries and museums, providing specific criteria are met.

[8] Although depictions of New Zealanders at war date back to the nineteenth century (with soldier-artists' such as Gustavus von Tempsky and Charles Heaphy), the New Zealand tradition of official military artists started with the First World War.

[9] Lance Corporal Nugent Herman received the first official appointment as a New Zealand Army artist in April 1918.