About the Author

A former director of the Auckland Art Gallery, Christopher Johnstone now works for the Auckland Philharmonia. He is the author of Landscape Paintings of New Zealand, an exploration of New Zealand through the eyes of our greatest landscape painters, and The Painted Garden in New Zealand Art, the story of our gardening history as it intersected with our cultural and artistic development. Born in Sydney, Johnstone grew up in England and Ireland. He studied art history in the United States, and graduated from Bennington College in 1971. He then began his art museum career as a curator at the Tate Gallery and, after holding senior positions at the National Galleries of Scotland, the Art Gallery of Western Australia and the Art Gallery of South Australia, he became director of the Auckland Art Gallery (1988-1995). He has written a book on John Martin and on 20th-century artists. He lives in Auckland with his wife, Louise.