Lot 82: Don Binney Te Henga oil on canvas signed and dated 19671050 x 860mmDon Binney is closely associated with the Te Henga landscape and coastline, an area he made his own in his paintings and drawings of the mid-1960s. He became famous for his landscapes

Don Binney Te Henga oil on canvas signed and dated 19671050 x 860mmDon Binney is closely associated with the Te Henga landscape and coastline, an area he made his own in his paintings and drawings of the mid-1960s. He became famous for his landscapes of the area with large birds flying over them bringing a presence and sense of place and habitat that previously were little known in New Zealand landscape painting. By the time Binney began his Te Henga paintings, the regional landscapes of an earlier generation appeared dated and somewhat lacking in ideas. By contrast, Binney brought freshness and vitality to his depictions, based as they were on a thorough knowledge of the terrain and an amateur ornithologist's understanding of various bird species and their characteristics. Not all of these paintings included birds and Binney varied the range of his works by producing some landscapes which concentrate on the elements of land, sea and sky In all of them he introduced a sharply focussed style of drawing with a strong design emphasis that gave rhythm and movement to his imagery. By drawing strong outlines around his forms, Binney gave them the distinctive clarity that typifies his work at its best. These features are apparent in the present example, which dates from a highly productive year when he painted large-scale masterpieces like Auckland University's Kawaupaku, Te Henga.Michael Dunn