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Margaret Butler (sculptor)

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Margaret Butler
Born
Margaret Mary Butler

(1883-04-30)30 April 1883
Greymouth, New Zealand
Died4 December 1947(1947-12-04) (aged 64)
Wellington, New Zealand
NationalityNew Zealander
EducationSt Mary's College, Wellington and Wellington Technical School
Known forSculpture

Margaret Mary Butler (30 April 1883 – 4 December 1947) was a New Zealand sculptor and artist and is regarded as the first New Zealand born sculptor of substance.[1][2][3]

Early life and education

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She was born in Greymouth, West Coast, New Zealand on 30 April 1883, to Edward Butler, Grey County engineer, and his wife Mary Delaney.[4]

She attended St Mary's College, Wellington and then at Wellington Technical School[5]

Work

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Margaret Butler in 1930

Butler's works were feature at the National Centennial Exhibition of New Zealand in 1940[5] and the largest collection of her work is held by Te Papa Tongarewa, the Museum of New Zealand.[6]

In 2023 her work was included in the exhibition In the Round: Portraits by Women Sculptors at the New Zealand Portrait Gallery.[7][8]

Death

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Margaret Butler died in Wellington of cancer on 4 December 1947. Prime minister, Peter Fraser and the Catholic archbishop of Wellington, Thomas O'Shea were attendees at her funeral.[5]

References

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  1. ^ Dunn, Michael (2002). New Zealand sculpture : a history (1. publ. ed.). Auckland, N.Z.: Auckland Univ. Press. pp. 40–43. ISBN 1869402774.
  2. ^ Dominion 13 February 1934 Page 7
  3. ^ "Margaret Butler".
  4. ^ Stocker, Mark. "Margaret Mary Butler". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 1 December 2011.
  5. ^ a b c Stocker, Mark. "Butler, Margaret Mary". The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  6. ^ Mark Stocker, "Margaret Butler: An Invisible Sculptor?", Te Papa Tongarewa (Retrieved 16 July 2022)
  7. ^ "In the Round: Portraits by Women Sculptors". New Zealand Portrait Gallery. 23 February 2023. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  8. ^ "Sculpture exhibition spans a century". NZ Herald. 6 March 2024. Retrieved 5 March 2024.