Art Through Time – The Burden of the Past and the New Zealand Painter

Join Gretchen Albrecht, one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s preeminent painters, and Kenneth Brummel, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki’s Curator of International Art, as they engage in a lively exchange about Gretchen’s relationship to her modernist precursors, including the French painter Henri Fantin-Latour (1836–1904), whose 1875 Roses is part of the celebrated Robertson Gift. The pair will also closely analyse The Fire Above (2023), one of the artist’s recent works on display in the booth of Two Rooms at the Fair.

Kenneth Brummel | Moderator
Gretchen Albrecht | Speaker

Kenneth Brummel is an internationally acclaimed curator with over 15 years of experience at major art museums in Canada, Aotearoa New Zealand, and the USA. He co-curated Picasso: Painting the Blue Period at The Phillips Collection in 2021-2022, which was named a top-ten international exhibition by The Wall Street Journal. At Auckland Art Gallery, he curates The Robertson Gift: Paths through Modernity, a major display of modernist works. A specialist in 19th- and 20th-century art, his research on technical art history has been featured in The New York Times and Artforum. Kenneth holds a Master’s in Art History from The University of Chicago.

Gretchen Albrecht is one of New Zealand’s preeminent abstract painters and has achieved wide renown as a consummate colourist. Over the course of her distinguished career, she has continued to explore the depths of the medium, focusing on the experiential intersection of colour, movement, and form. After graduating with honours from Elam School of Fine Arts in 1963, Albrecht quickly established herself as a leading artist in New Zealand. She has exhibited extensively both in New Zealand and internationally for five decades. Gretchen is showing at the 2025 Fair with Two Rooms.

Let’s Talk Art presented by Aon, brings together 30 artists, curators, designers, and collectors for nine compelling talks over three days.

Entry to Let’s Talk Art is on a first come, first serve basis. There is no RSVP.

A valid ticket to the Aotearoa Art Fair 2025 is required for entry to this talk.