New Whanganui gallery Art by the River offers ‘an eclectic mix’

Whanganui's newest art gallery, Art on the River, opened last weekend. Photo / Steve Carle

A new art gallery highlighting New Zealand artists has opened in Whanganui.

Art by the River, the sister gallery of Auckland’s Art by the Sea, opened on Friday at 1B Bell St with the inaugural collection titled Journeys.

The building was previously home to former Sarjeant Gallery director Bill Milbank‘s W.H. Milbank Gallery before its closure in late 2023.

Whanganui resident Richard Browes considered opening a gallery as he was getting tired of corporate life and considering what to do instead.

Although he had been collecting art for 25 years, he did not feel experienced enough to open his own gallery, but Art by the Sea owners Linda and Mike Geers encouraged him.

“Mike and Linda very kindly gave me the confidence and support that I could actually do it,” he said.

Browes spent time with the Geers at their Takapuna gallery, training and learning how a gallery operates.

“They taught me a lot,” he said.

Selecting art was a complex process.

“There’s lots of different things that go into a decision.

“It comes down to whether I think the art is right for the gallery and if I would feel confident that I could represent that artist and sell the work.”

The gallery houses a range of different art styles and mediums from abstract to realism, portrait to landscape, painting to sculpture.

Browes aims to maintain an “eclectic mix” of art.

“You don’t want to have 20 artists all producing the same type of work,” he said.

Art by the River’s first special exhibition The River will open in February, featuring a number of artists “and their interpretation of what those words mean”.

“I’m giving them free range,” Browes said.

The gallery offers some unique experiences including the monthly “art behind the door” competition where visitors can guess what art is behind a door.

“There is a brick wall between us and the building next door. When they split off the building, they left the door so there’s just a door that leads to a brick wall.

“Behind that door I’ve put an artwork and people can come into the gallery to see what it is and enter the competition or we put clues online,” Browes said.

“For the very first one, I will give away the original artwork; in subsequent months it will be a $100 voucher to spend at the gallery.”

The first art behind the door competition will added to the website and in the gallery this week.

Also appearing this week are collectables from international artists.

The collectables are limited edition prints from artists such as Damian Hirst, Andy Warhol, Tracy Emin and Salvador Dali, as well as some New Zealand artists including Michael Smither and Gretchen Albrecht.

The gallery is open at 1B Bell St 10am to 5pm Wednesday to Friday, 10am to 4pm Saturday, 11am to 3pm Sunday, and on Monday and Tuesday by appointment.

Olivia Reid is a multimedia journalist based in Whanganui.