Rob Gardiner
b. 1933
1 Artwork
Rob Gardiner is a prominent arts collector, patron, philanthropist and artist. Born in Oamaru, he grew up in a creative household, with parents who were devoted to the arts. Both maintained a studio-practice—his accountant father was also a keen photographer, woodworker, and clarinet player, and his mother was a pianist and skilled milliner.
As an adult, Gardiner lived in Gisborne with his wife and young children for a time before the family relocated to the Wairarapa, then to Hamilton where Gardiner and his wife became active members of the Waikato Society of Arts, attending art classes, contributing to exhibitions, and generally advocating for the group. In the 1970s, with Gardiner’s involvement, the society was instrumental in fundraising for the building of a public art gallery for Hamilton (now incorporated into Te Whare Taonga Waikato Museum & Gallery).
During this time Gardiner established the Chartwell Trust to promote the value of visual arts and creativity. As founder and chairman, he began to grow a large collection of contemporary paintings for the trust in 1974 (‘The Chartwell Collection’) and, in 1982, he opened the Centre for Contemporary Art in Hamilton where the collection was on display.
The collection was initially on long term loan to the Waikato Museum, with the view that the city would inherit the collection in future, however differing views over whose responsibility it was to pay for the storage and management of the collection led to it being relocated to Toi Ō Tāmaki Auckland Art Gallery in 1997.
Gardiner moved from Hamilton to Auckland in 2002, where he continued to make art. His practice carries an interest in mark-making, gesture, material, colour, and geometric abstraction, and past works have incorporated found materials and engaged with their architectural surrounds, extending into three dimensions and involving shadow play. Gardiner sees the role this playful creativity plays in societies as a form of thinking—shaping beliefs, cultures, and lives, and the importance of art that doesn’t neatly fit into the commercial art market.
The Chartwell Trust continues to grow its collection, alongside funding visual artists and arts organisations to undertake discrete projects. His daughter, Sue Gardiner, is actively involved in the trust.
See also:
Rob Gardiner, ‘Arena’ (1993), District Court, Kirikiriroa Hamilton
Image: Bronwyn Holloway-Smith, Public Art Heritage Aotearoa New Zealand, July 2026
- Associated Artworks
