"The portrait of Dame Catherine Tizard was painted by well-known Auckland artist Dick Frizzell. Frizzell was commissioned by the Edmiston Trust to paint the portrait as a lasting tribute to Auckland's first woman mayor, and the driving force behind the Aotea – Te Pokapū | Aotea Centre project.

"Frizzell has a considerable reputation for his landscapes and pop art as well as the occasional portrait, but deciding how to portray the woman who was at that time Governor General of New Zealand was no easy task."

Source: Auckland Live website

This portrait was one of a group of works commissioned for the Aotea Centre.

An information panel installed with the work adds:

“Through this portrait the artist has set out to create a real likeness of Dame Cath. In depicting her as a public figure, Frizzell has sought “the right balance of dignity and aggression, toughness and softness, formality and informality”.

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“He mea tono te ringatoi ki te waihanga i tēnei whakaahua kiritangata o Dame Catherine Tizard – te kaikōkiri matua o te whakawhanaketanga o Te Pokapū o Aotea, te koromatua wahine tuatahi mō Tāmaki Makaurau ā, whai muri mai, ko ia te wahine tuatahi kia mahi hei Kāwana Tianara o Aotearoa.

“I tahuri te ringatoi ki te waihanga i tētahi whakaahua tino rite ki te wahine nei. I a ia e whakaatu ana i a hei whakatangata tūmatahui, i whāia e Frizzell, “te taurite i waenga i te tū rangatira me te ririhau, te pūioio me te ngohengohe, te ōkawa me te ōpaki”.

See also:

• Tara Werner, Karen Scherer, Katherine Findlay, Aotea Centre Women's Committee et al., ‘Aotea Centre: Works of Art’, (Aotea Centre: 1992), pp22-23.

• The Portrait of Dame Cath Tizard, Auckland Live website

• Portrait of Dame Cath Tizard, Edmiston Trust website