Mark Venables was born in Napier in 1917 to parents Vernon and Miriam Athol Rachael .From 1931 he attended art classes at night school with John Oakley, art master at Napier Boys High School. Mark served his printing apprenticeship with his grandfather in the well-known Napier firm of Venables Willis.
In January 1942 Mark enlisted in the Medical Corps of the New Zealand Army. He served in the Solomon Islands and New Caledonia, rising to the rank of sergeant. While serving in the Army Mark continued to sketch and paint the scenes around him. He also did sketches of his fellow soldiers for a shilling a time to earn extra pocket money. Another artist serving in the Medical corps (7th Field Ambulance) was William Reed and in May 1944 Mark also met up with Russell Clark, an official war artist, on Mono Island in the Solomons.
During the War his paintings were exhibited in American as well as New Zealand Army shows, winning second prize for watercolour of a semi-nude native girl in an American exhibition. He is represented in the NZ Army Museum in Waiouru.
After demobilisation in 1945 Mark was determined to go to Art College, much against his father’s wishes for him to attend medical school, but at age 28 he had made up his own mind. He was accepted for the Canterbury College School of Art, Christchurch and began his three-year Diploma course in 1946. The Director of the Art School at the time was Richard Wallwork, the tutors included; Colin and Rata Lovell-Smith, Cecil and Elizabeth Kelly, Russell Clark, Bill Sutton and Francis Shurrock. Mark’s fellow students included David Payne, Nan Manchester, Frank Foster, John Fuller and Lois Watkins (niece of Kennett, a founder member of the ASA).
Graduating in 1949, Mark entered the teaching profession, first as art master at Hastings High School and later at Seddon Memorial Technical College, Auckland. Also on the staff was his old classmate Nan Manchester. His last appointment was to the staff of the ATI where he taught in the National School of Printing and the Graphic Art section
Many art teachers find it difficult to keep up their own work as artists while they are daily involved in their teaching and its related activities. Mark however continued to paint steadily, making up to three painting expeditions a year, and holding regular exhibitions of his work. There have been many influences on Mark's painting over the years, and they can be clearly seen in this retrospective exhibition. His war paintings demonstrate Mark's natural drawing ability that had been nurtured by his first tutor John Oakley. In the works he completed while attending the Christchurch School of Art the influence of his various tutors there is clearly evident.
After settling in Auckland and becoming a working member of the ASA in 1954, Mark attended the great variety of exhibitions held in Auckland at all the various public and dealer galleries. In 1970, after the death of his first wife, Mark embarked on a year long trip to Europe, travelling in a VW Combi van through the Continent, painting and visiting galleries to see the works of the artists he had long admired from the illustrations in volumes on European art.
Following his return in 1972, he began his last teaching position at ATI, and in 1975 he purchased some printing equipment that he set up in an Epsom house he had previously rented out as two flats. Mark retired in 1979 and devoted much of his time to printing in addition to continuing his painting. He became the secretary-treasurer of the Handcraft Printers Association in 1981. Mark wrote, illustrated, printed, bound and published seven volumes, and produced two volumes of work by other authors. These books are works of art in their own right and demonstrate the considerable skills of this multi- talented man.
Mark Venables has left the legacy of a lifetime’s work, which stands testament to his great passion for, and commitment to, the visual arts.
Biographical notes from Jonathan Grant Galleries website:
Mark Venables: An Artist's Journey
During the Second World War Venables served in the Medical Corps of the NZ army alongside American troops in the Solomon Islands and New Caledonia. During this time he produced an extensive number of watercolours that captured the essence of the Pacific Campaign. These watercolours are a faithful record of his service in the Pacific, detailing the troops he fought alongside and the integral elements of war such as aircraft, camps, battleships, landing craft and canteen queues.
Returning to New Zealand in 1945, Venables embarked on a career in the visual arts and enrolled at the Canterbury College School of Art. His paintings of this period are representative of a generation of New Zealand artists who were trained in the traditional methods of drawing and painting and whose work was influenced by the momentous changes of the end of the 20th century. The work of Venables clearly displays the influence of his New Zealand contemporary artists such as Rata Lovell-Smith, William Sutton and Francis Shurrock. A selection of their work is therefore also included in the exhibition. Venables exhibited frequently with the Auckland Society of Artists from 1954 and later became the Vice President.
Following his retirement in 1979, Venables turned to his passion for bookmaking. The Venables family had an established tradition as printers and Mark had served an apprenticeship under his grandfather in Napier which endowed him with the knowledge, ability and passion to create beautiful limited edition books which he personally wrote, illustrated, type set, printed and hand bound. Some rare examples of these books are included in this exhibition.
There are over sixty paintings and watercolours in this retrospective featuring examples from all periods of his artistic life as well as a number of works by his contemporaries and tutors.
Jonathan Gooderham, the managing director of Jonathan Grant Galleries, says ‘This collection of paintings has particular significance as next year is the 60th anniversary of V-J Day.’ AWMM