ARTISTS Tanya Ashken, John Drawbridge, Ralph Hotere, Michael Illingworth, Colin McCahon, Milan Mrkusich, Dennis O'Connor, Evelyn Page, Toss Woollaston ORGANISER Aratoi Wairarapa Museum of Art and History, Masterton OTHER VENUES Aratoi Wairarapa Museum of Art and History; Tauranga Art Gallery; Whangarei Art Museum PUBLICATION essays Luit Bieringa, Damian Skinner  

Over fifty years, two Wellingtonians—the epidemiologist Dr Ian Prior and his late wife Elespie—have amassed a stellar art collection, featuring big names in New Zealand art, including John Drawbridge, Ralph Hotere, Colin McCahon, Milan Mrkusich, Evelyn Page, and Toss Woollaston. This show of their collection takes its title from their 1960 Evelyn Page painting, which features Elespie seated at the head of the table with her youngest daughter on her knee, sitting under a golden ash tree in the painter's garden at Waikanae. Dr Prior helped found the Wellington Sculpture Trust in 1982.