{{Short description|New Zealand sculptor (1940–1972)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2023}} '''John Panting''' (1940–1974) was an English-based New Zealand sculptor.
== History == Panting was born in Palmerston North and attended Palmerston North Boys' High School. In 1962 he graduated with honours from the University of Canterbury School of Fine Arts where he was taught by Tom Taylor and Eric Doudney among others. The following year he was awarded a three-year Government arts grant to train overseas and traveled to the UK.<ref>{{Cite news |date=21 December 1962 |title=State Awards for Training in Arts |pages=19 |work=The Press (Christchurch) |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19621221.2.214?end_date=31-12-1989&items_per_page=10&page=8&query=john+panting&snippet=true&start_date=01-01-1861&title=CHP}}</ref>
== Teaching career == Panting was accepted into the Royal College of Art in 1964 where he studied alongside fellow New Zealander Stephen Furlonger. They both appear in a photograph by Lord Snowdon in the book about the British art scene, ''Private View''.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Robertson |first1=Bryan |title=Private View |last2=Russell |first2=John |last3=Lord Snowdon |publisher=Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd |year=1965 |location=London |pages=292 |language=}}</ref> After graduating in 1966, Panting and Furlonger shared a studio space and ran a small basement gallery while Panting was asked to stay on as a lecturer in sculpture.<ref>{{Cite news |date=9 April 1977 |title=Sculptor's Memorial |pages=2 |work=The Press (Christchurch)}}</ref> In 1967 he began teaching at the Central School of Art and Design in London (now known as Central Saint Martins) and spent time in 1969 as a visiting lecturer at both Auckland and Christchurch University art schools.<ref>{{Cite news |date=3 June 1970 |title=Young N.Z. Sculptor's Success In London |pages=1 |work=The Press (Christchurch) |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19700603.2.9?end_date=31-12-1989&items_per_page=10&page=12&query=john+panting&snippet=true&start_date=01-01-1861&title=CHP}}</ref> The New Zealand sculptor Neil Dawson remembers Panting's visit to the Canterbury University Art School as, 'just extraordinary...a human link with ideas that ranged the whole of the twentieth century but who also had a tangible link into Britain with Caro - a contemporary link with the Constructivists and Minimalists.'<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Barr |first1=Jim |title=Neil Dawson: Site Works 1981-1989 |last2=Barr |first2=Mary |publisher=National Art Gallery |year=1989 |location=Wellington, New Zealand |pages=74}}</ref> In 1972 Lund Humphries published Panting's book ''Sculpture in glass-fibre'' which was the first study of the use of polyester resin and glass-fibre in the production of sculpture.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Sculpture in glass-fibre: the use of polyester resin and glass-fibre in sculpture |date=1972 |publisher=Lund Humphries |isbn=978-0-85331-308-3 |editor-last=Panting |editor-first=John |series=Studies in art and design |location=London |editor-last2=Royal College of Art}}</ref> The same year he was appointed Head of the Sculpture at the Central School of Art and Design.<ref>{{Cite news |date=13 August 1974 |title=Tribute to a Sculptor |work=The Press (Christchurch) |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19740813.2.70?end_date=31-12-1989&items_per_page=10&query=john+panting&snippet=true&start_date=01-01-1861&title=CHP}}</ref>
Panting died in a motor cycle accident near his studio in 1974.<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 1974 |title=Sculptor Killed in Car Crash Press |work=The Press (Christchurch) |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19740803.2.3?end_date=31-12-1989&query=john+panting&snippet=true&start_date=01-01-1861&title=CHP}}</ref>
== Selected exhibitions == Panting was exhibited by both dealer galleries and art museums through his short career. In 1972 he was selected for the major exhibition ''British Sculptors '72'', curated by Bryan Kneale and shown at the Royal Academy. Here Panting was placed alongside leading artists of the time such as Kenneth Armitage, Barry Flanagan, Philip King and Eduardo Luigi Paolozzi.<ref>{{Cite web |title=British Sculptors '72 |url=https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/art-artists/archive/british-sculptors-72 |access-date=6 June 2023}}</ref> In a review the writer and curator John Wood described the exhibition as ‘groundbreaking’<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wood |first=John |title=John Panting Rediscovered |url=http://poussin-gallery.com/site.php?exhibition=46 |access-date=6 June 2023}}</ref> Also in 1972 in New Zealand, the Manawatu Art Gallery organised the exhibition ''John Panting''<ref>{{Cite web |title=John Panting |url=https://christchurchartgallery.org.nz/exhibitions/john-panting |access-date=6 June 2023}}</ref> that was the subject of a nation-wide tour. Two years later he was included in ''Six New Zealand Artists'' which was first exhibited at New Zealand House in London.<ref>{{Cite news |title=NZ Sculptors show in UK, 20 February 1973, Page 10 |work=The Press (Christchurch) |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19730220.2.72?end_date=31-12-1989&items_per_page=10&page=3&phrase=2&query=%22John+Panting%22&snippet=true&start_date=01-01-1960&type=ARTICLE |access-date=6 June 2023}}</ref> and then toured public galleries in New Zealand.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Six New Zealand Artists |url=https://christchurchartgallery.org.nz/exhibitions/six-new-zealand-artists-john-panting-stephen-furlo |access-date=6 June 2023}}</ref>
In 1975, a year after his death, the Serpentine Galleries mounted the survey exhibition ''John Panting 1940–74''<ref>{{Cite web |title=John Panting Sculpture 1940–1974 |url=https://www.serpentinegalleries.org/whats-on/john-panting-sculpture-1940-1974/ |access-date=6 June 2023}}</ref> with a catalogue published by the Arts Council of Great Britain.<ref>{{Cite book |title=John Panting – sculpture: 1940 – 1974; 2 – 28 September 1975, Serpentine Gallery |date=1975 |isbn=978-0-7287-0070-3 |editor-last=Panting |editor-first=John |location=London |editor-last2=Verney |editor-first2=Rose |editor-last3=Arts Council of Great Britain |editor-last4=Serpentine Gallery}}</ref> The exhibition was toured around New Zealand by the Arts Councils of Great Britain 1976–1977.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wilson |first=T.L. Rodney |title=Exhibitions Christchurch |url=https://art-newzealand.com/5-exhibitionschc/ |access-date=6 June 2023}}</ref>
Panting was reintroduced to the public in 2005 by the Poussin Gallery established by the British painter Robin Greenwood in London.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Robin Greenwood Obituary |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2023/may/14/robin-greenwood-obituary |access-date=6 June 2023}}</ref> In 2013 the Poussin Gallery worked with Victoria University of Wellington's Adam Art Gallery and the British curator Sam Cornish to develop the exhibition ''John Panting Spatial Constructions''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=John Panting: Spacial Constructions |url=https://www.adamartgallery.nz/exhibitions/archive/2013/john-panting-spatial-constructions |access-date=6 June 2023}}</ref>
A full list of Panting’s exhibitions is available in the publication ''John Panting: a Record of Structure''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=John Panting: a Record of Structure |url=http://www.andrew-baker.com/John_Panting_A_record_of_structure_All.pdf |access-date=6 June 2023}}</ref>
==Collections== Panting's work is held in the permanent collection of the Tate Museum,<ref name="Tate">{{cite web |title=John Panting |url=https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/john-panting-12007 |website=Tate Museum |access-date=6 June 2023}}</ref> Te Papa Tongarewa/Museum of New Zealand,<ref name="Te Papa">{{cite web |title=John Panting |url=https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/agent/1769 |website=Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand |access-date=6 June 2023}}</ref> Auckland Art Gallery,<ref name="AAG">{{cite web |title=John Panting |url=https://www.aucklandartgallery.com/search/artworks?section=collection&artist=john+panting&undated=undated&q=%2Fexplore-art-and-ideas%2Fadvanced-collection-search |website=Auckland Art Gallery |access-date=6 June 2023}}</ref> and the British Arts Council Collection.<ref name="BACC">{{cite web |title=John Panting |url=https://artscouncilcollection.org.uk/search/all/John%20Panting |website=British Arts Council Collection |access-date=6 June 2023}}</ref>
== Further reading == *Sam Cornish Essay for 2013 Adam Art Gallery exhibition ''John Panting Spatial Constructions'' * Jennifer Hay, ''John Panting: New Zealand's New Generation Sculptor'' New Zealand Journal of Art History Vol 25, 2004
== References == {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Panting, John}} Category:New Zealand sculptors Category:20th-century New Zealand artists Category:1940 births Category:1974 deaths Category:People from Palmerston North Category:People educated at Palmerston North Boys' High School