The life and spirit of the Gallery was determined by the vision of founding patron Monica Brewster (nee Govett). Monica envisaged a contemporary art museum of international standing that would offer a window to the world in the small coastal community of New Plymouth.
She realised her dream through a generous gift in 1962 and a subsequent bequest to the city that established the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, its policy and Collection.
In 1877, the barrister Clement Govett, founded the legal firm Govett Quilliam in New Plymouth. Clement married Frances Elizabeth Atkinson (whose grandfather Sir Harry Atkinson was Prime Minister of New Zealand for five terms in the 1870s and 1880s) and they had four daughters; Marian, Dorothy, Marjorie and the youngest Monica (born 10 February 1886). The Govett family met tragedy with the death of Marian at age ten and Dorothy at 16. Marjorie married and immigrated to England.
MONICA'S VISION
In 1920 Monica met and married a young medical officer, Rex Brewster. Monica did not have children and devoted herself to art and literature. After Rex’s death in 1952, Monica Brewster decided to dedicate herself more fully to the cultural life of her hometown, New Plymouth.
Consequently on 12 December 1962, Monica Romaine Brewster transferred £50,000 by trust deed to the City of New Plymouth to establish and develop a public art gallery. She understood that initiating an art gallery in New Plymouth would create a significant cultural asset for the town. The name Govett-Brewster Art Gallery was to commemorate both her maiden (Govett) and married names.
Monica Brewster subsequently worked closely with the first Gallery Director John Maynard (appointed 1966) to establish a visionary and innovative exhibition policy and in 1968 developed a collection policy that focused on contemporary art of New Zealand and the Pacific region.
In February 1966 the City Council purchased the former Regent Theatre building in Queen Street, New Plymouth for conversion into the gallery which was officially opened on 22 February 1970 by Eric Westbrook, Director the National Gallery of Victoria.
A CONTINUING LEGACY
Later in 1970, Monica Brewster bequeathed $72,000, the remainder of her estate, for Gallery art acquisitions to support the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery Collection, the proceeds of which continue to expand the Collection to this day. The trust deed remains the foundation of New Zealand’s first contemporary art museum that is both Monica Brewster’s legacy and memorial.
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ABOUT MONICA
During her lifetime Monica was admired for her independent approach to life. Monica Brewster was a ‘futurist’. She possessed great clarity of thought and a tremendous sense of humour. She believed in openness and individuality, choice and freedom of expression. Monica was a liberal thinker. One of her closest friends, Edith Bruce, admired Monica for her "perennial youthfulness and response to new ideas".
Monica kept abreast of world news; she read global newspapers and art magazines. She had a strong interest in modern art, and collected works from the 1930s and 1940s. Whenever she travelled to Europe she would visit art galleries, updating her knowledge of emerging ideas and movements.
She had eclectic tastes and also enjoyed collecting objects and mementos of her travels. Monica was interested in horticulture, tennis, golf, bowls, sketching and amateur theatre. She was a member of the New Plymouth Forest and Bird Society, and a founding member of the Pukeiti Rhododendron Trust. The garden's Brewster walk is named after her. She was also a founding member of the Taranaki Women's Club, becoming its president in 1931, and was patron of the club until her death. But most of all Monica possessed a love for art and literature.
During World War II Monica declared herself a pacifist, a brave approach in a small and then conservative town. At the beginning of the war Monica worked on a horticultural display in a New Plymouth hall. But when the Horticultural Society decided to make the exhibition into a patriotic affair, Monica, having declared herself a conscientious objector and a pacifist, withdrew.
During the last ten years of her life Monica lead a quieter life. She conducted her affairs from her bed. In the late 1960s she moved into Iona Private Hospital where she spent most of her time reading and listening to the radio, tuned to the National programme and discussing the formation and vision of the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery with John Maynard and others. On 13 December 1973 Monica died of pneumonia at Iona Private Hospital.