The Story of Vera Cummings
Kathleen Veronica Cummings (08/01/1891 – 14/07/1948) was a New Zealand painter, and a student of Charles Goldie. She is known for her oil paintings of Māori which are in great demand from overseas buyers, and have been offered at auction many times over. Her work, Portrait of a Māori Woman, is part of the collection of the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki. In 2020 an oil on canvas of Harata Rewiti Tarapata, circa 1910, sold for $32,000 at auction.
Vera was born 8th January 1891, in Thames, New Zealand (BDM 1891/3983). Her parents Matthew Cummings and Annie Teresa Cunningham were of Scottish and Irish descent. Annie Teresa Cunningham was born in 1850 in Glasgow, Scotland. Annie came to Auckland from Tasmania as a child with her mother and stepfather Sergeant James Knox, during the Waikato War. Matthew was born July 1839, in Tandragee, County Armagh, Ireland. He arrived in New Zealand via Victoria, Australia aboard the Caduceus in 1862. He joined the militia in 1863 and served in the First Waikato Regiment during the Waikato and Tauranga campaign. On his discharge he was granted land by the government.
Matthew and Annie married circa 1866. They lived in St John’s Redoubt, Hamilton and later moved to Tauranga, and from there to Auckland.
Matthew was well-known in the building trade, both in Thames and in Auckland. He built a number of large timber houses in the suburbs of Ponsonby and Herne Bay, Auckland.
In the early years of their married life, Matthew and Annie experienced the ups and downs of pioneer life. By 1870 they had moved to Thames, the goldfields having opened in 1867. The availability of work and the prospect of striking it rich may have been an attraction.
The Thames Advisor, May 1877, recorded that Matthew Cummings was on the Electoral Roll, and in 1880 that he was working as a carpenter in Thames. He and Annie had 7 daughters and 2 sons – Mary Ann Teresa, 1866 – 1955; Arthur Lewis, 1871 -1960; Charlotte Mabel, 1874 – 1952; Anna Bell, 1876 – 1926; Miriam Bridelia, 1879 – 1971; Bertha, 1881 – 1922; Leonard Matthew, 1884 – 1968; Dorothy Ruth, 1886 – 1888; and Kathleen Veronica, (Vera) 1891 – 1948.
Dorothy died from bronchitis aged 23 months. Matthew and Annie solved the problem of their different religious allegiances by bringing their sons up as Protestants, and their daughters as Catholics. For many years, Matthew was a member of the Thames Volunteer Fire Brigade. He died, 28th September 1906, aged 67/68 years.
Due to poor health, and the possible shortage of money, Vera did not have the opportunity to study, and develop her art overseas. However, when Vera was 11 years of age, she received a scholarship to Elam School of Fine Arts, and was one of the youngest students to attend the school. Whilst there, she studied under C. F. Goldie, a portrait painter of renown. Following her graduation, Vera continued to paint alongside Goldie, painting in his style and often sharing the same sitters.
Charles Frederick Goldie formed connections with many elderly Māori, and believed his paintings were a record of the last surviving Māori, who had lived through many changes brought on by colonisation. The contemporary view was that Māori were a dying race. Despite his belief, he had a good relationship with his sitters, and spoke fluent te reo Māori. With his health deteriorating, Goldie stopped painting in 1941. He died in Auckland, 11th July 1947, aged 77 years.
Vera died 14th July 1948, aged 57 years (BDM 1948/29983). She lived in Parnell, Auckland near Judges Bay for nearly 60 years. She is buried at Waikumete Cemetery, Glen Eden, Auckland, with her mother, who died on the 23rd March 1930, and some of her sisters.
References: Briar Williams, 31 July 2022, BusinessDesk, businessdesk.co.nz; Thames Advisor, Papers Past, paperspast.natlib.govt.nz, 19th May 1877 & 17 April 1880; Paper Past, Auckland Star, 28 September 1906, page 2, paperspast.natlib.govt.nz; Goldie, Charles Frederick, 1870 – 1947, Roger Blackley, Ngā Tāngata Taumata Rau Dictionary of NZ, teara.govt.nz.
Words by Robyn Pearce, volunteer, Thames Museum Te Whare Taonga o te Kauaeranga
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