One of the strengths of the Dunedin Public Art Gallery's collection is in portraiture.
Since 1884, the collection has developed and grown, largely through donations of works of art, or money to buy art, from generous benefactors.
A new exhibition, "Ladies and Gentlemen: At a Glance", gathers some of the portrait paintings that have come into the collection recently. One example is companion paintings from about 1820 of Major Townsend Moncton Hall and his wife Elizabeth.
A participant in British military engagements around the end of the 18th and early 19th century, Major Hall saw action in Egypt in 1801, where he fought against Napoleon's troops and nearly lost his life after both he and his horse were shot. He was saved when the bullet hit a locket containing cuttings of hair from his wife and daughter.
His recorded memoirs, Recollections, are full of such details, and knowing these enriches the painting.
Although most of the pictures in this show are part of the permanent collection, one 17th-century work, titled Lady Boudergem, is on long-term loan.
Another, of whaler and enterprising pioneering trader Jonny Jones, has been part of the collection since 1905 but only recently returned from the Otago Settlers Museum.
Another painting, bought by the gallery last year, depicts James Speight, one of the founders of Speight's Brewery.
In addition to the portraits, a selection of items associated in some way with the individuals or the paintings of them are presented in the exhibition like a cabinet of curiosities, or a series of still-life assemblages.
Some of the links between the objects and the paintings are immediate and direct, while others are more abstract.
The style of the exhibition is intentionally decorative, informal, personal and not seamless, unlike so many other fine art installations, which are heavily staged and filtered by design and interpretation.
Some works have been left on their old mounts or in their old frames, and handwritten letters and stories relating to some of the portrait subjects have been retained and included to expand the contexts for the works.
• "Ladies and Gentlemen: At a Glance" opens at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery on Saturday and runs until January 22.
