13 Facts About Don Binney

Donald Hall Binney was a New Zealand painter, best known for his paintings of birds.

Don Binney's tutors included Ida Eisa, James Turkington, Robert Ellis and Robin Wood.

In 1962, Don Binney began painting at Te Henga, and views of Puketotara with indigenous birds became a common motif in his artworks.

In birdwatching, Don Binney said he discovered a passage into the landscape and the opportunity to develop a personal relationship with it.

Don Binney described himself as a figurative painter concerned with the psychic metaphor of the environment.

Don Binney was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, for services to art, in the 1995 Queen's Birthday Honours.

Don Binney was appointed as one of Waitakere City's inaugural arts laureates in 2004.

Don Binney died of a heart attack while in hospital in Auckland for an unrelated illness on 14 September 2012, at the age of 72, and was survived by his second wife Philippa and daughter Mary.

In 1965, Binney was included in a survey show of New Zealand painting, held in London and in the "Eight NZ Artists" touring show of Australian state galleries.

Don Binney lived in Mexico, London and Australia, but returned to teach at Elam, becoming the senior lecturer in fine arts in 1979.

Don Binney has exhibited widely throughout New Zealand and was the subject of a thirty-year survey show at the Fisher Gallery, Pakuranga in 1989.

Don Binney had a retrospective exhibition curated by Damien Skinner that toured the country from 2003 to 2004.

Don Binney's work is represented in many public collections including the Auckland Art Gallery, The University of Auckland and Te Papa.