New Zealand-born Antoinette Godkin has spent the better part of her career representing top European artists in some of London’s premier galleries.
Antoinette Godkin studied at the Elam School of Fine Arts in Auckland before relocating to London in the 1960s after being accepted into both St Martin’s School of Art and Camberwell School of Art. Following her studies at Camberwell, she began her career as Director of Axiom Gallery in London, where she represented internationally recognised artists including Malcolm Morley, the inaugural recipient of the Turner Prize. During this period, she also organised a groundbreaking exhibition for British sculptor Nigel Hall — the first curated exhibition to be staged within an artist’s studio in London’s East End.
Throughout the 1970s, Antoinette served as Director of the Felicity Samuel Gallery in London, representing prominent contemporary artists such as Mark Boyle, Susan Rothenberg, Agnes Martin, Vija Celmins and Ed Ruscha. During this time, she curated the first retrospective exhibition of Boyd Webb at the Auckland City Art Gallery, as well as a major exhibition of works by British artist Mark Boyle, which toured the United States from the Seattle Art Museum to the Museum of Contemporary Art in San Francisco.
In 1973, Antoinette was invited by the New Zealand High Commission to curate Six New Zealand Artists, an exhibition showcasing expatriate New Zealand artists at New Zealand House in London. The exhibition featured works by Boyd Webb, Darcy Lange, John Panting, Terry Powell, Kenneth Griffiths and Steve Furlonger, and subsequently toured New Zealand under the sponsorship of the QEII Arts Council, opening at the Auckland City Art Gallery.
Antoinette Godkin was also commissioned by the Director of the National Gallery of Australia to assemble a collection of European art for the museum, further cementing her reputation as an influential figure in the international contemporary art world.