Melvin Day
Melvin Norman "Pat" Day CNZM (30 June 1923 – 17 January 2016) was a New Zealand painter and art historian who helped shape the country’s art scene. Born in Hamilton, he began art lessons as a child and trained at Elam School of Art in Auckland, earning a diploma before serving in the New Zealand Army and Royal New Zealand Air Force during World War II.
After the war, Day married Oroya McAuley in 1952 and lived in Rotorua for a while. He moved to Wellington in 1954 to study at Victoria University of Wellington and to teach. From the late 1950s he exhibited widely, and his work was chosen for the 1961 Commonwealth Art Today exhibition in London. In 1963 he studied at the Courtauld Institute in London, where he developed a strong interest in Paolo Uccello, which led to his famous Uccello-inspired series.
Day returned to New Zealand and, in 1968, became director of the National Art Gallery of New Zealand (now Te Papa). He served in that role until 1978, during which time he helped establish the reputations of artists like Colin McCahon, Don Binney, and Gordon Walters. He continued to paint and held retrospectives in 1970 and 1971, with a major survey, Melvin Day – Full Circle, in 1984.
In 1978 Day began serving as government art historian, a position he held until 1984. He remained active as an artist and curator, with later exhibitions including Continuum in 2004 and related projects through the 2000s. In recognition of his services to painting and art history, he was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2003.
Day died in Wellington in 2016 from a stroke. He was predeceased by his wife Oroya in 2014; Oroya was a prominent local historian and the founding president of the Katherine Mansfield Birthplace Society.
Day’s work is held in major New Zealand collections, including Te Papa, The Dowse, Rotorua Museum, and others, reflecting his enduring influence as both an artist and a scholar.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 12:30 (CET).