Walk with me

Last night The Man in the Hat, a documentary about art dealer Peter McLeavey, screened at the Wellington Film Festival. Founded on religious metaphor, the fight for cultural recognition, a bunch of great artists and a couple of rooms in Cuba Street, the Peter McLeavey Gallery helped promote New Zealand art here, and abroad, through the collections of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Recently a couple of academics, replying to a charge that they had ignored Peter McLeavey’s role in the Mrkusich story responded, “It did not cross our minds to devote any of the text to an analysis of his role as Mrkusich's dealer. Ultimately, he was just that - Mrkusich's dealer. What is there of interest about that?” A quick look round New Zealand public and private collections and a viewing of The Man in the Hat would put a silver bullet into that one.
Image: Peter McLeavey speaks at the screening of The Man in the Hat