Author Talk: Towards Modernism: The Walter Cook Collection at Te Papa

We're thrilled to host Towards Modernism author, Justine Olsen and collector, Walter Cook as they discuss the history of one of Te Papa's standout collections.

The Walter C Cook Collection of Decorative Arts is one of the treasures of Te Papa. Built up over a twenty-five-year period by Walter Cook, a discerning and determined collector of modest means, its glass, ceramic and metal objects track the evolution of design from the Arts and Crafts movement through to the British and European modernism of the 1970s.

The world’s leading designers – William Morris, Christopher Dresser, Archibald Knox, William Moorcroft, Frank Brangwyn, Charles Noke, Gladys Rogers, Truda Carter, Susie Cooper, Keith Murray, Stig Lindberg, Berte Jessen, Carl-Harry Stålhane and so many more – all feature in its pages.

Book signing to follow.

Buy the book: Towards Modernism by Justine Olsen

Photo credits:

Walter Cook with his collection in his Thorndon home in the late 1980s, photographed by Grant Sheehan. Walter Cook private collection.

Justine Olsen author photo by Yoan Jolly