Ralph Hotere

Hone Papita Raukura "Ralph" Hotere, ONZ (11 August 1931 – 24 February 2013) was a New Zealand artist of Māori descent (Te Aupōuri and Te Rarawa). He was born in Mitimiti, Northland and is widely regarded as one of New Zealand's most important artists. In 1994 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Otago and in 2003 received an Icon Award from the Arts Foundation of New Zealand.

In the New Year Honours 2012 Hotere was appointed to the Order of New Zealand for services to New Zealand.

Hotere was born in Mitimiti, close to the Hokianga Harbour in the Northland Region, one of 15 children. He received his secondary education at Hato Petera College, Auckland, where he studied from 1946 to 1949. After early art training at Auckland Teachers' Training College under the tutelage of J. D. Charlton Edgar, he moved to Dunedin in 1952, where he studied at Dunedin School of Art, part of King Edward Technical College. During the later 1950s, he worked as a schools art advisor for the Education Department in the Bay of Islands.