M. T. Woollaston and Colin McCahon need no introduction, for their painting careers have been long and consistent, and both have exerted a considerable influence on their contemporaries. They both share an experience which is rare amongst creative artists in New Zealand, in that neither has made a prolonged visit overseas. So that their work has been evolved entirely within a New Zealand environment.
The aim has been to represent as fully as possible the earlier rather than the recent periods, for the former are the least familiar. And it is hoped that in this way the public may recognize the consistency of style and imagination which have informed both artists since the thirties.
P.A. Tomory, May 1963
Text extracted from: A Retrospective Exhibition: M.T. Woollaston, Colin McCahon, Auckland City Art Gallery, New Zealand, 1963, p.1.