Ernest Mervyn Taylor

• Name — Mervyn Taylor • Birth Name — Ernest Mervyn Taylor • Born — 4 August 1906 • Birthplace — Auckland, New Zealand • Died — 7 June 1964 • Place of death — Wellington, New Zealand • Field — * Wood engraving • Mural • Movement — Modernism

Taylor completed a number of murals towards the end of his career. Information is varied on the current status of these works: some are known to be intact, some have been boarded over, some are in need of restoration work, and the fate of others is simply unknown. Between 2015 and 2018, these works were the subject of the E. Mervyn Taylor Mural Search and Recovery Project at the College of Creative Arts, Massey University. The project lead to a book Wanted: The Search for the Modernist Murals of E. Mervyn Taylor.

• Original Location — Architects — Mural title — Medium — Dimensions H x W mm — Artist — Date — Current Location — Heritage listed • Wellington New Zealand Meat Board Directors' Room, Massey House, 126–132 Lambton Quay — Plischke & Firth — Carved totara panel — E. Mervyn Taylor — c. 1957 — Unknown • Otaki War Memorial Hall, 69 Main St — Sandblasted glass windows — 2610 x 2440 — E. Mervyn Taylor — 1957 — In situ • Wellington Khandallah Presbyterian Church, 27 Ganges Rd, Khandallah — The Ascension — Sandblasted glass windows — E. Mervyn Taylor — 1959 — In situ • Masterton Post Office, 122 Queen St — Early Settlers — Ceramic tiles — 4400 x 4400 — E. Mervyn Taylor — 1960 — Hidden behind a wall — Masterton District Council • New Plymouth War Memorial Hall, Museum & Library, 1 Ariki St — Edgar Collins — Sandblasted glass window — 1800 x 3300 — E. Mervyn Taylor — 1960 — In situ. Site now Puke Ariki • New Plymouth Post Office, Cnr Gill and Currie Sts — Edgar Collins — Sandblasted glass atrium ceiling — Estimated to 8000 x 8000 — E. Mervyn Taylor — c. 1960 — In situ. Partially covered and difficult to view. Site now occupied by ANZ Banking Group • Masterton War Memorial Stadium Hall of Memories, 2 Dixon St, North Masterton — Lest We Forget — Ceramic tiles — 1995 x 3685 — E. Mervyn Taylor — 1960–61/1966 — In situ • Wairoa Centennial Library, 212 Marine Parade — Porter & Martin (A.A.) — Painted wall partition, using Resene PVA matt latex paint — 3500 x 3160 — E. Mervyn Taylor — c. 1961 — Unknown • Hutt Valley Foyer of Soil Bureau, 182 Eastern Hutt Rd, Taita — Porter & Martin (A.A.) — First Kumera Planting — Painting directly on concrete wall, using Resene PVA matt latex paint — 1850 x 2750 — E. Mervyn Taylor — 1962 — Unknown. Site now occupied by The Learning Connexion art school • Wellington Foyer (assumed) of National Mutual Life Assurance Building, 153 Featherston St — Gray Young, Morton & Calder — Painting directly on wall — Approx. 2140 x 7315 — E. Mervyn Taylor — 1963 — Unknown. Site now occupied by the Ibis Hotel • Auckland COMPAC building, 1 Akoranga Drive, Northcote — Te Ika-a-Māui — Ceramic tiles — Approx. 2625 x 3430 — E. Mervyn Taylor — 1962 — Auckland. Takapuna Library. Property of Spark NZ • Wellington Foyer of Broadcasting House — Supervising architect: Gordon Wilson (Government Architect) — Time and Space — Carved kauri panel, from one plank — 800 x 1850 — E. Mervyn Taylor — 1963 — RNZ boardroom, Radio New Zealand House, 155 The Terrace • Wellington Cable Price Downer House, 108 (106–110) The Terrace — Orchiston, Power & Associates — Industry — Ceramic tiles — Approx. 3005 x 3005 — E. Mervyn Taylor — 1964 — Unknown. Site now Berl House

One of his commissions was a mural at the Taitā headquarters of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), Soil Bureau, depicting a cloaked Māori figure using a kō (digging stick). In the short film "Pictorial Parade No. 128", produced in 1962 by the National Film Unit, Taylor can be seen discussing the mural with Norman Taylor (Director of the Soil Bureau), and subsequently painting it.

The mural was commissioned by the New Zealand Government to mark the 1962 completion of the Tasman leg of the Commonwealth Pacific Cable System (COMPAC)—an underwater telephone cable system connecting New Zealand to its Commonwealth allies in the aftermath of World War Two. The mural was originally housed in the COMPAC landing station in Auckland. In 2014 this mural was discovered by artist Bronwyn Holloway-Smith. The work was brought to public attention once again through her project Te Ika-a-Akoranga.

• Illustration — Woodcut:Tui • Illustration — Woodcut • Illustration — Mural: Te Ika-a-Māui, 1962. Takapuna Library, Auckland. • Illustration — Treasures & Landscapes poster, 1990. Museum of New Zealand

Ernest Mervyn Taylor is recorded as painter and engraver.

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