Palettes and palates: Jacqueline Bullmore’s Florentine diary

Jacqueline and Edward Bullmore, in their early twenties, left New Zealand for Florence in 1959. The art found in Florence would change the course of Edward's artistic oeuvre, ultimately distancing him from New Zealand's nationalist prescription of representational landscape painting. Jacqueline, homesick and a young mother-to-be, kept a diary of their daily routines. Away from New Zealand they tried their hardest to emulate aspects of New Zealand in their Florence apartment. Being in an international context was also about retaining their New Zealand identity, including their diet. A diary of private proportions has brought to life a six-month sojourn in a city imbued with the classical world, the Renaissance and the contemporary work of Italy's metaphysical painters, all of which fused together making Edward Bullmore one of New Zealand's earliest Surrealists. This essay discusses Jacqueline's diary and how it has assisted in the understanding of two young New Zealand travellers, both artists distanced from family and familiarity.