Mark Braunias

Braunias was born in Tauranga on 20 August 1955, one of four sons of Johann Braunias, an Austrian-born house painter. As a child Braunias was inspired by Mad magazine artists, in particular the legendary Bill Elder. His father Johann was also a painter. His brother Steve described his father’s work as "conservatively painted landscapes." Illness and death Braunias and three of his brothers suffered from atrial fibrillation, a condition causing an unsteady heartbeat. The combination of high blood pressure and the blood-thinning agents, which he needed for his condition, led to a high potential risk of a cerebral haemorrhage. Braunias died from a cerebral haemorrhage at Waikato Hospital on 17 December 2024, at the age of 69. ==Career==

Braunias lived and worked in a former Bank of New Zealand building in Kawhia, which he bought in 1996. He used the bank vault as his storeroom for canvases. Bath Street Gallery, Brett McDowell Gallery, Ilam Campus Gallery, Gregory Flint Gallery, City Gallery Wellington, Robert McDougall Art Gallery, the Auckland Art Gallery, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Southland Museum and Art Gallery, Tauranga Art Gallery, the Sarjeant Gallery, and the Christchurch Art Gallery, among others. His last exhibition was at the Ann Packer Gallery in Whanganui, in November 2024. Jonathan Smart, owner of the Jonathan Smart Gallery in Christchurch, said Braunias made paintings "that lean towards abstraction that are also deeply human." ==Awards==

• 1992: Paramount Award, the Wallace Art Awards • 2010: Fulbright-Wallace Arts Trust Award • 2021: Parkin Drawing Prize ==Art residencies==

• 2002: Dunedin Public Art Gallery • 2005: William Hodges Fellowship, Invercargill ==Collections==

The work of Mark Braunias is held in public gallery and private collections including Te Papa Tongarewa National Museum of New Zealand, Christchurch Art Gallery, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, The Sarjeant Art Gallery, Tauranga Art Gallery, Invercargill Art Gallery and Museum, Ashburton Art Gallery, University of Auckland, University of Canterbury, Massey University, Lincoln University, The Fletcher Trust Collection, Art House Trust Collection and the State Library of Queensland. ==References==