Photography: Amalia Osborne
When talented artist Greg Whitecliffe proposed to his girlfriend Michèle at Auckland’s Mount Eden Gardens in 1981, she didn’t say yes. The romance had been a whirlwind and she needed time to think about it.
“I thought, ‘If I marry an artist, we’re never going to have regular money coming in – what will we survive on?” recalls Michèle, smiling.
“So instead I came up with a deal. “A week later, I said to him, ‘You’re a great tutor – if we start a business and set up an art school together, I’ll marry you.’ It was an audacious vision really.”
Nine months later, the couple co-founded Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design. When Greg died in 2001 from cancer, aged only 46, it was the school that “saved” her.
“It really did because our three kids were all so young when he suddenly died,” explains Michèle.
“The school brought in a regular income and kept me connected to a purpose and the creative community. Greg also had a gallery. So I was left with this rather large personal art collection.”
Now, despite a reticence to be in the limelight, she has chosen to give a number of those treasures – entitled 100 Works for Mercy – a new chapter in support of hospice care. The collection will go on display before going under the hammer online from August 6 to 17. The collection includes a mix of landscapes, abstracts, figurative works, portraits, sketches, watercolours and screen-prints.
A final gift of generosity
Proceeds from the auction will support Mercy Hospice, which provides free specialist palliative care for people living with life-limiting illness across central Auckland. It relies on donations to cover nearly half of its annual costs.
“We come into this world with nothing and go out with nothing, so I’d rather have the art be enjoyed by others than sitting in my storage,” says Michèle, who is in her late sixties.
“Things have got really tough for hospice in the past few years – they’re not getting enough support. And I’ve had friends die in hospice and seen how it gives them such dignity at the end of their lives.”
Michèle’s own mother also received great care from Mary Potter Hospice in Wellington, when she died from brain cancer two years before Greg passed away at home. She says from the moment she met her future husband – through art, of course – Greg was planning their future life together.
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A love story painted in colour
It was the early ’80s, when Michèle had returned from working overseas and started up an employment agency with three others. But, missing a creative outlet, she decided to enrol in a drawing night class at Selwyn College. Greg was the charming tutor.
She remembers, “I thought I was going to a drawing class, but then he whipped out paintbrushes! I said ‘This isn’t what I came for!’ and I wasn’t impressed by his painting demonstration. “He wanted to win me over, I think, so he invited me out to lunch to ‘see his etchings!’” she chuckles.
“We fell in love quickly. By the end of that year, he proposed.”
While their art school went on to build up a great reputation, Michèle says Greg (of Te Arawa and Ngāti Pikiao descent) began having recurring dreams that he was going to die young.
“At his 40th birthday, I remember writing in his card, ‘See you’re wrong! You’ve made it!’ But at 46, he did die – just under a year of being diagnosed with pancreatic and liver cancer. “It was a very sad finish. His father and grandfather had also died at the same age. I didn’t have a lot of support and it was difficult. “But it’s not about how hard you fall – it’s how you pick yourself up when something like this happens. You’ve just got to get on with life.”
Keeping Greg’s legacy alive
Michèle went on to lead Whitecliffe for 17 years before selling it to an international owner in 2018. Now, alongside the couple’s three children – Amber, 39, Hayden, 37, and Laken, 35 – Michèle is carrying on Greg’s legacy by championing New Zealand artists while supporting families affected by cancer.
When asked if she herself has created any pieces that will be up for auction next month, the grandmother of six laughs uproariously.
“Well, when I saw what was being produced by my husband, I decided that perhaps I should stay away from that side of things and focus on building Whitecliffe with Greg. “These 100 Works for Mercy each carry a story while being affordable art. It’s not top-end. I want young people to be able to afford to have something on their walls.
“It feels very meaningful to see the pieces begin new chapters in new homes while supporting the extraordinary care hospice provides to people and their whānau.”
The 100 Works for Mercy will take place at Cordys.co.nz from August 6-17 2026, with all proceeds supporting Mercy Hospice.
The collection will be on public display at Cordy’s Auction House in Mt Eden from August 13-17, allowing visitors to view the works in person.
A good cause
Across New Zealand, hospices are facing a growing funding challenge as the need for specialist palliative care increases.
National projections indicate that hospice demand will rise significantly in the coming decades, with the annual hospice funding shortfall expected to reach $196 million by 2043.
The number of patients supported by Mercy Hospice has nearly doubled in the past four years and it supports more than 400 patients at any one time, with the help of 178 staff and over 700 volunteers.
