The thesis will examine the apparent absence of the artist Theo Schoon (Java 1915- Sydney 1985) from the accepted canon of New Zealand art history, despite his relationship with some of its most notable artists, including Colin McCahon, Rita Angus and Gordon Walters. The thesis will also readdress Schoon's importance to the development of modernist art in New Zealand and Australia, through a detailed examination of his life, his development as an artist (with particular attention to his life in the Dutch East-Indies, and his training in Rotterdam, Netherlands), and his influence over New Zealand's artistic community.