as a gardener in Christchurch. His friend R. N. O’Reilly organised an exhibit at the Wellington Public Library February 1947, then at the Lower Hutt Municipal Public Library. In September 1947, McCahon showed a different selection at the Dunedin Public Library. By 1948, McCahon and Hamblett had relocated to Christchurch. McCahon met poet John Caselberg in Christchurch in October 1948. McCahon collaborated with Caselberg on various works that fused words and images. The support of the poet and editor, Charles Brasch, enabled McCahon to visit Melbourne from July to August 1951 to study paintings in the National Gallery of Victoria. In August 1949, Helen Hitchings’s gallery mounted a joint exhibition of works by McCahon and Woollaston in Wellington; a selection was shown in Auckland later that month. In May 1953, McCahon moved his family to Titirangi, Auckland, where they bought a house. Partly as a result of his exposure to the area, McCahon painted many landscapes featuring beaches, the sea, the sky, land, boats, and kauri trees. He started working at the Auckland City Art Gallery first as a cleaner, then as a custodian of the paintings, and finally, in April 1956, as the deputy director. McCahon assisted in the professionalisation of the gallery and helped it mount the first exhibitions and publications to record New Zealand art history. From April to July 1958, McCahon and his wife visited the United States on gallery business. They used the visit as an opportunity to view art that interested them in major galleries. Colin and Ann McCahon visited galleries and museums throughout America. Paintings such as The Wake and the Northland Panels reflect McCahon’s immediate response to this visit, which accelerated his stylistic development during the following decade. In 1964, McCahon started working as a lecturer at the Elam School of Fine Arts at the University of Auckland. Teaching and exhibiting In 1960, the family moved to a house in central Auckland. In August 1964, McCahon resigned from the Auckland City Art Gallery and began lecturing at the University of Auckland’s Elam School of Fine Arts, where he remained for six years, influencing a generation of artists, including Richard Killeen, Robin White, and Ian Scott. During the 1960s, McCahon's work enjoyed increased exposure and recognition in New Zealand and internationally. McCahon worked almost exclusively in black and white after the mid-'60s and produced a number of works combining numbers and texts, such