LANDSCAPE ART IN NEW ZEALAND 



NEW ZEALAND is a land of contrasts, ranging from sub- 

 tropical in the north almost to subarctic in the south ; from 

 the lofty ranges of the Southern Alps to the wide plains of 

 Canterbury ; from dense bush, deep valleys, and boulder-clad 

 streams to the open seaboard ; from raupo swamp and Maori settle- 

 ments to the homesteads and cultivated paddocks of the European ; 

 from the volcanoes and hot springs of the north to the cold lakes of the 

 south ; abounding in a fiord scenery unequalled in the world, New 

 Zealand presents many and varied aspects to the landscape and marine 

 painter. Certain difficulties, however, present themselves to the painter 

 accustomed to English landscape. The extreme clarity of the atmo- 

 sphere giving on many days a first impression of hard brightness to every 

 object, either far or near ; the absence, except in the south, of long 

 evenings and sustained twilight effects, and the comparative rarity of 

 the still, grey day beloved of the painter, all add to the demands made 

 on the trained eye of the artist. To this may be added the prevailing 

 greyness of the native landscape, monotonous to the casual eye in its 

 general colour effect, lacking the spring and autumnal tints of the 

 English scenery, and the luscious reds, browns, and greens found in the 

 more humid atmosphere " at home." 



The cultivated portions of New Zealand, moreover, are oftentimes tree- 

 less and monotonous, devoid of picturesque details and ready-made 

 subjects such as old cottages, mills, and quaint villages. Far from being 

 an evil, however, this is in reality an advantage. The elimination of 

 the trivial, the obvious, and the merely picturesque necessitates the 

 artist searching for the larger and simpler truths in nature, untram- 

 melled by the intrusion of the unessential, and urges him to seek for 

 the delicate colours, subtle harmonies, and values which gradually reveal 

 themselves to the discerning eye, undisturbed by gaudy colouring or 

 mere prettiness. The art of the really earnest student of nature in New 

 Zealand, therefore, tends to be austere, simple, or decorative according 

 to the temperament of the artist ; whilst the painter who merely wishes 

 to " pot-boil " is driven to the mountain, lake, or waterfall for the 

 obviously grandiose or merely pretty picture. 



Landscape art in New Zealand has a brief history of little more than 

 fifty years ; but of those who have left their influence upon it none stand 

 out more clearly than John Gulley and Petrus van der Velden, and 

 Auckland, Wellington, and Canterbury artists unite in acknowledging 

 a debt to them. Gulley, who was a landscape painter pure and simple, 

 was entirely self-taught and did not practise seriously till comparatively 

 late in life when he left the government service. Though his water- 

 colours might possibly appear somewhat precise to the modern artist 

 they are entirely sincere and spontaneous, full of poetry and delicate in 

 colour. The large water-colour shown here (p. 93) is the last one painted 



85 



