Grace Butler first visited the Arthur’s Pass / Ōtira area in 1916, two years after completing her studies at the Canterbury College School of Art, and was immediately captivated by its invigorating alpine scenery. In 1923, she and her husband purchased Jack’s Hut, a former roadman’s shelter near the summit, which served as a base for her frequent painting excursions into the surrounding mountains. Butler pays tribute in this work to the southern rātā, whose brilliant blossoms enliven the Ōtira landscape each summer.

(He Kapuka Oneone – A Handful of Soil, 2025)

Mollie Atkins' watercolour painting of the Ngāi Tahu settlement at Te Rāpaki-o-Te Rakiwhakaputa in Te Whakaraupō Lyttelton Harbour carries a sense of lyrical pleasure in its arrangement of trees, hilly pasture and neighbourhood buildings. The composition includes the old Te Wheke meeting house, church and (at far right) Gallipoli Jetty, opened in 1916 to honour young Ngāi Tahu men serving overseas in World War One. London-born, Birmingham School of Art -trained Mollie Atkins immigrated to New Zealand with her husband and three young sons in 1953, settling at first in Te Waipapa Diamond Harbour and later moving to Christchurch. She exhibited regularly between 1962 and 1980, taught art in a variety of settings, and honed her printmaking skills under Eileen Mayo and Barry Cleavin.