Evelyn Page revelled in the effects of sunlight upon her subjects, both people and the landscape. You can share her joy in the warm summer sunlight upon the figures, tree and river in Summer Morn, one of the Gallery’s most beloved paintings. Landscape painting dominated Aotearoa New Zealand art at the time, and one contemporary reviewer praised Page for “tackling the difficult problem of the nude in the open air”. Page was a founding member of The Group, a gathering of progressive young artists in Ōtautahi Christchurch, and she exhibited Summer Morn in the third Group exhibition in September 1929. From around 1939 to 1947, Evelyn and her husband Fred lived at Waitahuna in Governors Bay, which became a treasured meeting place for some of Aotearoa’s leading artists, writers, musicians and academics of the day.

(Timeless: Treasures from the Historical Collection 19 September 2026 – 30 May 2027)