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An Otira stream (also known as Mountain Rata) by Margaret Stoddart
Collection
This article first appeared as 'Otira colour captured in all its summer glory' in The Press on 28 February 2014.
Paintings of the Otira Gorge more often than not depict the region in its most tempestuous mood, dark brooding clouds enveloping rugged mountain ranges, incessant rainfall and torrents of rushing water sweeping down stream beds. Petrus van der Velden's Mount Rolleston and the Otira River (1893) or John Gibb's Flood in the Otira Gorge (1895), both in Christchurch Art Gallery's collection, come to mind. Paintings such as these present grand monumental views of the Otira in its darkest and most stormy moods of the winter months.
Margaret Stoddart's vibrant watercolour An Otira Stream however presents a far more peaceful moment in the seasonal cycle of the Otira during the height of the summer months. The most distinctive features in this work are the scarlet red blooms of the Mountain Rata (Metrosideros umbellata) which provide a striking contrast to the greens and greys of the forest and stream bed. During the summer months of late January and February Mountain Rata transform the forested slopes of the Gorge into patches of shimmering red. There's not a cloud in the sky and the stream bed lies bone dry with the hot summer sun shining on the mountain tops beyond. These are perfect conditions for Stoddart, a renowned plein air (out-door) painter whose primary interest was in conveying the effects of light on the landscape before her, something she has certainly achieved here.
Stoddart first visited the Arthur's Pass region in 1896 when she completed a camping tour in a wagon with a group of friends along the West Coast Road. She returned towards the end of her career around 1927 by which time she had developed a broad, fluid style of painting that is full of confidence and conviction. Stoddart is much admired for her still-life flower paintings and in An Otira Stream she blends her interest in flowers with the rugged mountainous landscape through the focus on the Mountain Rata blooms.
The Christchurch Art Gallery holds an impressive collection of 40 paintings by Stoddart with examples spanning her career of some forty years from the 1890s to the 1930s. Amongst these are stunning examples of her work as a still-life flower painter, plein air, impressionist influenced paintings completed during her extended stay in Europe from 1898 to 1906, as well as street scenes of Christchurch; but one of the highlights is An Otira Stream.
Mountain Rata are in bloom at Otira Gorge at the moment and would be well worth the effort to view if you happen to be heading up and over Arthur's Pass in the next week or so.
Related reading: Margaret Stoddart: Nature's Artist
Collection
John Gibb Flood in the Otira Gorge
Artist John Gibb emigrated from Scotland and settled in Christchurch in 1876, and was soon recognised as the area’s leading artist. Gibb painted in the academic style, favouring the early morning and evening light when the sun is low and the landscape is bathed for a moment in a luminous glow. Ōtira’s mountains break majestically through low cloud, as light leads the eye down to the wild, raging river below. A horse-drawn coach seems minuscule compared to the sheer force of nature as presented by Gibb.
(Endless Light, 29 June 2019 – 8 March 2020)
Collection
![An Otira Stream [also known as Mountain Rata]](/media/cache/b1/a6/b1a685e39ffb4d405a3f5d7f9ad77aac.jpg)
Margaret Stoddart An Otira Stream [also known as Mountain Rata]
Margaret Stoddart first made the trip along the West Coast Road over Arthur’s Pass and through the Otira Gorge in April 1896, travelling in a hired wagon with several companions. Around 1927 Stoddart completed several watercolours of the gorge including An Otira Stream (also known as Mountain rata). In this work the artist combines her interest in flower painting with landscape to complete a vibrant vision of southern rata in full bloom amongst the rugged Otira terrain. In the summer months of January and February the mountain slopes of the Otira Gorge come alive with the crimson flowers of southern rata.
Collection
Petrus van der Velden Mount Rolleston and the Otira River
Talking about his first visit to Ōtira in 1890, Rotterdam-born artist Petrus van der Velden later recalled, “For the first three days I did nothing at all but just looked, it took my breath away.” A highly skilled professional artist with substantial exhibiting experience in the Netherlands, van der Velden prioritised capturing or expressing emotion in his art over recording the physical features of the landscape. The awe-inspiring setting aided him in this pursuit – especially during stormy weather – and drew him back again and again.
He Kapuka Oneone – A Handful of Soil (from August 2024)
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New Brighton by Margaret Stoddart
This article first appeared as 'Stoddart: an artist for all seasons' in The Press on 17 November 2015.
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Godley House, Diamond Harbour by Margaret Stoddart
This article first appeared as 'Stoddart's summer' in The Press on 15 February 2013.
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Margaret Stoddart: born Diamond Harbour 3 October, 1865.
While the Gallery remains closed to the public the permanent collection continues to grow with several generous gifts and bequests being received recently.
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Diamond that shines
The ruins of Diamond Harbour's Godley House may have finally been removed but the stunning sparkling views out across Lyttelton Harbour remain.
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Happy birthday Margaret
Margaret Stoddart was born on this day in 1865 at Diamond Harbour. Here she is in 1909:
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Godley House
The Press announced today that another iconic Banks Peninsula building is to be demolished, Godley House at Diamond Harbour.
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The Watercolour Collection
The Gallery's Watercolour Collection had modest beginnings, but over the past 70 years it has grown steadily by gift and purchase and, of all the Collections, still maintains a largely traditional emphasis. When the Gallery opened in June 1932, just 28 of the 128 paintings on display were watercolours and, of these, 11 were by British artists and 17 by New Zealanders. Among the mostly nineteenth century British watercolours were those by Helen Allingham, Edgar Bundy, Matthew Hale, Laura Knight, William Lee Hankey and Ernest Waterlow. In contrast, the New Zealand watercolours were by mostly contemporary or early twentieth century artists and included works by James Cook, Olivia Spencer Bower, Margaret Stoddart, Maude Sherwood, Eleanor Hughes and Alfred Walsh. The foundation Watercolour Collection included two paintings of larger than usual dimensions. William Lee Hankey's We've been in the Meadows all day (1184 x 878mm) and Charles N. Worsley's Mount Sefton (996 x 1105mm) are still greater in scale than any other work in the Watercolour Collection.
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Exquisite Treasure Revealed
Canterbury Museum holds two albums compiled by Diamond Harbour artist Margaret Stoddart. The older of the two, containing images featured in this Bulletin, and itself currently exhibited in the Gallery, covers the period 1886–96. The album is handsomely bound in maroon, and stamped M.O.S. in gold. It contains a sort of travelogue by way of black and white photographs set amongst decorative painting, mostly of native flora, with some locality and date information.
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Margaret Stoddart Anna Ollivier Roses
“I live out my own world & follow in the lives of Frances Hodgkins […] and other women painters,” wrote Rita Angus. One of those painters was fellow Waitaha Canterbury artist Margaret Stoddart. Like Margaret, Rita developed a deep appreciation of botanical subjects in her work. Although both artists are known for their landscapes, their approach to watercolour couldn’t be more different; Margaret’s lively impressionistic approach contrasts with Rita’s work, which is rich with the detail usually reserved for a botanical artist illustrating a scientific journal.
(Perilous: Unheard Stories from the Collection, 6 August 2022- )