Grace Butler

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)