James McLachlan Nairn
Aotearoa New Zealand / Scotland, b.1859, d.1904
Hoeing The Crop
- 1894-1895
- Oil on canvas
- Presented by the Canterbury Society of Arts, 1932
- 440 x 535mm
- 69/508
Tags: chimneys (architectural elements), clouds, cottages, farmers, farms, fences, hats, hills, hoes (agricultural tools), landscapes (representations), people (agents), plein-air, trees
James Nairn’s arrival in Aotearoa New Zealand in 1890 was like a breath of fresh air for the country’s conservative art circles. Originally from Scotland, Nairn was a member of a progressive group of painters known as the Glasgow Boys, who were influenced by French developments in painting during the 1870s and 1880s, and particularly impressionism. He settled in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington and became a strong influence on a younger generation of artists, both as a teacher and a professional artist. This luminous sun-soaked pastoral scene was painted at Silverstream, in the Hutt Valley within easy reach from Wellington. It was here that Nairn and other artists associated with the Wellington Sketch Club rented Pumpkin Cottage, which can be seen in the background. The artists developed a sense of comradery in the club, enjoying travelling from Wellington to Silverstream for weekends of plein air painting together, developing and sharing their interests in impressionism.
(Timeless: Treasures from the Historical Collection 19 September 2026 – 30 May 2027)
Exhibition History
Nature's Own Voice, 6 February - August 2009
This work is likely to have been finished in Nairn’s studio but there is a vibrancy to his technique that strongly suggests parts of it may have been painted outdoors through direct observation. The vegetable crops in the foreground are simply represented,with the dabs of quickly applied paint conveying the strong sense of immediacy found in plein-air paintings. Nairn’s pleinair approach was a revelation to manywhen he arrived in New Zealand fromScotland in 1890, and influenced a new generation of New Zealand artists.
When this painting was cleaned in 2008 we were delighted to find an inscription and date revealed beside the artist’s signature: ‘Taita 1894–95’. Taita is located in Lower Hutt, just down the road from Silverstream, where Nairn and fellow artists established an artist’s colony at Pumpkin Cottage in 1894. Unlike the serene rural setting depicted in Nairn’s painting, Taita today is a sprawling urban centre that was developed after World War II. Nairn painted the sunshine, revelling in its warmth and brightness as it bears down on a labourer toiling away in the fields. With its spontaneous plein-air approach, scenes such as Hoeing the Crop highlight the influence the French Barbizon and Impressionist painters had on Nairn when he was painting in Scotland; an influence he in turn provided for local artists to follow. (March 2018)
Related
Notes
James Nairn (1859-1904)
Today is James Nairn's birthday, an artist who could arguably be described as the father of Impressionism in New Zealand.