John Gully
Aotearoa New Zealand / British, b.1819, d.1888
Golden Bay, Nelson
- c. 1880
- Watercolour
- Donated by Mrs E M McIlraith, 1971
- 444 x 694mm
- 71/38
- View on google maps
Location: Sir Robertson and Lady Stewart Gallery
Tags: bays (bodies of water), landscapes (representations), natural landscapes, seas, trees
From an elevated vantage on rugged bush-clad hills, John Gully captured the dramatic sweep of Mohua Golden Bay and the distant snow-capped ranges. The area was long occupied by Māori: initially Ngāti Tūmatakōkiri, who were gradually displaced by Ngāti Apa, Ngāti Kuia, Ngāti Rārua, Ngāti Tama and Te Āti Awa following periods of conflict and migration, often driven by the need for access to the prized resource of pounamu, or greenstone.
(Ha Kapuke Oneone, 2025)
Exhibition History
Although this work has been given the title Golden Bay, Nelson, the scene is actually of Tasman Bay and the Waimea Plains. Taking advantage of the high viewpoint offered from the Bryant Range, above Nelson, Gully presents a dramatic, sweeping panorama of the bay with the Tasman Mountain Range beyond.
Becoming one of the country’s foremost watercolourists, Gully travelled extensively in New Zealand. He specialised in large-scale romantic and atmospheric scenes, which earned him the title of the ‘New Zealand Turner’.
Born in Bath, England, Gully was apprenticed to an iron foundry, where he graduated to the designing and drafting department. In 1852 he sailed to New Zealand with his wife and children and worked at a number of occupations until 1860 when he became Drawing Master at Nelson College. In 1863 Gully was appointed draughtsman at the Nelson Provincial Survey Office. He retired in 1878 to take up painting full-time.
(Label date unknown)