Michael Smither
Aotearoa New Zealand, b.1939
Boats at Pukekura Park
- 1967-1973
- Oil on hardboard
- Purchased, 1975
- 1213 x 1213mm
- 75/41
- View on google maps
Tags: boathouses, boats, gates, oars, red (color), reflections (perceived properties), shadows, stripes, water (inorganic material), yellow (color)
Well regarded for his realist depictions of family domestic scenes, Michael Smither has revisited his own childhood in Boats at Pukekura Park. Located in New Plymouth, Pukekura Park features a lake, complete with rowboats for hire, in a beautiful garden setting. Having grown up and spent much of his life in New Plymouth, it’s a place that Smither knows well. In 2004 he recalled: My Grandfather, Ninian Duncan, took me for pram rides in Pukekura Park to feed the ducks. Big black swans used to reach right into the pram and terrify and delight me all at once. At The Gables I lived right beside Pukekura Park and made many paintings of these lakes. This painting was acquired from the artist’s exhibition at Peter McLeavey Gallery in Wellington in 1975.
(1969 Comeback Special 27 August – 6 November 2016)
Exhibition History
Ape To Zip: Adventures in Alphabet Art, 13 May 2005 – 8 October 2006
In the exhibition Ape to Zip this work was used for the letter R and was displayed with the following label:
ROWBOATS R is for… red rowboats resting and rippling reflections with rows and rows of rectangles changing their directions.