Quentin Macfarlane’s raw and energetic semi-abstract landscape works celebrate both the tactile qualities of paint and the physical act of painting. Influenced by mid 20th century international developments in art, particularly American abstract expressionism and the work of painters such as Franz Kline and Robert Motherwell, Macfarlane has been a notable presence in the Christchurch art world for more than 50 years.

Macfarlane is known for his use of a distinctively oceanic palette and works that bring a fusion of land, sea and sky. For much of his career he has been based at Clifton Hill above Sumner beach, and his use of colour reflects a long-held identification with a unique coastal Pacific location and landscape.

Macfarlane was born in Dunedin and studied at the Canterbury College School of Art. He held his first solo exhibition at Gallery 91 in 1960 and exhibited with The Group in Christchurch from 1960–77. He was awarded a Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council Scholarship for Established Artists in 1974 and a Travelling Scholarship to Europe and America in 1988.