Sydney Lough Thompson’s Ōhinehou Lyttelton is a celebratory and officially endorsed view, the port bathed in a warm light signifying perhaps an emerging optimism as the country sees its way out of the Depression. In 1936 Thompson had completed a similar work for the Wellington Harbour Board, commissioned for presentation to the newly opened National Art Gallery and Dominion Museum. Buoyed by this success, he proposed to the Lyttelton Harbour Board that they commission this second large work to present to the new Robert McDougall Art Gallery, this Gallery’s predecessor. As The Press reported, it was to be “of a size not less than 4ft by 3ft and not more than 5ft by 4ft, for a fee of 200 guineas”.

From Here on the Ground (18 May – 17 November 2024)