Nature's Own Voice, 6 February - 26 July 2009

Margaret Stoddart worked exclusively as a watercolourist and painted plein-air landscapes from early in her career. Her work developed towards an impressionistic style while she was based in Europe between 1898 and 1906. At this time she began exploring the various atmospheric effects experienced while painting plein-air, as seen in Camiers, France, where Stoddart uses very wet washes of colour to capture the hazy conditions of the scene.

On her return from Europe in 1907, Margaret Stoddart lived in Godley House with her mother and sister and remained there until the family’s Diamond Harbour estate was sold off in 1913. The family were keen gardeners, as can be seen by the charming cottage garden. This is one of a number of paintings Stoddart did in Diamond Harbour and shows the style she had developed during her time in Europe. The expressive opaque watercolour treatment is combined with fine fluid washes applied in a quick and direct manner, out of doors before the subject. Stoddart was born in Diamond Harbour, Christchurch, but in 1876 the family sailed for Britain and she received her early education in Edinburgh. The family returned to New Zealand in 1879 and in 1882 Stoddart enrolled at the Canterbury College School of Art. She was a founding member of the Palette Club whose members were concerned with painting out of doors. She travelled to Europe in 1898.

Margaret Stoddart painted many scenes of the Southern Alps, particularly in the Mount Cook National Park region in South Canterbury. Indeed, the lilies featured here are known as ‘Mount Cook’ lilies.

By the time she painted this work, Stoddart was widely recognised as the leading New Zealand flower painter of the time. The immediacy of the detail suggests that she did at least the preliminary work on site, rather than in the studio. The watercolour washes have the Impressionistic style that became Stoddart’s hallmark.

Stoddart was born in Diamond Harbour, on Banks Peninsula, but in 1876 the family sailed for Britain and she received her early education in Edinburgh. The family returned to New Zealand in 1879 and in 1882 Stoddart enrolled at the Canterbury College School of Art. She was a founding member of the Palette Club whose members were concerned with painting out of doors. After living in England for several years, Stoddart returned to New Zealand in 1907 and settled in Diamond Harbour.

Margaret Stoddart established a strong reputation for the distinctive, increasingly atmospheric watercolour painting style she developed during her nine years abroad from 1898. Stoddart spent most of her childhood in the rural setting of Te Waipapa Diamond Harbour, followed by three years with her family in Edinburgh from 1876 before they settled in Christchurch in 1880. She and her three sisters enrolled at the Canterbury College School of Art in 1882, its founding year; their father, Mark Stoddart, died in 1885.

After the family’s return to Diamond Harbour in 1897, Margaret left to extend her career in Europe; basing herself in Cornwall at the St Ives artists’ colony. As well as taking further expert tuition, she travelled extensively through England, Norway, France, Switzerland and Italy, where she spent most of her final year away. Stoddart exhibited her flower paintings and landscapes to critical success in Paris and at English commercial and public galleries, including the Royal Academy, before returning home in 1906.

(The Moon and the Manor House, 12 November 2021 – 1 May 2022)

Margaret Stoddart first made the trip along the West Coast Road over Arthur’s Pass and through the Otira Gorge in April 1896, travelling in a hired wagon with several companions. Around 1927 Stoddart completed several watercolours of the gorge including An Otira Stream (also known as Mountain rata). In this work the artist combines her interest in flower painting with landscape to complete a vibrant vision of southern rata in full bloom amongst the rugged Otira terrain. In the summer months of January and February the mountain slopes of the Otira Gorge come alive with the crimson flowers of southern rata.

Perhaps the most effective way to clear the native forest that stood in the way of developing farmland was to set fire to it – something poignantly captured here by Margaret Stoddart. The landscape of Paraparaumu, and the Tararua mountain ranges beyond, was home to one of Aotearoa’s most prized birds, the huia. Now extinct, when Stoddart painted this work around 1908, the last official sighting of huia had been recorded a year earlier. Huia were prized for their distinctive tail feathers by Māori and Pākehā, and were relentlessly hunted to extinction in the early 1900s to satisfy a lucrative trade in their skins for stuffed specimens and their beaks for grim jewellery.

Ship Nails and Tail Feathers, 10 June – 22 October 2023

Margaret Stoddart was born in Te Waipapa / Diamond Harbour. Her father gave the harbour its English name after its sparkling waters, and commissioned the jetty’s construction in about 1857. Stoddart spent nine years in Europe studying, painting and exhibiting. When she returned home in 1906 she brought with her a skilful impressionist approach to her work. Stoddart was a prolific watercolourist who favoured coastal locations. At her first solo exhibition at the Canterbury Society of Arts in 1911, most of the fifty works shown had been painted near her family’s home at Diamond Harbour. However, as a reviewer for the Lyttelton Times noted, “New Brighton has received a share of attention, and perhaps it is shown at its best during a storm, gusts of wind howling across the Estuary, bending the tussock and grass on the beach.”

(Te Wheke, 2020)

Margaret Stoddart’s painting style altered dramatically during the period she spent in Britain between 1898 and 1906. She was based at St Ives, Cornwall, where there was a large contingent of artists whose interests lay primarily in impressionism and plein air painting.

Although the exact location of The Moors is not known for certain, the painting highlights Stoddart’s development at this time. Painted outdoors, loosely applied wet washes of subdued colour effectively convey the overcast atmospheric conditions, which are contrasted with several brightly coloured flowers in the foreground.

Stoddart was born in Diamond Harbour on Banks Peninsula, but in 1876 the family sailed for Britain and she received her early education in Edinburgh. The family returned to New Zealand in 1879, and in 1882 Stoddart enrolled at the Canterbury College School of Art. She was a founding member of the Palette Club, whose members were concerned with painting outdoors.

“I live out my own world & follow in the lives of Frances Hodgkins […] and other women painters,” wrote Rita Angus. One of those painters was fellow Waitaha Canterbury artist Margaret Stoddart. Like Margaret, Rita developed a deep appreciation of botanical subjects in her work. Although both artists are known for their landscapes, their approach to watercolour couldn’t be more different; Margaret’s lively impressionistic approach contrasts with Rita’s work, which is rich with the detail usually reserved for a botanical artist illustrating a scientific journal.

(Perilous: Unheard Stories from the Collection, 6 August 2022- )

Margaret Stoddart was living in St Ives, Cornwall, throughout much of 1902 when this work was painted. Orchards and woodland scenes, particularly in spring when the trees were in blossom, were popular subjects with her and many of her contemporaries. Stoddart was interested in the Newlyn School’s naturalistic style of painting, working directly from nature. In this watercolour she has over-painted the work with an opaque body-colour to represent the blossom. She painted several works exploring the effects of light on blossom at various times of the day. Stoddart was born in Diamond Harbour, Christchurch, but in 1876 the family sailed for Britain and she received her early education in Edinburgh. The family returned to New Zealand in 1879 and in 1882 Stoddart enrolled at the Canterbury College School of Art. She was a founding member of the Palette Club whose members were concerned with painting out of doors. After again living in England for several years, Stoddart returned to New Zealand in 1906 and settled at Diamond Harbour.

(Turn, Turn, Turn: A Year in Art, 27 July 2019 – 8 March 2020)

Flower painting was a popular subject with Victorian colonial women artists. It was considered more appropriate than painting landscapes, which tended to be dominated by male artists. Early in her career and influenced by her studies at the Canterbury College School of Art, Margaret Stoddart painted Wallflowers in a careful manner. The School placed an emphasis on close observation and truth to nature. The Australian botanical artist Ellis Rowan encouraged Stoddart and wrote in the Australian Town and Country Journal that, ‘Her grouping, colouring, form and harmony were perfect.’ Stoddart was born in Diamond Harbour, on Banks Peninsula, but in 1876 the family sailed for Britain and she received her early education in Edinburgh. The family returned to New Zealand in 1879 and in 1882 Stoddart enrolled at the School of Art. She was a founding member of the Palette Club whose members were concerned with painting out of doors. After living in England for several years, Stoddart returned to New Zealand in 1907 and settled in Diamond Harbour.

Margaret Stoddart established a strong reputation for the distinctive, increasingly atmospheric watercolour painting style she developed during her nine years abroad from 1898. Stoddart spent most of her childhood in the rural setting of Te Waipapa Diamond Harbour, followed by three years with her family in Edinburgh from 1876 before they settled in Christchurch in 1880. She and her three sisters enrolled at the Canterbury College School of Art in 1882, its founding year; their father, Mark Stoddart, died in 1885.

After the family’s return to Diamond Harbour in 1897, Margaret left to extend her career in Europe; basing herself in Cornwall at the St Ives artists’ colony. As well as taking further expert tuition, she travelled extensively through England, Norway, France, Switzerland and Italy, where she spent most of her final year away. Stoddart exhibited her flower paintings and landscapes to critical success in Paris and at English commercial and public galleries, including the Royal Academy, before returning home in 1906.

(The Moon and the Manor House, 12 November 2021 – 1 May 2022)

‘Storm clouds, Blythburgh, Suffolk’ is typical of Margaret Stoddart’s growing interest in impressionism and painting outdoors while based in England between 1898 and 1906. The atmospheric conditions of the impending storm above Blythburgh have been rendered directly using wet washes of colour. Stoddart travelled widely, taking sketching trips to France, Italy and throughout Britain, often seeking out picturesque villages such as Blythburgh as her subjects. Stoddart enjoyed living at St Ives, Cornwall. The town’s reputation as a plein-air (open air) artists’ colony made it a magnet for New Zealand artists including Frances Hodgkins and Dorothy Richmond, who visited Stoddart there in 1902. (Brought to Light, November 2009)