Louise Henderson
France / Aotearoa New Zealand, b.1902, d.1994
Governors Bay
- 1938
- Oil on canvas board
- Dame Louise Henderson collection, presented by the McKegg Family, 1999
- 544 x 651mm
- 99/77
- View on google maps
Location: Arcade
Tags: bays (bodies of water), harbors, hills, landscapes (representations), natural landscapes, rock, seas
It’s a stunning drive from Ōtautahi Christchurch to Ōhinetahi Governors Bay over Pukeatua Dyers Pass. The outlook from the top provides panoramic views of the harbour below, and being within striking distance from Ōtautahi it has long been a popular destination for artists. Ōhinetahi lies at the head of Whakaraupō Lyttelton Harbour and was once the site of a major Kāti Māmoe pā that was captured by the Kāi Tahu chief Te Rakiwhakaputa around 300 years ago. Ōhinetahi – meaning the place of one daughter – was named by the son of Te Rakiwhakaputa, Manuhiri, who fathered many sons but only one daughter. It is also from this area that Whakaraupō gets its name, meaning the harbour of the raupō reed which grew in abundance at Ōhinetahi.
Kāti Māmoe ~ Māori tribe established in Te Waipounamu South Island in the sixteenth century
pā ~ fortified village
Kāi Tahu ~ tribal group of much of Te Waipounamu South Island
raupō ~ bulrush plant native to Aotearoa
He Kapuka Oneone – A Handful of Soil (from August 2024)
Exhibition History
Te Wheke: Pathways Across Oceania, 30 May 2020 – 3 July 2022
Louise Henderson was born Louise Etiennette Sidonie Sauze in Paris in 1902. After studying embroidery design in her late teens, she worked in this field for several years while also writing for textile and interior decoration journals. In 1925, she moved to Christchurch with her New Zealand-born husband, and the following year she began teaching needlework and design at the Canterbury College School of Art. Henderson brought a fresh influence and energy to Christchurch art circles, distinguishing herself at first in local exhibitions with her fine embroidery designs. Before long she was also prolific in showing her landscape paintings, which, like this lyrical view of Te Whakaraupō / Lyttelton Harbour, were appreciated for their harmonious colour and feeling for rhythmic pattern and form.
Louise Henderson: From Life, 27 June – 11 October 2020
Governors Bay is one of several paintings Henderson made of Lyttelton Harbour. Her vantage point is high on the Summit Road, looking down over the steep-sided volcanic hills meeting the sea below. A tiny single-masted sailing boat gives a sense of the scale of the view. Henderson simplifies and flattens the landforms, outlining curvilinear shapes which she stacks up on one another. Elements of Governors Bay anticipate the abstraction of forms and patterns from the landscape that Henderson would return to nearly fifty years later.