American Bicentennial Week

To celebrate the America Bicentennial Week in Christchurch, two portraits were exhibited by Charles Wilson Peale (1741-1827). One was of George Washington; the other was of Major Christopher Richmond (1774-1796). Major Christopher Richmond fought under Washington in the War of Independence in the Maryland line.

Peale painted the first portrait of Washington as a Colonel, as well as portraits of a number of leaders of the War of Independence. He played a key role in the development of the arts in America, helping to establish the Academy of Fine Arts in Pennsylvania.

A painting by George Peter Alexander Healy (1808- 1894) was bought for the McDougall Art Gallery from a great-grand-daughter, Mrs. R. G. Ingham, who lived in Kaiapoi. This was the painter's first major landscape.

There were also early American and New Zealand photographs courtesy of the Photographic Society on display.