This exhibition is now closed
Showing concurrently with Canaletto: Master of Venice, is an exhibition of Venetian works by two leading New Zealand artists Doris Lusk and W. A. Sutton. Theirs are an Antipodean response, 230 years or so after the views of that famed city were depicted by the eighteenth century Italian master.
During an eight month tour of Italy from December 1973, W. A. Sutton immersed himself in the country's architecture and culture. At every step of his trip he completed extraordinarily detailed watercolour studies of his surroundings. The watercolours which have been selected for this exhibition depict the city's ornate architecture and its elaborate design features, highlighting his exquisite skill and ability as a draughtsman and watercolourist.
In contrast to Sutton's varied views of the city's buildings, the works of Doris Lusk concentrate on a specific feature of them. Lusk spent almost a month in Venice during an art tour of Italy, from late 1974 to September 1975 and was taken by the sight of the light canvas awnings, which hang in the arcades of piazzas to keep them cool. The works belong to a series entitled Arcade Awnings and result from many sketches made over weeks of direct study of these drapes of voluminous fabric. They are considered some of her most remarkable paintings to date.
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Date:
14 August – 25 September 1986 -
Location:
Robert McDougall Art Gallery - main gallery -
Exhibition number:
373
Related reading: Italian watercolours
Exhibition
Personal Choice: W.A. Sutton’s Selection
23 September – 4 October 1987
An exhibition of works from the Gallery's permanent collection selected by renowned Canterbury artist W.A. Sutton.
Notes
The Watercolour Collection
The Gallery's Watercolour Collection had modest beginnings, but over the past 70 years it has grown steadily by gift and purchase and, of all the Collections, still maintains a largely traditional emphasis. When the Gallery opened in June 1932, just 28 of the 128 paintings on display were watercolours and, of these, 11 were by British artists and 17 by New Zealanders. Among the mostly nineteenth century British watercolours were those by Helen Allingham, Edgar Bundy, Matthew Hale, Laura Knight, William Lee Hankey and Ernest Waterlow. In contrast, the New Zealand watercolours were by mostly contemporary or early twentieth century artists and included works by James Cook, Olivia Spencer Bower, Margaret Stoddart, Maude Sherwood, Eleanor Hughes and Alfred Walsh. The foundation Watercolour Collection included two paintings of larger than usual dimensions. William Lee Hankey's We've been in the Meadows all day (1184 x 878mm) and Charles N. Worsley's Mount Sefton (996 x 1105mm) are still greater in scale than any other work in the Watercolour Collection.
Exhibition
W.A. Sutton: Watercolours of Italy
An exhibition featuring a selection of works from Bill Sutton's 1973–4 Italian sojourn, highlighting his exquisite skill as a draughtsman and watercolourist.