Samuel Butler and His Contemporaries

This exhibition was organized to coincide with the seminar on Samuel Butler organized by the University of Canterbury’s Department of Extension Studies.

It comprised 45 works and took a detailed look at Samuel Butler the painter. It included photographs of Butler, photographs of Mesopotamia Station which he established, and paintings by others from around the time that Butler lived in New Zealand.

Although Butler’s reputation rests heavily on his satirical writing, this exhibition aimed to show that he was also a painter of considerable ability.