This exhibition is now closed
The Weight of Sunlight
15 September 2017 –
19 August 2018
Henry La Thangue Making Ligurian Lace c.1905. Oil on canvas. Collection of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, purchased by the Canterbury Society of Arts with the J.T. Peacock bequest 1912, presented to the city 1932
Sunlight, warmth and the lure of escape and travel
There are abundant vicarious pleasures to be had through artists’ pursuit of sunlight, warmth, nostalgia and rustic subject matter. In a selection of paintings shaped by escape and travel, destinations include Rome, Venice, the Italian Riviera, Brittany, Cornwall, and the Dutch, French and English countryside. Many artists produced work while on seasonal summer retreats or in artist colonies, or sought aesthetic invigoration beyond the distractions of city life in tranquil rural or seaside settings. Loved and favourite works from the historical collection alongside moments of discovery.
My Gallery
Collection works in this exhibition
Curator:
Ken Hall
Exhibition number: 1045
Presented by
Historical Collection Art Partner
Collection works in this exhibition (25)
Panier de Raisins
Henri Fantin-Latour
Evening, Concarneau
Terrick John Williams
Still Life
Petrus van der Velden
The Well
William A. Breakspeare
Gathering Beet, Village of Rijnsburg
Petrus van der Velden
The Colosseum seen from the Southeast
Gaspar van Wittel
Harbour Scene, Evening, Concarneau [also known as Fishing Boats, Concarneau]
Sydney Lough Thompson
Cornfield
Eugène J. Boudin
Among the Sandhills [also known as In the Sandhills, Jutland]
Adrian Stokes
On The Beach
Charles Walter Simpson
Fête Foraine
Lucien Simon
A Wooded Landscape with Peasants on a Path and an Angler at a Stream
Meindert Hobbema
Scene near Ullswater
William Havell
The Sea And The Bay
Rhona Haszard
Dock study with boats
Charles Henry Fromuth
Night Fall On The Sabine Hills, Rome
Frederick Vincent Ellis
Lingering Leaves
Charles Herbert Eastlake
The Moon and the Manor House
Sir Alfred East
Bacchus and Ariadne
Jacopo Amigoni
"We’ve been in the meadows all day"
William Lee-Hankey
A Rose ’midst Poppies
Grace Joel
Making Ligurian Lace
Henry H. La Thangue
Teresina
Lord Frederic Leighton
Girl with a Mask
William Powell Frith
In the Orchard [also known as Sunlight through the Leaves]
Lucy Kemp-Welch
Related
Commentary
See Italy and Die
‘A man who has not been to Italy is always conscious of an inferiority, from his not having seen what it is expected a man should see.’
Samuel Johnson, 1776
As every traveller knows, there is something obsessive about setting out on a journey: the preparatory work of consulting guides, the organisation of itineraries, the accommodation pre-booked, bags packed with essentials, provisions for the journey assembled. This essay explores the metaphor of a journey, with the particular Italian twist that informs the work of the artists gathered together in the exhibition The Weight of Sunlight.
Notes
On the beach by Charles Simpson
This article first appeared as 'Seaside outing displays a lightness of touch' in The Press on 24 April 2018.
Notes
Among the sandhills by Adrian Stokes
This article first appeared as 'Sandhills painting's life as nomadic as artist's' in The Press, 15 August 2017.