A Garden on the Wall
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A Garden on the Wall 8 - 25th November 2018 All works are available for sale upon receipt of this catalogue. The entire exhibition can be viewed at www.jgg.co.nz
Jonathan Grant Galleries 280 Parnell Rd Parnell Auckland New Zealand Ph: +64 9 308 9125 Email: jg@jgg.co.nz www.jgg.co.nz
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Richard Adams is known for his humorous pastoral scenes. Highly detailed and bustling with activity, his paintings encourage the viewer to explore the composition and discover hidden scenes. Adams was born in Hampshire in 1960, but was brought up in the South Cotswold countryside, a landscape that has had a lasting influence on his work. He attained a Bachelor of Arts degree with Honours at the Leicester Polytechnic and throughout his career has been awarded many art awards. All Adams’ paintings are produced using chalk pastel and are then fixed and soaked in a special varnish that leaves an impervious surface. He has exhibited widely and regularly throughout London and elsewhere in Britain to great acclaim.
Richard Adams (British
b.1960)
A Corner of the Kitchen Garden Varnished Pastel 60 x 80 cm Signed
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The photographic works of Emma Bass are lusciously seductive, but close up these floral compositions deliver a sharp bite of reality. Bass’ new series Embellish discusses the concept of illusion, its connection to beauty and the integral role this idea plays within society. While exploring London’s National Gallery, Bass became fascinated by the still life floral works of the Dutch Masters, inspiring the artist to create a new body of work. In this series Bass investigates the nature of beauty in a photographic play of shadow and light that reflects the dramatic style of those celebrated 17th-century masterworks.
Emma Bass The GFC (The Great Floral Crisis) Printed on archival Hahnemuhle pearl paper 124 x 134 cm Signed & titled verso
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“A Butterfly fell in love with a beautiful flower which had come into bloom. They both came to an understanding and vowed eternal fidelity. The Butterfly flew off and did not return until noon. “What!” said the Flower when she saw him flitting here and there, “Has your love cooled so soon? It is an age since you paid me a visit and I have watched you courting every flower in the garden.” “It is hardly right” replied the Butterfly, “for you to reproach me when I have only followed the example you have set me. Did I not see you displaying your sweetest charms to the Bee, the Wasp and the Fly, indeed to every buzzing insect that fluttered by. You have even allowed the balmy breezes to kiss you.” Ray Ching, Aesop’s Outback Fables, p.214
Ray Ching The Butterfly & the Flower Alkyd/Acrylic on board 51 x 61 cm Signed
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Frances Hodgkins’ c.1937 watercolour Arrangement of Jugs can be seen as an extension of her approach to the depiction of colour and form. The individual elements have undergone extreme simplification, and are defined by varying degrees of outlining and bright splashes of colour. There is minimal overlapping of the objects, and their positioning on an undefined surface provides a modest sense of depth to the composition. Despite the title, only one of the seven individual elements is a jug. It is accompanied here by two (yellow) round ceramic vases and a pair of rectangular modernist glass vases, the larger of which contains sprigs of plants. There is an absolute economy of means throughout, with pigment used sparingly to define the objects and, in the case of the two yellow vases, their applied decoration. - Richard Wolfe
Frances Hodgkins
(New Zealand 1869 - 1947)
Still Life, Arrangement of Jugs c.1937 Watercolour & gouache 46 x 61 cm Signed Frances Hodgkins Exhibited: Gillian Jason Gallery, London 1987
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“I see the flower as a symbol of birth, growth, strength, union, decline, death and rebirth – a cycle that closely matches our own. Embellishing the fresh, randomly selected blooms by painting the petals, adding artificial flowers, small plastic animals and living creatures, and enhancing the result with complementary lighting, creates an entirely new way of viewing the world. Such illusion can amplify beauty but simultaneously celebrates the fake.” - Emma Bass
Emma Bass The Neighbour Printed on archival Hahnemuhle pearl paper 124 x 134 cm Signed & titled verso
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Layla Walter is a New Zealand glass artist who has gained significant recognition for her distinctive and individual works in cast glass. A specialist in the “lost wax” technique, Layla Walter creates glass work featuring intricate flowers, stems and buds carved into the surface of vessels. “This work reminds me of a day, a garden, a tree providing shade, planted by me, I can feel the temperature of the season and my belly stretched full with new life. Vessel making is my homage to everyday living; here is a black fig, drawn from my garden and cast in glass. Figs are a rich food and symbol of fertility, in this bowl, the fruit is protected inside the vessel, yet visible on the convex surface. In my work vessels offer a three-dimensional canvas and the translucency of glass creates layers of imagery when internal and external carving is combined. Birds, blossoms and buds branch across simple forms, dignified and exposed. It is my intention that each work is peacefully engaging, and with a purpose – to discuss my connection with others and the environment.” - Layla Walter
Layla Walter Black Fig Cast Glass 24.5 x 33 cm Signed
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Iconic New Zealand artist, Piera McArthur, is known for her use of vibrant colour, humour, wit and satire in her larger than life works. Her work mirrors a lifetime of sophisticated living in various capitals of the world, with a gently satirical eye observing the parade of humanity in a context of incisive line and vigorous brushstrokes. “The greatest painters have spent time doing flowers. Their fragility is a challenge. But more than that they must be taken from the world of prettiest into the world of real painting.� - Piera McArthur
Piera McArthur ONZM Flowers Oil on paper on board 117 x 81 cm Signed
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Jim Wheeler Inner Nature Bronze 5.5 x 9 x 4.5 cm Signed
Jim Wheeler Pohutukawa - Matariki Bronze 75 x 57 x 45 cm Signed Unique
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“The relationship between the endemic giant weta (Deinacrida mahoenui) and the noxious weed gorse (Ulex europaeus) is the main focus of this image. The latter is the primary habitat and food source for the endangered Mahoenui giant weta, formerly a tree-dwelling species of native forest, but they now largely inhabit gorse bushes. The gorse plants at Mahoenui are now striclty protected, which is unusual for this invasive plant species, which is usually controlled using herbicides, fire, grazing, or more recently a range of biological control agents. Dense prickly gorse foliage is often the only protection for weta from predatory mammals present at the site.� - Hamish Foote
Hamish Foote Habitation Egg tempera on gessoed panel 33 x 23 cm Signed
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Richard Adams (British b. 1960) The Village Wakes Varnished pastel 68 x 105 cm Signed
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Ann Robinson is considered to be one of the international masters of cast glass. In addition to exhibiting and teaching throughout New Zealand she has been invited to take part in residency, teaching and exhibition programmes in Australia, Japan, the USA and Europe. Robinson draws on inspiration from the natural environment and incorporates the geometries of seed pods, leaf forms and growth patterns into her cast glass pieces. Sculpted contours, rich graduations of colour and refined surface finishes combine to create commanding works.
Ann Robinson ONZM Puka Vase Cast glass 63.5 x 16 x 16 cm Signed
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Dianne Flynn (British 20th Century) In the Garden
Lily, Alfie, Rose
Acrylic on canvas 51 x 61 cm Signed
Acrylic on canvas 61 x 76 cm Signed
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Pamela Wolfe is regarded as one of New Zealand’s pre-eminent painters and is renowned for her beautiful vibrant floral compositions. Wolfe employs a full, saturated palette depicting the three phases of the flower– from bud to bloom and inevitable decay – thereby referencing the passage of time and the effects that it wreaks on nature. Pamela Wolfe’s new exhibition, Fantasia, opens at ARTIS Gallery on Tuesday 6 November and will be on display until the 25th of November 2018.
Pamela Wolfe Spring in London III Gouache on paper 34 x54.5 cm Signed
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Leonard Tomaszewski was a Polish painter, poet and journalist. The artist worked predominantly in oil and painted a range of subjects. His portfolio encompassed portraiture, nudes, landscapes as well as still life. His style was seen as very individual though he remained faithful to traditional rules of drawing and composition. Tomaszewski harmoniously juxtaposed wide planes of uniform colour, adding outlines to emphasise detail. He placed precedence on the material qualities of the painting, primarily the use of colour and texture. Using a subdued palette of greys, blues and pinks, he applied the paint impasto onto heavy-weave canvas resulting in a highly textured and glossy surface.
Leonard Tomaszewski (Polish 1913 - 2002) Flowers for Marianna Oil on canvas 50 x 40 cm Signed & dated 1973
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Sydney Lough Thompson, born in Canterbury, New Zealand, is one of the most celebrated artists of his generation. He studied painting under Petrus Van der Velden at the end of the ninteenth-century and quickly became an influential figure in Christchurch art circles. Thompson lived for extended periods abroad, establishing himself as a professional painter in Brittany between 1911 and 1933. Thompson’s vibrant post-impressionist paintings depict a wide variety of subjects including New Zealand’s rural landscape and the picturesque charm of village life in France. Retrospective exhibitions of his work have been held in New Zealand and France.
Sydney Lough Thompson (New Zealand 1877 - 1973) La Vallée, Campagne La Milou, Grasse Oil on canvas 92 x 72 cm Signed
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Susan Wilson is known for her rich representational style of brushstroke in her portraiture and still life works. She divides her time between New Zealand and London. Wilson currently lectures at The Princes’ Drawing School, The National Portrait Gallery London and University of East Anglia. Her works are in public and private collections throughout New Zealand and in Europe including the Todd Foundation, Tauranga Art Gallery, the Aigantighe Timaru, Auckland War Memorial Museum, Air New Zealand, HRH The Prince of Wales. the National Trust, New Hall (Murray Edwards College) Cambridge, Fundacion Focus-Abengoa Seville Spain.
Susan Wilson (New Zealand b.1951) Lilies Oil on canvas board 45.5 x 56 cm Signed
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Peter O’Hagan (New Zealand 1942 - 2013) Pause For a Glass of Wine, Tuscany Garden Watercolour 47 x 48 cm Signed
Peter O’Hagan (New Zealand 1942 - 2013) The Garden Committee travels across the world to study Monet’s garden Watercolour & Gouche 91 x 61 cm Signed
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Florence Fitzgerald was a watercolour artist best known for her flower and landscape paintings. Born in Brompton, London, Fitzgerald was the daughter of John Anster Fitzgerald (1819 – 1906), a painter of fairy pictures and other imaginative subjects, whose work is represented in the Tate Gallery and the Guildhall Art Gallery, London. Florence studied at the British Museum and the Royal Academy Schools. In 1889 she married the landscape painter Walter Follen Bishop (1856 – 1936). Florence exhibited extensively at the Royal Society of Artists, Birmingham, the Royal Society of British Artists, the Royal Cambrian Academy and eight times at the Royal Academy (between 1887 – 1890).
Florence Fitzgerald (British 1850 - 1927) An Old Church in Kent Oil on canvas 38.5 x 59 cm Signed & dated 1920
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Born in Melbourne 1924, David Boyd was a distinguished Australian artist, craftsman and member of the Boyd artistic dynasty. He was well known as both a potter and painter. Originally a potter, David and his wife Hermia began a studio together which they later took with them to London in the 1950’s. Soon after his return to Australia David was elected councillor of the Museum of Modern Art, and also elected Chairman of the Contemporary Art Society, Victoria. His series of symbolic paintings on the Australian explorers, completed in 1957, gained Boyd significant international recognition. In 2008, Boyd was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for his services to art as a painter and innovator of ceramic sculpture and pottery techniques.
David Boyd (Australian 1924 - 2011) Children Playing Amongst the Wildflowers Oil on canvas 50 x 60 cm Signed
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George Haité was born in Bexley, Kent. Haité was self-taught, beginning to paint at age 16. He painted in both oils and watercolours and designed wallpapers, leaded glass and metal work. In 1873 he settled in London to concentrate on his design work, but from 1883 began exhibiting at the Royal Academy. Alongside his prestigious reputation as an oil painter and watercolourist, Haité also made a name for himself as an illustrator, designing the cover of the well-known magazine The Strand.
George Charles Haité (British 1855 - 1924) At the Well, a Girl Picking Grapes on the French Riviera Watercolour 29.5 x 46.5 cm Signed
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