April Morning, Kaikoura - William Menzies Gibb - Christchurch Art ...

Ka i ko u ra i s a b o u t a t w o - h o u r d ri v e n o r t h of C h ri s t churc h .
These days it is a popular destination for visitors wanting to
go whale watc hing but in William Menzies Gibb’s time it wa s
par ticularly popular with Canterbury ar tists, who w ere
a t t ra c t e d by t h e re gi o n’s ra n ge of s c e n e r y. A s w e l l a s i t s c o a s t a l
splendours, it has tw o mountain ranges, the Seawa rd and
Inland Kaikouras. Travellers usually got there by coastal
s t e a m e r, a s t h e ro a d s b e t w e e n C h ri s t c hurc h a n d Ka i ko u ra w e re
s t i l l b e i n g b u i lt .
I n A p r i l M o r n i n g , K a i ko u r a G i b b h a s r e p r o d u c e d t h e
l a n d s c a p e w i t h a n a c c u ra c y l e a r n t f ro m h i s s t u d i e s w i t h h i s
f a t h e r a n d i n M e l b o u r n e , w h e r e a n a c a d e m i c a p p r o a c h wa s
f a v o u r e d . Re c o r d i n g t h e p r o g r e s s o f e a r l y E u r o p e a n
s e t t l e m e n t , t h e p a i n t i n g h a s m u c h i n c o m m o n w i t h t h e
w o r k s o f G i b b ’s f a t h e r, J o h n .
There is a general air of peace and prosperity, with the
farmland laid out before the spectacular snow-covered
m o u n t a i n ra n ge i n t h e d i s t a n c e . T h e ro m a n t i c e l e m e n t i n t h i s
idyllic picture sug gests that settlement and prosperity have
now tamed the aw e -inspiring forces o f the natural world. This
is in line with the 19th century reverence for nature and for
what was seen as man’s God-given role to tend and care for it .
The composition follows the well-established conventions of
19th century landscape painting , with the va rious features set
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at carefully staged and zigzag ged intervals into the illusionary
picture space. The eye is led smoothly into the far distance.
The cows drinking from the stream in the fore g round
i m m e d i a t e ly c a p t u re a t t e n t i o n , a s d o e s t h e b u l l o c k wa go n
hauling logs near the bridge. The wa gon has a sense of implied
mo vement , drawing the eye along the diagonal unsealed road
and across the composition. Another sign of habitation and
human activity is created by the smoke r ising from the
homestead and farm building sheltered in the trees in the mid
distance. Gibb has used the diminishing scale of the buildings
and the blue shades o f aerial perspective to establish the
altitude and grandeur of the snow-covered peaks.
H e h a s a l s o c a re f u l ly o rc h e s t ra t e d t h e c o l o u rs. A l i g h t e r t h a n
u s u a l p a l e t t e o f s of t g re e n s a n d y e l l o w s s u g ge s t s t h e wa r m t h
of the early morning sunlight . The feeling of warmth is
heightened b y the colour contrast with the cool blues of the
m o u n t a i n b a c k g ro u n d a n d b ro ke n c l o u d .
This carefully finished landscape, with its obvious truth to
nature and attention to detail , was influenced by the w orks of
the Barbizon realists of the 1840s and 1850s. Centred on the
village of Barbizon near Pa ris, this group of painters aimed to
present the rural landscape and farm work ers in a direct and
unglamourised
manner.
The images on this page are protected by copyright and must not be reproduced
without the written permission of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu.
William Menzies Gibb
Scottish / New Zealander, 1859 -1931
Worcester Boulevard, PO Box 2626, Christchurch, New Zealand
(03) 941 7300
April Morning, Kaikoura
1892, oil on canvas, 59.5x90.5 cm
Gift of Mrs M.S. Hunter and Mrs R. Bailey in memory of their parents Mr &
Mrs Frank 1964
About the work

William Menzies Gibb was born in Innellan, Scotland, in 1859,
the s on of the painter John Gibb. He was aged 17 when he
arrived in the Canterbury por t of Lyttelton with his parents in
1876. His early ar t training was with his father but in 1880 -
1881 he w ent on to study at the National Gallery Sc hool in
Melbourne. He als o exhibited at the ‘Melbourne International
Exhibition’ of 188 0 -1881 and the ‘Centennial Exhibition’,
Melbourne, in 1888 -1889.
In 1881, while he was still in Melbourne, Gibb had painted a
por trait of Sir Julius Vogel who had been Prime Minister of New
Zealand during the 1870s. When he returned to Christchurc h, in
1882, he first established himself as a por trait painter but later
specialised in landscapes. Gibb exhibited at the first Canterbury
Society of Ar ts exhibition in 1881 and continued to be actively
involved on the council of the Society throughout his career,
including serving as President in 1916. He exhibited at the
‘International Exhibition’ in Christchurc h in 1882 and in the
‘Indian and Colonial Exhibition’ in London in 1886.
G i b b wa s a m e m b e r of C h ri s t c hurc h’s Pa l e t t e C l u b, wh i c h wa s
formed in 1890 to encourage plein air painting and in reaction
to the more conservative and traditional styles favoured by
t h e C a n t e r b u r y S o c i e t y of A r t s . A s w e l l , t h e Pa l e t t e C l u b
prov i d e d a n a lt e r n a t i v e e x h i b i t i o n foru m t o t h a t of t h e C S A . In
1905 Gibb als o became a member of the Christc hurc h A r tists
Sketc h Club, a group of ar tists who gathered in Sydney Lough
Thomps on’s (1877-1973) studio in Cambridge Terrace.
Gibb travelled to Britain in 1910 and there visited St Ives,
Glasgow, France and other areas of Europe, bringing bac k
many fine examples of his w ork that found a ready sale in
Ne w Zealand. He held a large r etrospective exhibition at the
Canterbury Society of Ar ts in 1927, the first exhibition at the
Society devoted to the work of just one ar tist . He also
exhibited at the ‘Imperial Ar t Exhibition’ in London in 1928.
Gibb died in Christc hurc h in 1931.
Throughout much of his early career Gibb worked in an
Academic manner, w orking up in his studio ske t c hes and studies
made out of doors. In his studio more detailed and highly
finished w orks could be completed. How ever, he als o favoured
painting directly from nature, particularly when working in
watercolours. His paintings w ere very popular in the late 19th
and early 20th centuries because of their representation of the
Ne w Zealand landscape in its ‘happiest moods’.
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T h e re a re 1 8 wo r k s by t h e a r t i s t i n t h e Co l l e c t i o n , i n c l u d i n g :
Edge of the Bush, Pigeon B ay
O n t h e Ro ad t o Pe e l Fo r e s t
A Valle y by the Sea, Karikari, Nor th Island
A Canterbur y Pasto ral
The images on this page are protected by copyright and must not be reproduced
without the written permission of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu.
William Menzies Gibb
Scottish / New Zealander, 1859 -1931
Worcester Boulevard, PO Box 2626, Christchurch, New Zealand
(03) 941 7300
About the artist
Other works by the artist in the Collection
1886, watercolour
Presented by Mrs E. Britton 1960
c. 1906, oil on canvas
Presented by the Canterbury Society of Arts 1932
c. 1914, oil on canvas
Presented by the Canterbury Society of Arts 1932
c. 1925, oil on canvas
Presented by the Canterbury Society of Arts 1932