Certificate of Authenticity signed by Hilda O'Connor & Allan Swinton affixed verso

Four works by John Weeks Lots 29 - 32

How refreshing to see four works of John Weeks which do justice to his wider artistic ability rather than the popularly held belief that his interest lay primarily in an interpretation of the New Zealand landscape as was suggested in an obituary at the time of his death.

Indeed the four works here give us an indication of the path of his development and his interest in modernism that he brought back to Auckland after his sojourn in Edinburgh, Paris, Morocco, Tunisia and elsewhere.

A profusion of colour and form in the background wallpaper, dado and chair, alla Nabis, does not take away from the clearly defined and dexterous use of colour in Still Life with Fruit and Flowers somewhat reminiscent of Cézanne's Still life with Compotier, of 1879-82 (private collection). Cézanne, who inspired so many, and whose work provided a starting point for much of the art of the twentieth century, perhaps provided the starting point for Weeks in his composition.

Weeks did much to advance the cause of modernism in Auckland and his Industrial Exhibition, Dunedin, 1922, shows signs of his love and ability with colour indicated in a dappled Impressionist style. Monet in particular loved the dappled, softly bruised, effect that light and shade created on nude female flesh. Weeks stays on the slippery slopes of grass rather than that of females - at least in his paintings!

The "repoussoir" tree on the right directs our eye to the arch which it frames and links up in a diagonal manner with the other tree back on the left. The diagonal created is reinforced by the direction of the brushstrokes of the dappled grassy slope. Angela Ashford