Provenance: Estate of Sir James Fletcher

Lot 97, Fine Art Auction, International Art Centre, October 1999

Alfred Sharpe left Auckland for Newcastle, Australia in 1887, where he was active in all aspects of the arts while based there as a painter and a poet. Sharpe strongly advocated watercolour painting over the use of what he referred to as 'crude oils'. His watercolours are noted for their compact compositions and clarity with an intensity of colour normally associated with oil paint. Watercolours from Sharpe's visit to Newcastle are rare and typically small scale. By contrast Speers Point and Lake Macquarie, Newcastle is impressive in size, a major work by one of the most well known itinerant historical artists of New Zealand.