Provenance: Private Collection

When John Gibb arrived in Canterbury from Scotland in 1876, he had already more than quarter of a century's activity in Britain as an artist and exhibitor. Early in his life, Gibb had shown a natural aptitude for drawing and painting that was encouraged by his family. By 1849 he was receiving tuition in the studio of John Mackenzie of Greenock, and the Clyde River and the environs of the Firth of Clyde were the focus of Gibb's paintings during the mid 19th Century. Gibb aligned himself with the picturesque style akin to such artists as Sam Bough, Joseph Farquarson and Alfred de Breanski Snr.

In later years, as a keen photographer, he regularly used his half-plate camera to good effect as an aide memoire. Within three months of his arrival in Canterbury, Gibb held the first showing of his work and began making painting excursions around the South Island. He exhibited at the Otago Society of Art Exhibitions in Dunedin from 1878 on. When the Canterbury Society of Arts was formed in 1880, Gibb was a foundation member and exhibited hundreds of works until his death in 1909. He also showed in Auckland and Wellington from the early 1880s and sent works to all the international and inter-colonial exhibitions. By the 1880s Gibb was considered New Zealand's major professional marine painter, a specialisation that enabled him to exercise his fascination with detail and which led to many private commissions throughout Australaisia.