55. Charles Blomfield 1848 - 1926
Tu Kapuarangi - The Pink Terrace
Oil on canvas
45 x 60 cm
Signed & dated 1882
est. $15,000 - 25,000
Fetched $37,000
Relative Size: Tu Kapuarangi - The Pink Terrace
Relative size

Provenance: Private Collection, New Hampshire, USA

Charles Blomfield has long been recognised as the most popular early New Zealand painter of the Pink and White Terraces. Blomfield first saw the Terraces in December 1875 and made the comment that they were 'exceedingly beautiful and graceful'. Returning nearly ten years later, he spent six weeks painting this 'eighth wonder of the world'. Blomfield's paintings were sold from his Victoria Arcade studio in Queen Street. Open daily, the studio was a popular destination for tourists. The Terraces were tragically destroyed by the Tarawera eruption of 1886. In response to public demand Blomfield continued to paint this favoured subject, immortalising the lost terraces in his paintings.

This work, Tu Kapuarangi - The Pink Terrace was purchased from Blomfield's Gallery of New Zealand Art circa 1885 by an American collector. The painting remained in Boston, Massachusetts for over a century. A verso label indicates that it was framed in San Francisco by S & G Gumps. Founded in 1861 Gump's sold moldings, gilded cornices and European artwork to those recently made wealthy from the Californian Gold Rush. Today the store operates as a retailer of luxury goods.

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