Provenance: Private Collection, Auckland Purchased by current owner circa 1990

Samuel Green, was born 1838 in England and educated at Rugby. He ran away to sea and by 1858 was in Australia, arriving in New Zealand in 1861 in charge of horses for the Waikato War. Later that year Green spent time in Otago buying farm land in the Taieri Mouth District 40km southwest of central Dunedin. By the 1870s, Green was supplementing his income through the sale of watercolours and is best known for his topographical works of Southland. His detailed depictions of settlers farms suggests that he enjoyed some success in attracting private commissions.

Tapanui, West Otago shows the early settlement at the foot of the South Island's Blue Mountains and the Pomahaka River. The West Otago town of Tapanui is surrounded by gently rolling hills and fertile farmland. Green's depiction of the town in its early years portrays a rural scene with a row of English-style farm cottages nestled below native forest and distinctive mountains. Originally a saw-milling centre, Tapanui came into being in 1860. For almost a century the town was serviced by the Tapanui Branch railway line which despite its name didn't actually terminate in Tapanui.

Paintings by Samuel Green are held in the Hocken Library, Alexander Turnbull Library and Otago Early Settlers Museum. His surviving works in private hands rarely appear on the market.