Watercolor by L.W.Wilson Milford Sound Mount Pembroke NZ 1901

After the terrible earthquake that occurred in New Zealand recently I got to thinking about my only tie with New Zrealand and that is a wonderful painting that I have had for a good part of my life. I purchased this antique watercolor around 1976 at an estate sale just a little south of Baltimore and it has been in my personal collection ever since.  The two elderly sisters that sold it to me said that their parents had purchased the watercolor at the St. Louis World’s Fair (1904).  I knew that it was an image of Milford Sound, New Zealand with Mount Pembroke Peak in the background and that it was painted by an L. W. Wilson in 1901 because it was written on the painting.

At the time, I didn’t know anything about the artist and the internet didn’t exist.  A while back, I just happened to look the artist up on the internet and was surprised to find out that the artist Lawrence William Wilson was a major artist in New Zealand.

I used to look at this image and just dream about being in such a fantastic place. The sheer thought of being somewhere, where there were tree ferns and mountains with snow in the same picture seemed so strange and outrageous to me at the time.  I've had it hanging in almost every place I have lived since them. 

 

Milford Sound with Mount Pembroke Peak in New Zealand ,

painted by L.W.Wilson in 1901

watercolor on Bristol board

Detail of Signature
Milford Sound with Mount Pembroke Peak in New Zealand ,
painted by L.W.Wilson in 1901,
watercolor on Bristol board

 

Detail of writing on back
Milford Sound with Mount Pembroke Peak in New Zealand ,
painted by L.W.Wilson in 1901,
watercolor on Bristol board

A Brief Bio of Lawrence William Wilson 1852-1912:

L. W. Wilson was a member of the wealthy Ellerman Wilson shipping family of Dover, England.  He studied art under Nathaniel Everett Green, one-time drawing master to Queen Victoria.  Wilson emigrated to Auckland, New Zealand in 1877.  He was recorded as being an artist in Oamaru, North Otago, on the South Island who purchased a farm in Canterbury Provence, NZ and settled in the city of Dunedin in 1884. 

While living in Dunedin, he took pupils, including the artist Alfred O'Keefe. Wilson became a painting companion of George O'Brien and shared a studio with Girolami Nerli. L. W. Wilson, together with other New Zealand artists Grace Joel, Alfred O'Keefe, Jane Wimperis, and Girolami Nerli formed the Easel Club in 1895, a breakaway group from the established Dunedin art circle.

Painting in both oils and watercolors, Wilson exhibited in New Zealand with the Canterbury Society of Arts in 1882 and the Otago Art Society between 1884 and 1904.  His work was included in the New Zealand and South Seas Exhibition at Dunedin 1889-90.  Wilson left Dunedin for Australia where he spent five months on a commission painting of the city of Melbourne before he and his wife set out for England in 1904. 

His works were also showcased at the St Louis World’s Fair in the United States in 1904 as a New Zealand painter.  L. W. Wilson’s works are represented in the collections of all the major public galleries in New Zealand.  There are a few images of his work on line and even a few for sale. Here is a  link that I have discovered on line.

http://www.fernergalleries.co.nz/default,2786.sm


The price for my watercolor will be $4,500 US.
Overseas sales will be considered.