The staff at the Aigantighe Art Gallery manage an incredible permanent art collection accumulated over the last 100 years. The Friends of Aigantighe are proud to have donated to this collection.

Recently, we have looked for opportunities from private collections or art auctions. The Timaru North Rotary Club held their second annual Art Auction in October 2019 to fundraise for an Art Scholarship. We purchased three works at the auction that fitted the agreed buying criteria. We are pleased to support the scholarship and acquire new work for the Aigantighe.

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Heather Hill
Verbascum Olypicum, Beth Chatto's Gravel Garden. 1998
Watercolour on paper
Aigantighe Art Gallery Permanent Collection Acc. No. 2001.9.
Given in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Friends of Aigantighe Art Gallery.

Beth Chatto was an award-winning English gardener and author, known for her gardens near Elmstead Market in the English county of Essex where she was born in 1923. The land on which this garden was planted began as a wasteland with very little rain, but Beth and her husband Andrew transformed it into a thriving and bountiful site. In 1990, 30 years after they first started cultivating the land, Beth planted what is now known as ‘the gravel garden’— once a carpark, and transformed by Beth into a striking display of drought-hardy plants that withstand the poor, free-draining soil.

Chatto’s gardens are a testament to the resilience of nature. From industrial sites, depleted by human intervention, something beautiful can spring back up, given the necessary care, and approached with a willingness to experiment and adapt.

This watercolour painting by Timaru-born artist Heather Person-Hill is part of the Aigantighe Art Gallery permanent collection. The Friends of the Aigantighe Art Gallery was formed in 1976, and this watercolour was gifted by the Friends to celebrate 25 years of their support to the Aigantighe Art Gallery.

 

Edwyn Temple (1835-1920)
Hanging Rock, Pleasant Point.
Watercolour on paper
Aigantighe Art Gallery Collection.
Given in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Friends of Aigantighe Art Gallery.

Dame Eileen Mayo (1906-94)
White Cat & Poppies. 1985
Lithograph on paper
Aigantighe Art Gallery Collection.
Given in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Friends of Aigantighe Art Gallery.

Lindsay Crooks
Crayfishermen II. 1992
Watercolour and pastel on paper
Aigantighe Art Gallery Collection.
Given by the Friends of Aigantighe Art Gallery in 1992.

Philippa Wilson
My Father 's Chair. 1994
Black steel and gold leaf
Aigantighe Art Gallery Collection.
Given by the Friends of Aigantighe Art Gallery in 1994.

Edwin J. Poulston
Koru I. 1990
Welded copper and Oamaru stone
Aigantighe Art Gallery Collection.
Given by the Friends of Aigantighe Art Gallery in 1990.

Keith Blight
Impressions of Nature. 1982
Stoneware
Aigantighe Art Gallery Collection.
Given by the Friends of Aigantighe Art Gallery in 1983.

Ann Robinson
Navy Blue Welted Bowl
Glass
Aigantighe Art Gallery Collection. Given by the Friends of Aigantighe Art Gallery in 1983.

Patti Meads
Galactic Deer.
Porcelain
Aigantighe Art Gallery Collection.
Given by the Friends of Aigantighe

Tony Kuepfer
Patch Black. 1982
Glass
Aigantighe Art Gallery Collection.
Given by the Friends of Aigantighe Art Gallery in 1982.

Tony Kuepfer
Black Cylinder. 1982
Glass
Aigantighe Art Gallery Collection. Given by the Friends of Aigantighe Art Gallery in 1982.

Tony Kuepfer
Folded Lip. 1982
Glass
Aigantighe Art Gallery Collection.
Given by the Friends of Aigantighe Art Gallery in 1982.

Francis A. Shurrock (1887-1977)
Study from life. (Recast in (1978)
Bronze
Aigantighe Art Gallery Collection.
Given by the Friends of Aigantighe Art Gallery in 1978.

Trevor Askin
Sea birds. 1998
Bronze
Aigantighe Art Gallery Collection. Given by the Friends of Aigantighe Art Gallery in 1998.

Russell Clark (1905-66)
Caroline Bay Timaru during a Southerly Gale. c1950
Acrylic on board
Aigantighe Art Gallery Collection.
Lattimore bequest and the Friends of Aigantighe Art Gallery, given in 1995.

Jacqueline Fahey
Sister's Communing II. 1990
Oil on board, collage
Aigantighe Art Gallery Collection.
Given by the Friends of Aigantighe Art Gallery in 1990.

Mike Armstrong

The commission was for a painting on a historical theme of Timaru Harbour for the Aigantighe Art Gallery collection to be used for a design for the coastal series of Wuhoo signs.
Hamish Pettingell of the Aigantighe, Roselyn Fauth of the Friends of the Aigantighe and I discussed aspects of the history of the harbour, and Roselyn put me onto Blackett's story. The South Canterbury museum archives and researchers were invaluable, newspaper cuttings and historical photographs provided great source material for the painting’s imagery. Few people know the political or historical significance of the contentious issues around the formation of the harbour which locals had fought for for years against the Provincial and Central Governments. Blackett was the Government engineer who proposed the demolition of the breakwater soon after work had started, which raised the ire of the local public, resulting in a mob marching his effigy down the main street and exploding it on the end of the breakwater. It is a vivid story worth retelling. - Mike Armstrong

Thanks to a generous gift to the Friends, we are in the position to commission special artworks to gift to the Aigantighe collection. These artworks share a Timaru story. These are then reproduced on art history signs and placed in public places for people to enjoy.

Aquisitions

Commission Art