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Story: Rural mythologies

Taranaki farming scene

Image
Taranaki farming scene

In this watercolour by Richard Pheney, the golden tone and the cattle and sheep in the foreground are strongly reminiscent of the English Romantic school of painting. Only Mt Taranaki (Mt Egmont) and the line of bush show that this was a pastoral landscape on the New Zealand frontier.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: C-030-003

by Richard Pheney

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Jock Phillips, Rural mythologies – First traditions, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/artwork/20297/taranaki-farming-scene (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Jock Phillips, published 1 March 2009.