This sketch by young Christchurch painter William Sutton was a preparatory study for a larger painting, a group portrait of the supporters of the controversial purchase of Frances Hodgkins' 'Pleasure garden'. The group was among the small number of intellectuals and supporters of modern art who began to appear in the main New Zealand cities in the 1950s. Their views on the value of modern art were largely opposed by the urban elite. 'Pleasure garden' was eventually accepted by the city in 1951, but Sutton's painting was subsequently destroyed.
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Christchurch Art Gallery - Te Puna o Waiwhetu
Reference:
78/81
Oil painting by William Alexander Sutton
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