Gottfried Lindauer

Mrs Sarah Rutherford

Mrs Sarah Rutherford by Gottfried Lindauer

Artwork Detail

Sarah Rutherford is dressed in her best clothes for the occasion of her portrait and Lindauer has taken meticulous care in recording the details in her costume and elegant jewellery. It has been said that early New Zealand settlers wore fashions that were some years behind those in Europe. However, people, especially women, would not be caught dead allowing themselves to be painted wearing out-of-date fashion. Both Sarah and her husband James could be thought of as our ‘Gothic couple’ because they are depicted in a grim almost matter-of-fact manner, but magnificently at the same time; perhaps to extol the virtues of hard-working colonial farmers.

Title
Mrs Sarah Rutherford
Artist/creator
Gottfried Lindauer
Production date
1876
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
829 x 699 x 50 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of Mr W J Rutherford, 1955
Accession no
1955/38/2
Copyright
No known copyright restrictions
Department
New Zealand Art
Display status
Not on display

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