Painting Nature

Painting Nature
Frank Bramley
For of such is the Kingdom of Heaven 1891
Mackelvie Trust Collection
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki
purchased 1913

Exhibition Details

Within western art, the depiction of nature has had a long and varied history since the Middle Ages, when bestiaries or The Book of Beasts recorded their symbolical attributes, whether real or imagined. While Renaissance artists such as Leonardo da Vinci and Albrecht Dürer focused on accurately recording the natural world, for many artists and collectors living creatures and the landscape they lived in continued to serve as a background to important themes, whether religious or historical.

Gradually, however, the natural world became a subject in its own right. Collectors assembled cabinets of curiosities containing samples of rocks, insects, animals and other phenomena which artists sometimes studied, but it was only in the 18th century that the study of nature became a science. Northern artists promoted landscape painting, recording the fertile fields and villages of Holland and Flanders (now Belgium). In Italy, dramatic hills and sunny vales were often sketched accurately, but then reworked as settings for a scattering of tiny figures acting out a scene. This allowed a classical or religious title to be given to the work.

Animals became the subject of portraiture, perhaps because they were famous for particular deeds, or because they represented something important within society. Their power as symbols has continued to the present day.

Including works by Jacques d'Arthois, Karel Dujardin, Jacob van Ruisdael, Lucy Kemp-Welch, Claude Lorrain, John Everett Millais and others, Painting Nature brings animals, insects and the wider landscape to the fore in a series of works from the collection of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki.

Date
Curated by
Mary Kisler and Mathew Norman
Location
Level 1
Cost
Free entry

Related Artworks

View Artwork

Not on display

Landscape: Woodland with Lake and Figures
Landscape: Woodland with Lake and Figures

Jacques d' Arthois

Production date
Unknown
Medium
oil on canvas
Size (h x w)
676 x 882 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, purchased 1968
Accession no
1968/27
View Artwork

Not on display

Landscape with Angler
Landscape with Angler

Paul Bril

Production date
1601
Medium
pen and ink, with wash
Size (h x w)
121 x 188 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, purchased 1971
Accession no
1971/7
View Artwork

Not on display

After the heat of the day
After the heat of the day

John Alfred Arnesby Brown

Production date
1900
Medium
oil on canvas
Size (h x w)
1270 x 1816 mm
Credit line
Mackelvie Trust Collection, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki
Accession no
M1900/1
View Artwork

Not on display

Landscape
Landscape

Thomas Gainsborough

Production date
circa 1780
Medium
black and white chalk on grey paper
Size (h x w)
253 x 315 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, purchased 1956
Accession no
1956/1
View Artwork

Not on display

A Gathering of Birds
A Gathering of Birds

Melchior d' Hondecoeter

Production date
circa 1660-1690
Medium
oil on canvas
Size (h x w)
1013 x 1073 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki
Accession no
U/113
View Artwork

Not on display

A Rustic Scene with Sheep and Shepherds
A Rustic Scene with Sheep and Shepherds

Julius Ibbetson

Production date
Unknown
Medium
oil on canvas
Size (h x w)
393 x 495 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of Mrs A M MacNeill, 1962
Accession no
1962/25
View Artwork

Not on display

The Evening Camp
The Evening Camp

Lucy Kemp-Welch

Production date
circa 1929
Medium
oil on canvas
Size (h x w)
1216 x 1822 mm
Credit line
Mackelvie Trust Collection, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki
Accession no
MU/74
View Artwork

Not on display

The Fishing Party
The Fishing Party

John Linnell

Production date
1851
Medium
oil on canvas
Size (h x w)
609 x 914 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, purchased 1956
Accession no
1956/22/4
View Artwork

Not on display

Summer Evening
Summer Evening

David Lucas John Constable

Production date
1831
Medium
mezzotint
Size (h x w)
140 x 218 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, purchased 1955
Accession no
1955/18/4
View Artwork

Not on display

A Heath
A Heath

David Lucas John Constable

Production date
1831
Medium
mezzotint and graphite
Size (h x w)
140 x 189 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, purchased 1955
Accession no
1955/18/5
View Artwork

Not on display

Windmill in a Landscape
Windmill in a Landscape

Georges Michel

Production date
Unknown
Medium
oil on paper on canvas
Size (h x w)
522 x 649 x 75 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, purchased 1964
Accession no
1964/8
View Artwork

Not on display

Boy and ponies
Boy and ponies

Alfred Munnings

Production date
circa 1910
Medium
oil on canvas
Size (h x w)
810 x 938 mm
Credit line
Mackelvie Trust Collection, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, purchased 1921
Accession no
M1921/1/12
View Artwork

Not on display

Winter Landscape
Winter Landscape

Constant Permeke

Production date
Unknown
Medium
oil on canvas
Size (h x w)
835 x 988 x 77 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, purchased 1963
Accession no
1963/10
View Artwork

Not on display

Landscape with a Rock
Landscape with a Rock

Salvator Rosa

Production date
Unknown
Medium
oil on canvas
Size (h x w)
200 x 438 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, purchased 1964
Accession no
1964/24
View Artwork

Not on display

Captain O'Kelly's "Eclipse"
Captain O'Kelly's "Eclipse"

John Nost Sartorius

Production date
1780
Medium
oil on canvas
Size (h x w)
1036 x 1296 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of Moss Davis, 1933
Accession no
1933/1/2
View Artwork

Not on display

Noah's Ark
Noah's Ark

Roelandt Savery

Production date
circa 1620
Medium
oil on panel
Size (h x w)
521 x 971 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, purchased 1962
Accession no
1962/6
View Artwork

Not on display

Woodland Scene
Woodland Scene

Studio of Hobbema Meindert Hobbema

Production date
17th century
Medium
oil on canvas
Size (h x w)
741 x 922 x 45 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, purchased 2015
Accession no
2015/23
View Artwork

Not on display

Landscape with Sheep
Landscape with Sheep

Eugene Verboeckhoven

Production date
1868
Medium
oil on panel
Size (h x w)
865 x 1195 x 65 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of Moss Davis, 1933
Accession no
1933/1/1
View Artwork

Not on display

A view on the Wye, Welsh Bicknor Church in the distance
A view on the Wye, Welsh Bicknor Church in the distance

Frederick Watts

Production date
Unknown
Medium
oil on canvas
Size (h x w)
856 x 1070 x 50 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of Sir George Grey, 1887
Accession no
1887/1/39
View Artwork

Not on display

For of such is the Kingdom of Heaven
For of such is the Kingdom of Heaven

Frank Bramley

Production date
1891
Medium
oil on canvas
Size (h x w)
2166 x 2872 mm
Credit line
Mackelvie Trust Collection, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, purchased 1913
Accession no
M1913/1
View Artwork

Not on display

England
England

Thomas Creswick

Production date
1847
Medium
oil on canvas
Size (h x w)
1473 x 2267 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of Moss Davis, 1930
Accession no
1930/18/2
View Artwork

Not on display

Loch Lomond
Loch Lomond

Joseph Morris Henderson

Production date
Unknown
Medium
oil on canvas
Size (h x w)
630 x 883 x 50 mm
Credit line
Mackelvie Trust Collection, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki
Accession no
MU/62
View Artwork

Not on display

Glencoe, Scotland
Glencoe, Scotland

H D Hillier

Production date
1878-1930
Medium
watercolour
Size (h x w)
108 x 543 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of Dr Thomson W Leys, 1918
Accession no
1918/7
View Artwork

Not on display

Winter
Winter

John Lavery

Production date
1913
Medium
oil on canvas
Size (h x w)
800 x 922 mm
Credit line
Mackelvie Trust Collection, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki
Accession no
MU/78
View Artwork

Not on display

Blow Blow Thou Winter Wind
Blow Blow Thou Winter Wind

John Everett Millais

Production date
1892
Medium
oil on canvas
Size (h x w)
1270 x 1740 x 83 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of Moss Davis, 1933
Accession no
1933/1/3
View Artwork

Not on display

Family Group by an Ornamental Fountain in a Pastoral Landscape
Family Group by an Ornamental Fountain in a Pastoral Landscape

Jan Mytens

Production date
1663
Medium
oil on canvas
Size (h x w)
1607 x 1870 x 115 mm
Credit line
Mackelvie Trust Collection, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, purchased with assistance from the M A Serra Trust, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, 2014
Accession no
M2014/21
View Artwork

Not on display

Guisachan
Guisachan

Alfred Newton

Production date
19th century
Medium
watercolour
Size (h x w)
241 x 459 mm
Credit line
Mackelvie Trust Collection, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of James Tannock Mackelvie, 1884
Accession no
M1884/2/67
View Artwork

Not on display

The Larger Seller of Rat Poison
The Larger Seller of Rat Poison

Jean-Pierre Norblin

Production date
1781
Medium
etching
Size (h x w)
109 x 57 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of Mr Wallace Alexander, 1940
Accession no
1940/4/33
View Artwork

Not on display

The Heart of Scotland
The Heart of Scotland

Malcolm Osborne

Production date
1914
Medium
drypoint
Size (h x w)
132 x 335 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, purchased 1929
Accession no
1929/11/1
View Artwork

Not on display

Bannockburn
Bannockburn

Malcolm Osborne

Production date
1913
Medium
etching
Size (h x w)
213 x 325 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, purchased 1929
Accession no
1929/11/2
View Artwork

Not on display

A Stream in the Highlands
A Stream in the Highlands

Alfred Powell

Production date
1850-1893
Medium
watercolour
Size (h x w)
463 x 692 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki
Accession no
U/176
View Artwork

Not on display

The Strolling Musicians
The Strolling Musicians

Rembrandt van Rijn

Production date
circa 1635
Medium
etching
Size (h x w)
140 x 116 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, purchased 1981
Accession no
1981/50/114
View Artwork

Not on display

Sight
Sight

Jan Saenredam Hendrik Goltzius

Production date
circa 1595
Medium
engraving
Size (h x w)
160 x 121 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, purchased 1981
Accession no
1981/50/121/2
View Artwork

Not on display

Vertumnus and Pomona
Vertumnus and Pomona

Jan Saenredam Abraham Bloemaert

Production date
1605
Medium
engraving
Size (h x w)
453 x 370 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, purchased 2004
Accession no
2004/38
View Artwork

Not on display

The shell fountain in the gardens of Villa d'Este
The shell fountain in the gardens of Villa d'Este

Pieter Schenck

Production date
1680-1718
Medium
engraving
Size (h x w)
490 x 675 mm
Credit line
Mackelvie Trust Collection, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, purchased 2005
Accession no
M2005/5
View Artwork

Not on display

Woodland Scene
Woodland Scene

Albin Martin

Production date
19th century
Medium
sepia and white
Size (h x w)
218 x 315 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki
Accession no
U/158
View Artwork

Not on display

Highland Shepherd
Highland Shepherd

Richard Ansdell

Production date
1864
Medium
oil on canvas
Size (h x w)
835 x 1951 x 66 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, bequest of Mr William Elliot, 1941
Accession no
1941/3/3