73. Charles Blomfield
The Sleeping Geyser, Lake Rotomahana
est. $25,000 - 35,000
The Sleeping Geyser, Lake Rotomahana
Oil on canvas
58 x 93.5 cm
Signed & dated 1895
58 x 93.5 cm
est. $25,000 - 35,000
Fetched $20,000
Relative size
Provenance: Private Collection, Queensland
Purchased from Fishers Fine Arts, Christchurch circa 1998
The name Charles Blomfield is synonymous with the Pink and White Terraces. Blomfield first saw the Terraces in December 1875 and made the comment that they were exceedingly beautiful and graceful. Returning nearly ten years later, he spent six weeks painting them. Blomfield's paintings were sold from his Victoria Arcade studio in Queen Street. Open daily, the studio was a popular destination for tourists. The Terraces were tragically destroyed by the Tarawera eruption of 1886. In response to public demand Blomfield continued to paint this favoured subject, immortalising the lost terraces in his paintings.