PROVENANCE

Private Collection, Auckland Purchased by current vendor, Christies. Australia Paintings, Prints & Books, 1986, Lot 184

Nicholas Chevalier had studied in Europe and London before travelling to Australia in 1854, where he made paintings and drawings of the goldfields. He worked as a professional artist in Melbourne and introduced chromo-lithography to Australia. For almost two years in the mid 1860s he travelled widely in New Zealand, sometimes accompanied by his wife, whose diaries record the rigours and hardships endured on some of their journeys

In February 1869, three Chevalier watercolours were exhibited at the Otago Fine Arts Exhibition but there was some disappointment that there were not more. The Press reported: ..... the artist had no works on hand to send, so it is likely that most of them were still overseas. The following year Chevalier was represented by several watercolours including Akaroa (cat no 9), in the Canterbury Art Exhibition held at Canterbury Museum. Text: Nicholas Chevalier An Artist's Journey through Canterbury in 1866

In 1869 Chevalier accompanied the Duke of Edinburgh on his world tour, before returning to live in London. A large body of Chevalier's New Zealand watercolours are held in the national collection in Wellington, gifted by his widow.