PROVENANCE
Paul & Kerry Barber Collection Fine Art Auction, International Art Centre 25/07/2002

Jane Evans was born in Nelson 1946 and educated at Nelson College for Girls. She enrolled at the Ilam School of Fine Arts in 1965, and the following year travelled to England to attend London's Waltham Forest Art College. Following a period of formal study she commenced self-education. This freedom of spirit from a young age resonates throughout a life time's creation of vibrant, free-flowing works.

Evans' innate understanding and use of colour saw her flower and figurative narratives hit a high spot in the buoyant international art market of the early to mid 1980s. Today, enthusiasm for her work is again being witnessed in the sale room.

After an initial diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis in 1965, Evans was diagnosed with an ongoing condition that affected her for the rest of her life. Often literally painting through her pain, while adapting her painting methods and media accordingly, Evans stated: Suddenly there was life in front of me and I had to grab it with both hands. It was a compulsive thing for me to express the joys of life. Evans moved to Christchurch in 1967, returning to Nelson in 1971 and the ongoing support of close friends and family. 1972 saw the artist painting the colourful characters of Sydney's Kings Cross and setting up a studio in Melbourne. In 1974 she travelled again to England where she spent three months commencing a series of works showing people visiting and viewing paintings in the London galleries and the lively exchanges at markets such as Portobello Road.

Returning home Evans purchased a cottage in Tasman Street which she renovated and lovingly established the garden which became a tremendous source of inspiration for her signature flower paintings. Of this time she said: the garden was an extension of my life. When I turned to watercolours I found myself in touch with this wonderful, loose spontaneous medium that was really exciting.

Passionate about the expressionist works of Matisse, Bonnard and Chagall, Evans said: I am drawn to the painters who express the joy in living. Her paintings resonated with the public and there were waiting lists for her work. She never allowed journalists to make mention of her illness but worked closely with John Coley who published her 1997 biography. Evans was appointed the 1997 Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to painting. She died peacefully in 2012 at the Nelson home which she shared with her partner David Furniss.