LAURENCE WILLIAM WILSON (1851-1912)
Mount Tutoko (2,723 m -8,934 ft)
New Zealand (South Island)
In Mount Tutoko from Pykes River, Martins Bay Oil on canvas, 1900, Private collection
The mountain
Mount Tutoko (2,723 m -8,934 ft) is the highest peak in Fiordland National Park, in southwest New Zealand. It lies between the Hollyford Valley and Milford Sound, 15 kilometres due north of the Homer Tunnel at the northern end of the Darran Mountains. The glacier-covered mountain is visible from the Hollyford Track. Two slightly lower summits lie just to the south of the main peak. The first ascent of Tutoko was by Samuel Turner and Peter Graham in 1924, climbing by way of the northwest ridge. The mountain is thought to have been named after Tutoko, a Māori chief who lived at Martin's Bay, close to the mouth of the Hollyford River.
The painter
Laurence William Wilson emigrated to Auckland in 1877 and then travelled extensively to settle in Dunedin in 1884. He painted in both oils and watercolours, became a painting companion of George O'Brien and a teacher. One of his pupils was the Dunedin artist Alfred O'Keefe. In 1895, LW Wilson together with Grace Joel, Alfred O'Keefe, Jane Wimperis and Girolami Nerli formed the Easel Club , a breakaway from the Dunedin Establishment, which offered a programme of special classes and the introduction of a professional lady model for life drawing. In 1904 LW Wilson left Dunedin for Melbourne where he spent 5 months on a commissioned painting of the city before he set out for England, eventually returning to New Zealand via India and Africa. He exhibited with the Canterbury Society of Arts in 1882 and the Otago Art Society between 1994 and 1904. His work was included in the NZ and South Seas Exhibition Dunedin 1889-90 and at the St Louis Exposition in 1904. LW Wilson is represented in the collections of all the major public galleries in New Zealand.
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2020 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau
