New Zealand's Impressionist

When we think of impressionist painters we think of Monet, Degas or Renior but Wellington had its very own impressionist painter who shocked society by offering live nude models to his students.
James McLauchlan Nairn was born at Campsie Junction in Scotland to his builder father Archibald and mother Catherine on November 18, 1859. One of seven children, he was the only one who sought to pursue an artistic career.
After working as a draughtsman for a while, he applied to the Glasgow School of Art where he studied part time for four years before becoming a full time artist.
Before he even left Scotland, he was aiming to break new ground. He was part of a group called the Glasgow Boys who declared their right to paint not only the subject matter of their choice, but also in the manner they wished. Contemporary subjects painted out of doors characterised their work.
James, in poor health, decided to follow an older sister and brother who had already come out to New Zealand.
By August 1890, he was working doing cartoons in Wellington.
During a big maritime strike that year, he and other artists supported the strikers, producing a booklet of cartoons.
In December 1891, he was appointed to teach still life painting and life drawing. He did this by offering live models - which was very risque for the time.
His freely impressionist style and especially his landscape painting were generally popular in Wellington. He also painted portraits at his studio in Lambton Quay.
James joined the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts soon after his arrival in Wellington, serving on its council from 1890 to 1903 and as vice president from 1898 to 1900, but in 1892 he led a breakaway group in reaction to the romantic and mannered style of painting favoured by the academy.
The new Wellington Art Club, of which James was president from 1892 to 1896, offered opportunities for artists to gather informally and to sketch directly from nature. The club held annual exhibitions and acted as a forum in Wellington for the dissemination of avant-garde ideas of art.
The Art Club members often met at Silverstream in the Hutt Valley, where James rented his famous Pumpkin Cottage about 1894.
This was intended primarily as a place to leave canvases to dry, but James also spent weekends there painting with some of the male members of the club. Pumpkin Cottage remained a regular meeting place for the Wellington Art Club for many years. It was demolished in 1980.
He married 19-year-old Ellen Smith in 1898 and they had two daughters.
James Nairn was only 44 years old when he died of a perforating bowel ulcer, at his home in Wellington on February 22, 1904.
He is buried in Karori Cemetery. Many of his paintings can be viewed at Te Papa’s online collection.
Pictures from Te Papa.​