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Overview
Text originally created for Tūrangawaewae: Art and New Zealand exhibition at Te Papa, March 2018.
A senior figure in Wellington’s art scene, painted by the artist who shook it up.
Charles Decimus Barraud was a founding member of the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts, and later, its president. To earn a living, he ran a pharmacy on Lambton Quay. For pleasure, he travelled the country painting its scenic wonders.
His portraitist, James Nairn, made a name for himself with his impressionist landscapes. Though his approach to making art was different to Barraud’s, the pair moved in the same artistic circles, and held each other in mutual respect.
He mātāpuputu i tū ai te toi o Pōneke, he mātātahi i whakaoreore.
Ko Charles Decimus Barraud tētahi o ngā pou o te New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts, ā, i noho hoki ia hei perehitini mō te kura rā. I whai pūtea ia i tana whakahaere i tētahi whare rongoā ki Lambton Quay. E mākona ai tōna ngākau, i haerea te motu e ia me te peita i ngā wāhi mīharo o tēnei whenua.
I rongonui te ringatoi, a James Nairn, i āna mahi whakaahua taiao. Ahakoa te rerekē o āna mahi i tā Barraud, i mōhio rāua ki a rāua, ā, i whakarangatira rāua i a rāua anō.