Maud Winifred Sherwood

Aotearoa New Zealand / Australia, b.1880, d.1956

The White Horse

  • 1918
  • Watercolour
  • Presented by the Canterbury Society of Arts, 1932
  • 455 x 532mm
  • 69/37

The White Horse was painted on the outskirts of Sydney in May of 1918. At this time Maud Sherwood made many watercolours of scenes around Sydney, often selecting subjects that showed some activity. Watercolour was Sherwood’s favourite medium. This work, with its freedom and confidence in watercolour techniques, highlights the influence of Post Impressionism on her painting. When she was in Europe, Sherwood had contact with fellow New Zealand expatriates painting in a similar style, including Frances Hodgkins (1869-1947) and Sydney Lough Thompson (1877-1973) and she shared with them a love of painting outdoors. Sherwood (née Kimball) was born in Dunedin and moved to Wellington as a child. She studied, and later taught, at Wellington Technical College. She left for Europe in 1911 and two years later moved to Sydney. Sherwood was actively involved in the Sydney art scene and exhibited regularly with the Society of Artists and the Society of Women Painters. She died at Katoomba in the Blue Mountains.

Exhibition History