Margaret Stoddart

Aotearoa New Zealand, b.1865, d.1934

Camiers, France

  • 1902
  • Watercolour
  • Christchurch Art Gallery Foundation Collection, purchased 1996
  • 240 x 340mm
  • L86/92
  • View on google maps

About the artist

Stoddart, Margaret Olrog (Aotearoa New Zealand, b.1865, d.1934)

Margaret Stoddart, from The Weekly Press 9 June 1909

Nature's Own Voice, 6 February - 26 July 2009

Margaret Stoddart worked exclusively as a watercolourist and painted plein-air landscapes from early in her career. Her work developed towards an impressionistic style while she was based in Europe between 1898 and 1906. At this time she began exploring the various atmospheric effects experienced while painting plein-air, as seen in Camiers, France, where Stoddart uses very wet washes of colour to capture the hazy conditions of the scene.

Exhibition History

earlier labels about this work
  • Camiers is a small village south of Calais, on the French coast of the English Channel. Margaret Stoddart travelled to this region in late 1902. She painted this watercolour outdoors, using wet washes to capture the mist-like atmosphere of the scene. Stoddart’s style changed significantly during her time in Britain and Europe from 1898 to 1906. She was based in St Ives, where she was encouraged to develop this outdoor approach. The result was a more impressionistic style, exploring different effects of light and using a more colourful palette. Stoddart was born in Diamond Harbour, on Banks Peninsula. In 1876 the family sailed for Britain and she received her early education in Edinburgh. They returned to New Zealand in 1879 and in 1882 Stoddart enrolled at the Canterbury College School of Art. She was a founding member of the Palette Club whose members were concerned with painting outdoors. After living in England for several years, Stoddart returned to New Zealand in 1907 and settled in Diamond Harbour.

    (Label date unknown)