Missing Painting Found In Gallery

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31152, 31 August 1966, Page 5

Missing Painting Found In Gallery

A colonial painting of an Otago landscape, missing since 1914, has been found in the loft of the Durham Street Art Gallery.

The painting, “In Otago,” by E. F. Temple, R.A., was bought by the Canterbury Society of Arts in 1886 for seven guineas.

Mr Quentin MacFarlane, who is in charge of the society’s permanent collection, found it matted in sticky black dust. He describes the work, which he has cleaned and restored, as a pleasant minor work by an accomplished English painter. “It’s typical of the style before Van der Velden. An ethereal misty panoramic sky with mountains, and a heavy, wet, browny bush scene below,” said Mr MacFarlane. “I’d presume Temple did it from a sketch he made on location.”

“Terrible Place”

Mr MacFarlane had searched the loft because several older works were missing from the collection. Another member had recalled that many works had been stored in the loft during the First World War when the gallery had been used as a barracks. “The loft is a terrible place—dark, dirty and dismal,” said Mr MacFarlane. “It’s full of the accumulated rubbish of 80 years, such as gas lamps, boxes and broken chairs.

“I trod on something soft. It was an old frame, lying face up. I thought it was a gilt frame with its cardboard backing still in place. I was just going to drop it when I saw the faint date ‘lBB6’ on the back. "I cleaned it a little and found the name of the artist, but it wasn’t until I got it in the daylight that I found traces of oil paint under the

mat of dust on the face. So I took it home and spent a long time gently cleaning the surface. It’s just remarkable that the oil paint had survived.”

Although the painting was mentioned in the early records of the society, it was not included in the 1960 catalogue. The society also owns several charcoal works by Temple. “I haven't explored the loft fully, so perhaps something else may turn up,” said Mr MacFarlane. “I don’t think it will yield any great treasures.” Value of Painting He said it was hard to estimate the value of the painting. “In the last few years interest in colonial paintings has been increasing and this could be worth £5 or as much as £5O. The other day a Hoyte that was no better than this sold for £ll5 at an auction. “A few years ago the furcoat brigade used to snap up this sort of painting to regild the frame and put a mirror in it. I nearly made as bad a mistake with this. “If people have work which they are unsure about, they should seek reliable professional advice. They should not attempt to clean the work. If it is terribly dirty, the dust should be lightly vacuumed as the task of restoring is a highly skilled craft. Highlights and the painter’s last fine brushing could be the first to disappear if cleaning is attempted.”

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