MR. C. BLOOMFIELD.

Otago Witness, Issue 2545, 24 December 1902, Page 11 (Supplement)

MR. C. BLOOMFIELD.

Mr Bloomfield was born in London, and came to New Zealand when still a boy with his widowed mother and her family. They settled in the Auckland province, where 'he has resided ever since. Mr Bloomfield early manifested a deep love of art, and spent every spare hour in careful drawing, and in the study of colours and •effects. At that time neither he nor anyone else in New Zealand had the advantage which our art students mow enjoy in art schools, and opportunities of obtaining private tuition; he had to depend in a large measure, if not entirely, on his own industry and application. His apprenticeship consisted chiefly in constant outdoor study from nature, with the result that his work is highly prized for its fidelity and local truth. Nature at all times appeals strongly to this artist, but especially in her wildest moods, and he has often united the task of the explorer with that of the delineator, and with tent and blanket strapped on his back, and a litte flour and oatmeal in his kit, he has tramped for days all alone, over mountain

several days on the spot where the Hermitage" uow-^stands. Another excursion was from Hokitika down the West Coast as far as Cook River, a wild, but very beautiful district, where he obtained some fine sketches of Mounts Cook and Tasman from the West Coast, as well as many views of the charming lakes which lie like gems embedded in. - the dense bush. But perhaps Mr Bloomfield's name is best known in connection with the Terraces of Rotomahana, now, alas, quite destroyed by the eruption of 1886. In the previous year (1885) he made a lengthy stay at Rotomahana, camping on the spot for six weeks, and brought away some fine paintings of both the Pink and White Terraces. These paintings have been justly admired for their truthfuness in colour and drawing, as well as the unique value attaching to them under the circumstances of the destruction of the terraces. Replicas have been largely ordered and forwarded to all parts of the world. It would take too long to enumerate all the spots visited by our artist, many of them well known and easily accessible at the present day ; others stjll difficult of access, and only known to the majority, by the able interpretation of Mr Bloomfield and similar artists, who, going direct to nature for their inspirations, present us with truthful and striking presentations of spots we can scarcely hope to see for ourselves.

Our illustration is a fair sample of Mr Bloomfield's work. It is a fine view of Queenstown, showing the pretty little town nestling among the mountains, with the wonderful snow-clad Remarkables towering up in the distance, and a stretch of trees and grass in the foreground.