Art exhibition tinged with sadness

Celebrated landscape artist Jonathan White died two weeks before his exhibition was to open in Invercargill.

White, of Whakata¯ne, had hopes of coming south to view the exhibition titled: Our Landscape: Through the brush of Jonathan R White MNZM at the He Waka Tuia Art + Museum between July 31 and September 5. He died on July 17 at the age of 82.

Invercargill City Council manager of museum and heritage services Wayne Marriot said White’s death was a huge loss in many ways: ‘‘The loss of the talent of a landscape artist.’’

White’s artwork in the exhibition is of Fiordland and south Westland landscapes, including lakes Te Anau and Orbell, Takahe Valley and Red Mountain.

The exhibition’s 19 pieces were on large canvas and some would have taken years to complete, Marriot said.

The artwork will be dispersed after the exhibition, and some will be sold.

‘‘He had a passion for tramping in Fiordland and south Westland,’’ Marriot said of White.

‘‘He was interested in people, interested in history and an incredibly passionate conservationist.’’

It will be the fourth exhibition of White’s work to be held in Invercargill following displays in 1986, 1981 and in the 1970s.

The 1986 and 1981 exhibitions were sell-outs, Marriot said.

Both generated money for the museum’s acquisition fund.

‘‘To be perfectly honest, it was those two exhibitions that placed the largest contribution into the fund.’’

White’s death comes five months after well-known Southland and Otago artist Peter Beadle died in Queenstown. He was 87.

‘‘We’ve lost two of the masters this year,’’ Marriot said.