Evelyne Page

Nude in Garden (1971)

"I do not remember being aware of colour as such until a chance remark from an elder sister . "Why don't you try using pure colour?" I have remembered to this day. It was the whole excitement from her remark that a world had opened up; a world of light and colour." ²⁰

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Evelyn Page
Nude in Garden (1971)
oil on canvas and board
623 x 585 mm
Victoria University of Wellington Art Collection
© Reproduced courtesy of Sebastian Page

Page says she painted her first nude in 1927 "out of the blue"²¹ while on holiday in Karamea on the West Coast of New Zealand. The female nude - unusual subject matter for a female painter in the 1920s - remained a recurring theme for Page throughout her career. Nude in Garden (1971) was painted at Page's holiday home in Waikanae. The model, a domestic employee, had been persuaded by Page to pose for her. Fearing the response of her family, Page's sitter chose to wear a hat to protect her identity.

The figure has not been idealised or sexualised, but painted freely and realistically with her curves intact, mirroring the shapes of the fruit in the still-life to the left. It is ironic that the inclusion of the hat, which covers the models face, renders the figure vulnerable to a sexualised gaze. Page, who was reluctant to make her models anonymous, had initially intended to remove the hat from the composition but changed her mind.

The work was painted en plein air, allowing Page to express a sensitivity to the bright natural light and its effects. Page uses rich colour and broad expressive brushstrokes, in the style of the Impressionists. The modelling of the nude figure is achieved through the use of colour contrasts, rather than the traditional tonal modelling with grey or brown shadows. Paint is applied spontaneously and leaves canvas primer visible in parts. Page's handling of colour and light was considered a departure from the popular styles and techniques of the time, and introduced a vitality and freedom that was missing from contemporary New Zealand art.²²

In 1927 Page set up The Group along with other artists as a reaction against the local Art Society's shows. The Group continued to exhibit the work of young emerging painters such as Colin McCahon and Toss Woollaston for the next 50 years.

In 1937 Page travelled to Europe where she was inspired by both English and French artists, in particular Pierre Bonnard. Page described visiting the Bonnard Exhibition in London as "a most overwhelming experience"²³. This visit was hugely influential, given the scarcity of contemporary European art reproductions in New Zealand at the time. Bonnard's influence in Page's work can be seen in her use of pure colour and concern with capturing the fleeting effects of light. In 1970 Evelyn Page wrote, "Bonnard has done everything that I would have given almost anything to do."²⁴

St Peter's Church and Wellington Harbour (c.1954) (view image) was painted soon after Page returned from a visit to Europe. On her return, Page was acutely aware of the difference in light between Europe and New Zealand and found returning to Wellington "an exciting visual experience"²⁵. Painted from the southern end of The Terrace looking down Ghuznee Street, St Peter's Church and Wellington Harbour captures the effect of the late afternoon light on the city surfaces. Bright daubs of thickly applied blue, white, ochre, and green are applied in loose brushstrokes, bringing the cityscape to life. Although no people are depicted, the crowded buildings and boats on the harbour fill the painting with the vitality and dynamism of a busy city.

St Peter's Church and Wellington Harbour offers the experience of a fleeting moment not only in the day on which Page painted, but in the history of Wellington. The painting can be seen as an historical record much in the same way that Toss Woollaston's Greymouth can. Evelyn Page and Toss Woollaston's paintings are also similar in their concern with capturing the subtle effects of the weather on mood.

Page painted many cityscapes during her career as she believed that cities were visually exciting and challenging subjects. However, the practical problems of painting in busy urban environments - such as not being able to easily set up her easel and paint on the footpath - led to Page to using her car as her studio. She even arranged for the Public Service Commission to write a letter for her to show to any traffic officer who might query her activities.²⁶

TECHNIQUE/PROCESS

Evelyn Page was influenced by the French Impressionists. The stylistic influence of Impressionism is particularly evident in Page's use of pure, vibrant colour; her interest in the effects of light on objects, her commitment to painting en plein air, and her loose calligraphic brushstrokes. Page was a prolific artist who worked with recurring themes throughout her career, including portraits, the female nude, still life, landscape, and cityscapes.

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

Photograph: Sal Criscillo

Evelyn Margaret Page (nee Polson) was born in Christchurch in 1899 and trained at the Canterbury College of Art between 1915 and 1922. Page lived and painted in Canterbury until 1947 when her composer husband, Frederick Page, was employed to set up the Department of Music at Victoria University of Wellington. Page exhibited regularly with the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts, the Otago Arts Society, and with the Canterbury Society of Arts. In 1956 Page visited China with a New Zealand Cultural Mission and in 1966 she was awarded a Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council Grant to travel and study overseas. She travelled to England and Europe and attended the Kokoschka School while in Salzburg. Evelyn Page died in Wellington in 1987.

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