“Another arrival in the region who would be even more influential on Woollaston, was Flora Scales. Born in Lower Hutt, she departed for England in 1908 where she spent four years studying animal painting under Royal Academician Frank Calderon. It is tempting to assume that her encounter with Roger Fry's exhibition of the post-Impressionists at London's Grafton Galleries in 1910 stimulated her towards her future direction, but Scales's absorption of such influences was a little way off yet. The First World War brought her back to New Zealand and to Nelson, where her mother was running an orchard. Outdoor subjects particularly appealed to her, thanks to the influence of Wellington's Academy Sketch Club and Stoke, Nelson [BC013] from 1922 (page 38) shows her application of Calderon's tuition to these. By 1928, however, she was ready to leave again, in search of new ideas about art."
BC013
Untitled
[Stoke, Nelson]
Landscape. Right of centre, two brown horses each with white blaze on nose, on diagonal facing right. Man in cap follows the horses. Low horizon, immense pale sky. Bushy trees to the right of scene form background to horses. Bushes and ploughed land show touches of white paint. Sky right shows touch of red paint. Sky left shows thick daubs of blue/white paint.
LR brown/black brush point F Scales 1922
Verso framer’s stamp crossed Withdrawn
Verso label Scales, Helen Flora M, Stoke, Nelson 1922, Oil on board 216 x 251mm
Purchased by Hocken Collections - Uare Taoka o Hākena, University of Otago Library, Dunedin, New Zealand, with the assistance of Hocken Library Endowment funds, from Peter McLeavey Gallery, Wellington, 1974
Lower centre appearance of a blemish on unploughed area to the left of standing man
Hocken Collections - Uare Taoka o Hākena, University of Otago Library
Dunedin, New Zealand
There are two known paintings of this subject, Untitled [Stoke, Nelson] [BC013] and Untitled [Rural scene] [BC125].
Alternative title, Stoke, Nelson, taken from Hocken Collections documentation and the exhibition The Promised Land: Art in Nelson from Tasman to Today at The Suter Te Aratoi o Whakatū, Nelson, New Zealand, 1999-2000.
The Promised Land: Art in Nelson from Tasman to Today, The Suter Te Aratoi o Whakatū, Nelson, New Zealand, 1999, pg 38 (colour)
'Modern Arrivals' by William McAloon, The Promised Land: Art in Nelson from Tasman to Today, The Suter Te Aratoi o Whakatū, Nelson, New Zealand, 1999, pp 12-13
‘Great Expectations: The Promised Land at The Suter’ by Jill Trevelyan, Art New Zealand, no. 96, 2000, pg 99-101
“This section [Into the Twentieth Century] of the exhibition contains some particularly thoughtful groupings of works. Flora Scales’ luminous early oil “Stoke, Nelson, 1922” [BC013] is hung with works by Mina Arndt, and Hugh Scott.”
‘A Tour of the Galleries’ by Josie McNaught, Dominion Post, Wellington, New Zealand, 29.01.2000, pg 21
“Nelson Gallery, The Suter, continues to celebrate its centenary with a programme of exhibitions beginning with 'The Promised Land: Art in Nelson from Tasman to Today'. Curated by William McAloon...the exhibition explores the significant contribution that Nelson artists made to New Zealand’s modern art movement, from early twentieth century artists, Mina Arndt and Flora Scales to the mid century works of Toss Woollaston, Doris Lusk and Colin McCahon.”
Review by John Daly Peoples of The Promised Land: Art in Nelson from Tasman to To-day, The Suter Te Aratoi o Whakatū, Nelson, New Zealand, National Business Review, 04.02.2000, pg 30
“There are two fine works by Flora Scales, who was one of the important influences on the late Sir Toss Woollaston.…her 1922 painting “Stoke, Nelson” [BC013] is a work with a 19th century subject (a horse ploughing a field) but the work seems to be constructed out of light touches of earth and air.”
