Man with Firewood

James McLauchlan Nairn, who arrived in Aotearoa in 1890, is well known for encouraging other artists in this country to embrace recent innovations in painting, such as working en plein air. He is closely associated with the progressive Wellington Art Club, which he helped to establish in 1892, and Pumpkin Cottage at Silverstream, near Whakatiki Upper Hutt. First rented by Nairn in 1894, the cottage served as a retreat for members of the club—such as Herbert Fitzherbert, Thomas Arthur McCormack, Flora Scales, Maud Sherwood, and Nugent Welch—for many years.