CHRISTIE, Bessie;

Tobacco Queue, Karangahape Road, Auckland

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c.1940
Oil on board
410 x 520mm

Tobacco Queue, Karangahape Road, Auckland (or simply Tobacco Queue) is a characteristic Bessie Christie subject. She has observed a typical wartime activity, painting it with dashing informality in contrast to the rather tight, studied watercolour technique she used earlier in her career. Christie is a good example of a talented artist who managed to surmount the obstacles of a conventional art education and maintain a fresh approach to subject matter in the face of prevailing fashion. In recent years, her work, although rarely found, has become increasingly sought after because of its originality.

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Illustrated

Eric Lee-Johnson (ed.), Arts Year Book 6 (Te Whanganui-a-Tara: The Wingfield Press, 1950), 83.

Provenance

1978–
Fletcher Trust Collection, purchased 1978

?–?
Collection of Charles Tole, likely a gift of the artist

The Fletcher Trust Collection is one of the largest curated private collections of Aotearoa art. The Trust makes works available online as well as via exhibitions initiated by public art institutions and by the Trust itself.

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Auckland 1142
New Zealand

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