James McLauchlan Nairn (18 November 1859 – 22 February 1904) was a New Zealand painter who (along with

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) strongly influenced New Zealand painting in the late 19th century. He believed in en plein air or painting outdoors.

Life and work

Nairn studied at the Glasgow School of Art for four years from 1879 before enrolling as a student at the

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in Paris. During the 1880s Nairn exhibited work at the Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts and the Royal Scottish Academy and was associated with the '' Glasgow Boys'' - a group of Scottish artist interested in Impressionism. Nairn emigrated from Glasgow to Dunedin for his health in 1890. He moved to Wellington in 1891, where he was appointed as an art instructor at the Wellington Technical School. He lectured on art and conducted classes for the study of the nude figure. He introduced Impressionism of the Glasgow school to New Zealand and influenced other New Zealand artists such as

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Maude Burge Maude Burge (née Williams, 18 May 1865 – 20 May 1957) was a New Zealand painter influenced by James Nairn. She spent time as an expatriate artist specifically in Europe. Burge was a painting companion of Frances Hodgkins who called Maude Bu ...

and Mollie Tripe. Nairn's Impressionist style is conveyed in his many paintings of Wellington harbour, especially in
Wellington Harbour, 1894
where his visible brushstrokes capture the effect of the afternoon sun on the water. He painted this landscape en plein air to more truthfully capture the effect of light on water. Nairn joined the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts soon after settling in Wellington and was elected to the council from 1890 to 1903. He also formed the Wellington Art Club which met regularly at Nair's Pumpkin Cottage. The cottage became a gathering point for Wellington artists. Nairn's influence was felt throughout New Zealand as he regularly sent works for exhibition in other centres. He married Ellen Smith on 17 March 1898 and they had two daughters, Mari Bhan and Ellen May Victoria. He died at his home in Wellington on 22 February 1904, probably of peritonitis. He was 44. File:James M. Nairn - Wellington Harbour - Google Art Project.jp
Wellington Harbour, 1894, Wellington, by James Nairn
Gift of Miss Mary Newton, 1939. Te Papa (1939-0009-2) File:James M. Nairn - Evans Bay - Google Art Project.jp
Evans Bay, 1893, Wellington, by James Nairn
Bequest from the estate of Miss S Leatham, 1939. Te Papa (1939-0009-6) File:James M. Nairn - Winter morning, Wellington Harbour - Google Art Project.jp
Winter morning, Wellington Harbour, circa 1900, Wellington, by James Nairn
Gift of Miss Mary Newton, 1939. Te Papa (1939-0009-7)

References

Sources

Biography in the 1966 ''Encyclopaedia of New Zealand''
*

''Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa'' James Nairn biography

External links

Works by James M. Nairn in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nairn, James MacLauchlan New Zealand people of Scottish descent 1859 births 1904 deaths 19th-century New Zealand painters 19th-century New Zealand male artists British emigrants to New Zealand New Zealand painters