John H. Gibb (2 April 1831 – 10 September 1909) was a Scottish, marine painter who settled in New Zealand in 1876.

Biography

He was born in

Cumbernauld Cumbernauld (; gd, Comar nan Allt, meeting of the streams) is a large town in the historic county of Dunbartonshire and council area of North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is the tenth most-populous locality in Scotland and the most populated t ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. Early in his life, Gibb had shown a natural aptitude for drawing and painting that was encouraged by his family. By 1849 he was receiving tuition in the studio of John McKenzie of

Greenock Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council areas of Scotland, council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh of barony, burgh within the Counties of Scotland, historic ...

, Scotland. His first wife was Agnes Crighton whom he married in 1852. Agnes died in 1855 during childbirth. He married for a second time, to Marion Menzies, his cousin in 1857. The

River Clyde The River Clyde ( gd, Abhainn Chluaidh, , sco, Clyde Watter, or ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. It is the ninth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third-longest in Scotland. It runs through the major cit ...

and the environs of the

Firth of Clyde The Firth of Clyde is the mouth of the River Clyde. It is located on the west coast of Scotland and constitutes the deepest coastal waters in the British Isles (it is 164 metres deep at its deepest). The firth is sheltered from the Atlantic ...

were the focus of Gibb's paintings during the 1850s, 60s and early 70s. In 1861 he began exhibiting at the

Royal Scottish Academy The Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) is the country’s national academy of art. It promotes contemporary Scottish art. The Academy was founded in 1826 by eleven artists meeting in Edinburgh. Originally named the Scottish Academy, it became the ...

. Gibb settled in the village of

Innellan Innellan is a village in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, on the western shore of the Firth of Clyde. It is four miles south of Dunoon. History The origin of the name "Innellan" is obscure. The village was developed as a holiday destination in V ...

, near

Dunoon Dunoon (; gd, Dùn Omhain) is the main town on the Cowal peninsula in the south of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It is located on the western shore of the upper Firth of Clyde, to the south of the Holy Loch and to the north of Innellan. As well ...

on the

, briefly moving to

Alnwick Alnwick ( ) is a market town in Northumberland, England, of which it is the traditional county town. The population at the 2011 Census was 8,116. The town is on the south bank of the River Aln, south of Berwick-upon-Tweed and the Scottish bor ...

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

around 1865. Gibb had returned to Innellan by 1868, the year he began exhibiting at the more progressive

Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts The Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts (RGI) is an independent organisation in Glasgow, founded in 1861, which promotes contemporary art and artists in Scotland. The institute organizes the largest and most prestigious annual art exhibitio ...

. The Gibbs had the heartbreak of 3 daughters dying of scarlet fever in 1873. Gibb emigrated from Scotland to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in 1876 with his wife (died 27 May 1891), and four sons. They travelled on the vessel ''Merope'' and arrived in Canterbury in September, 1876. Gibb had purchased a block of land on the corner of Barbadoes and Worcester Streets,

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

and he built three houses on the site. The house known as ''Gibb's Cottage'' may have been built originally as a studio as the family initially lived in one of the other two houses which Gibb had named ''Merkland Villa'' after his home ''Merkland Cottage'' in

Kirkintilloch Kirkintilloch (; sco, Kirkintulloch; gd, Cair Cheann Tulaich) is a town and former barony burgh in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It lies on the Forth and Clyde Canal and on the south side of Strathkelvin, about northeast of central Glasgow. ...

, Scotland. However Gibb spent his later years living in ''Gibb Cottage'' and tending his large vegetable garden. Within three months of his arrival in

, Gibbs had set up his studio and had begun to take on students. Gibb followed the academic practice of sketching the landscape and gathering information which was later worked up in the studio with intense attention to detail. In later years, as a keen photographer, he regularly used his half-plate camera to good effect as an aide memoire. Gibb almost immediately began making painting excursions around the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

. Initially he exhibited at the Otago Society of Art Exhibitions as there was no art society in Christchurch. He was a founding member of the Canterbury Society of Arts when it was formed in 1880 and continued to exhibit his many works there until his death. He exhibited wherever possible and showed works in Auckland and Wellington from the early 1880s as well as sending works to many international and inter-colonial exhibitions beyond New Zealand. By the 1880s Gibb was regarded as New Zealand's major professional marine painter. Around 1880 he moved to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

where he became a member of the Art Society of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. The family returned to New Zealand by 1892. Of John Gibb's sons William Menzies Gibb (1859–1931) was also a painter who trained under his father and at the National Gallery of Victoria School in Melbourne, Mr J. W. Gibb was an art dealer in Christchurch and Mr H. B. Gibb was in business in

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...

List of works

''Cairnryan Bay, Kirkcudbrightshire'', 1864, oil on canvas. Collection of Government Art Collection''The Wool Season'', 1885, oil on canvas. Collection of Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa''Mount Cook, New Zealand'', 1890, oil on canvas. Collection of Perth & Kinross Council

References

External links

Works by John Gibb in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

Canterbury Artist John Gibb shown in his studio''John Gibb'' Canterbury Vignettes series. Christchurch Art Gallery, 2000Gibb's Cottage 229 Worcester Street, ChristchurchPhotographs of the artist and 3 of his works
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibb, John 1831 births 1909 deaths 19th-century Scottish painters Scottish male painters 20th-century Scottish painters Burials at Addington Cemetery, Christchurch New Zealand artists People from Cumbernauld Scottish emigrants to New Zealand 19th-century Scottish male artists 20th-century Scottish male artists