Catherine Olivia Orme Spencer Bower (13 April 1905 – 8 July 1982) was a New Zealand painter. Born in England, she spent her adult life in New Zealand, mostly in

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 / ...

Early life

Spencer Bower was born in

St Neots St NeotsPronunciation of the town name: Most commonly, but variations that ''saint'' is said as in most English non-georeferencing speech, the ''t'' is by a small minority of the British pronounced and higher traces of in the final syllable ...

Huntingdonshire Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire and a historic county of England. The district council is based in Huntingdon. Other towns include St Ives, Godmanchester, St Neots and Ramsey. The popul ...

, England on 13 April 1905, along with her twin brother, Marmaduke. Her mother, Rosa Dixon, was an artist and her father, Anthony Spencer Bower, was a civil engineer. The couple met in England and returned to New Zealand in 1920, when Olivia Spencer Bower was 15 years old. She spent her first nine years in St Neots, until the family moved to

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

in 1914.

Training and career

In England, Spencer Bower was introduced to the techniques of watercolour painting by her school art teacher. In Christchurch, she attended

Rangi Ruru Girls' School Rangi Ruru Girls' School is a New Zealand private girls' day and boarding secondary school located in Merivale, an inner suburb of Christchurch. The school is affiliated to the Presbyterian Church, and serves approximately girls from Years 7 ...

and began studying at the

Canterbury College School of Art The Ilam School of Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury was founded in 1882 as the Canterbury College School of Art. The school became a full department of the university in the 1950s, and was the first department to move to the suburban Ilam ...

one afternoon a week. Spencer Bower attended the art school for eight years in total, alongside artists such as

Rita Angus Rita Angus (12 March 1908 – 25 January 1970), a New Zealand painter, has a reputation - along with Colin McCahon and Toss Woollaston - as one of the leading figures in twentieth-century New Zealand art. She worked primarily in oil and water c ...

and

Rata Lovell-Smith Rata Alice Lovell-Smith (née Bird, 1894–1969) was a New Zealand artist from Christchurch. Lovell-Smith trained at the Christchurch College School of Arts and then taught there from 1924 to 1945.Kirker, Anne. ''New Zealand Women Artists'' ...

, leaving at the age of 24. Spencer Bower then returned to England to study at the

Slade School of Fine Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

and undertook a painting tour of France and Italy, returning to New Zealand in 1931. Spencer Bower began exhibiting with '

The Group The Group may refer to: Film and television * ''The Group'' (Australian TV series), 1971 situation comedy produced by Cash Harmon Television for ATN7 * ''The Group'' (Canadian TV series), 1968–70 music variety on CBC Television * ''The Group ...

' at this time. She spent more than 5 years in Auckland, studying at the

Elam School of Fine Arts The Elam School of Fine Arts, founded by John Edward Elam, is part of the Faculty of Creative Arts and Industries at the University of Auckland. Students study degrees in fine art with an emphasis on a multidisciplinary approach. The schoo ...

. She concentrated on portraits and figurative works, many of them painted in oils.

Death and legacy

Spencer Bower died of lung cancer in

in 1982. The

Olivia Spencer Bower Award The Olivia Spencer Bower Award is a residency opportunity for New Zealand artists. It is named after the 20th-century New Zealand painter Olivia Spencer Bower. About the residency The Olivia Spencer Bower Award was established in 1987. Art cri ...

, a residency opportunity for artists in New Zealand, was established with funds left by the artist to a charitable trust upon her death. A biography, ''Olivia Spencer Bower: Making her own discoveries'', by art historian Julie King, was published by

Canterbury University Press The University of Canterbury ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was f ...

in 2015.

Collections

Works by Spencer Bower are held in many New Zealand public art galleries and cultural organisations, including the

Auckland Art Gallery Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki is the principal public gallery in Auckland, New Zealand. It has the most extensive collection of national and international art in New Zealand and frequently hosts travelling international exhibitions. Set be ...

, the

Alexander Turnbull Library The National Library of New Zealand ( mi, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa) is New Zealand's legal deposit library charged with the obligation to "enrich the cultural and economic life of New Zealand and its interchanges with other nations" (''Nat ...

, the

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. ''Te Papa Tongarewa'' translates literally to "container of treasures" or in full "container of treasured things and people that spring fr ...

and the

Christchurch Art Gallery The Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, commonly known as the Christchurch Art Gallery, is the public art gallery of the city of Christchurch, New Zealand. It has its own substantial art collection and also presents a programme of New ...

. * Works a
Auckland Art Gallery
* Works at th
Alexander Turnbull Library
* Works a
Te Papa
* Works a
Christchurch Art Gallery

Further information

*Julie King interviewed o
Olivia Spencer Bower: Making her own discoveries
Standing Room Only,

RNZ National RNZ National ( mi, Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa Ā-Motu), formerly Radio New Zealand National, and known until 2007 as the National Programme or National Radio, is a publicly funded non-commercial New Zealand English-language radio network operat ...

, 13 December 2015.
Olivia Spencer Bower archive
held by

* Adams, Grace
Afternoon Tea with Olivia Spencer Bower
''Art New Zealand'', no. 26, Autumn 1983
Olivia Spencer Bower: Retrospective
digitised copy of 1978 exhibition at Robert McDougall Art Gallery *Rosier, Pat: 'Olivia Spencer Bower' (obituary), ''Broadsheet'', no. 106, January/February 1983, pp. 42–43 * Hamilton, Judith: "Olivia Spencer Bower: The Spinners Series", Art New Zealand 50 Autumn 1989, p 76-79. * Hartrick, Elizabeth: "Support and Sustenance: The Olivia Spencer Bower Foundation", Art New Zealand 88 Spring 1998, p 51-53.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bower, Catherine Olivia Orme Spencer 1905 births 1982 deaths New Zealand painters British emigrants to New Zealand People from St Neots 20th-century New Zealand women artists New Zealand women painters Elam Art School alumni Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art Ilam School of Fine Arts alumni People associated with the Rutland Group University of Auckland alumni People associated with The Group (New Zealand art)