Lot 65: Trevor Moffitt Original Bank House, Mount Street:

Trevor Moffitt Original Bank House, Mount Street: Auckland oil on canvas board signed and dated '58; title inscribed, signed, dated 1958 and inscribed see 200 years NZ Art by Gil Docking verso 605mm x 750mm When the recent Ilam Art School Graduate Trevor Moffitt arrived in Auckland from Christchurch to attend the Auckland Secondary Teachers' College he was confronted with a whole new set of environmental circumstances and challenges. His associates from Art School at that Stage of his unique career path were Edward Bullmore, Tim Garrity, Hamish Keith, Pat Hanly and Quentin McFarlane amongst others. With such illustrious contemporaries his quest for "Spectator Shopping" artworks was a primary focus. The new environment that was Auckland in 1958 had considerable attraction. In the painting "Old House Bankside Street" we see Moffitt painting the built environment rather than the natural landscape. With this focus he was of course not alone. A number of Auckland artists had recorded Auckland's unique Victorian weatherboard architecture with considerable gusto. They included: Arthur Thompson, John Weeks, Peggy Spicer, Vida Steinhart, Eric Lee Johnson and Dennis K. Turner to name a few. Moffitt's painting of the old house at Bankside Street is a strong and confident work that asserts itself alongside the very best of the Auckland School of Architecture Artists. Fifty years on the painting celebrates perhaps the oldest Auckland house which survives on its original site. The house itself was a very early manifestation of solid Colonial urban domestic architecture with its solid rubble walls and foundations built close to the Albert Barracks for protection from possible invasion. This painting reflects the trans-Tasman cultural exchange that occurred during this time - the emergence of an "Antipodean Vision" in New Zealand. One can see similarities and shared inspirations between the paintings of Sali Herman (1898-1993), an Australian artist born in Switzerland who became one of Australia's War Artists and this work by Trevor Moffitt. Like Herman, Moffitt's painting at this time focused on realistic, urban landscapes. The loose and carefully considered brushstrokes are noticeably visible and capture the detail, character and charm of this building in the late 1950's. The work has a fine balance between the use of colour, line, texture, form and perspective. It records one of the oldest historic cottages in Auckland which was typical of homes built in the late 1840's. The cottage is nestled on its original site behind the Auckland Club and continues to be well preserved considering its 166 years of existence. The building is indeed a celebration of architecture and is a fine historical landmark for Auckland City. John Perry