PAINTED WAR EXHIBITION
A reluctant army marching up the South Taranaki coast in 1865 went so slowly its artillery officer had time to paint.
And Tawhiti Museum creator Nigel Ogle has used this series of water colours by Lieutenant Colonel Edward Arthur Williams, found in a museum vault far from Taranaki, to tell one of the region’s long forgotten stories in a new exhibition.
The paintings are very detailed, with Williams even including his own horse (it has his name on it and carries an easel) in one scene, and the locations are still recognisable.
‘‘They’re not very war-like, he was more interested as an artist in the landscapes, which just happen to have lots of soldiers in them. It’s the only visual record we have of a very significant campaign in New Zealand’s history, particularly Taranaki history,’’ Ogle said.
The march came about after General Duncan Cameron, who was in charge of the South Taranaki campaign, fell out with Governor Grey because he and many of the men serving under him objected to being made instruments of the colonial government in what they saw as a war of land plunder.
‘‘The soldiers were engaged in bush scouring - an awful term, attacking Ma¯ ori villages, destroying crops and generally making life difficult for the Ma¯ ori,’’ Ogle said.
‘‘It became very acrimonious and they were at each others’ throats, Cameron saw the war for what it was, just a land grab for settlers.’’
After Cameron resigned he had to serve another three months, so he spent it taking the army north, Ogle said.
It took 90 days to go 90km from Whanganui to Ha¯ wera, leaving Williams, who didn’t have to do the hard work of digging tracks for the bullock drays and setting up camp, with plenty of time.
While the 2500-strong force crawled up the coast Williams painted, documenting day-to-day army life amid the rugged scenery. He and Williams returned to England, leaving the soldiers in situ in redoubts and camps along the coast.
Williams’ paintings went back with him and he died quite suddenly not long afterwards. His widow didn’t know what to do with his books of New Zealand paintings and eventually gave them to a friend who was going to New Zealand.
They ended up with someone in Ha¯ wera who eventually passed them to the Taranaki Museum, but the collections manager at the time sent them to the Hocken Library at Dunedin University.
Ogle discovered them when they were put online several years ago. Unlike many English-born artists of the time, Williams captured the character of the New Zealand bush, not as stylised English-looking scenery, Ogle said.
The paintings were a rich resource for creating ‘‘The Painted War’’, full of the colours and details that breathe life into a dry historical account.
A series of 3-D dioramas made from scenes in the paintings are a portal into life on the campaign trail.
Tiny pukeko, 1/32 scaled, fossick on the river’s edge below a scene of soldiers digging a track, there’s a paddle steamer with supplies for the soldiers, and bustling campsites full of white tents.
Ogle said he enjoyed crafting all the figures - people, animals and trees - in the dioramas and life-sized scenes.
The new exhibition opened last weekend and Ogle, who spent about two years creating ‘‘The Painted War’’, said he was now planning to tell the story of Ha¯ wera.