JEWELLERY, DECORATIVE & FINE ARTS AUCTION Tuesday, 27 October 2026 / 10:00 am start
Jean Horsley (1913-1997) 'Pacific Pearl',
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Lot Details
oil on board, signed and dated ‘Jean Horsley '90’ lower right; signed, dated and titled on reverse. 1010 x 740mm. Provenance: By descent from the artist. Note: Born in 1913, Jean Horsley attended the Elam School of Art, Auckland in 1933, later exhibiting with the ‘Rutland Group’. She enrolled in Colin McCahon’s painting classes in 1957 and his influence, as well as her viewing of the British Abstract Paintings exhibition at the Auckland Art Gallery, changed the direction of Horsley’s painting. After eight years in London, Horsley moved to New York in 1968 where she saw work by the leading abstract expressionists of the day - Robert Motherwell, Willem de Kooning and Mark Rothko. New York left her with little time or energy to paint but upon her return to Auckland in 1983 she became an active member of the Auckland Art scene, holding several solo exhibitions in the city. 'Pacific Pearl' features gestural swathes of colour and a style influenced by abstract expressionism. Teal, maroon and aquamarine flecks enliven the soft amber and cream base, creating a pearl-like surface and giving the painting an iridescent quality which perhaps inspired this work’s title.
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