James Nairn

Who was James Nairn?

James MacLauchlan Nairn was a Glasgow-born painter who strongly influenced New Zealand painting in the late 19th century. He believed in en plein air or painting outdoors.

Nairn studied at the Glasgow School of Art for four years from 1879 before enrolling as a student at the Académie Julian in Paris. During the 1880s Nairn exhibited work at the Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts and the Royal Scottish Academy and was associated with the Glasgow Boys - a group of Scottish artist interested in Impressionism.

Nairn emigrated from Glasgow to Dunedin for his health in 1890. He moved to Wellington in 1891, where he was appointed as an art instructor at the Wellington Technical School. He lectured on art and conducted classes for the study of the nude figure. He introduced Impressionism of the Glasgow school to New Zealand and influenced other New Zealand artists such as Dorothy Kate Richmond, Mabel Hill and Mary Tripe.

Nairn’s Impressionist style is conveyed in his many paintings of Wellington harbour, especially in Wellington Harbour, 1894 where his visible brushstrokes capture the effect of the afternoon sun on the water.