Esther Hope

Hope was born in Woodbury, New Zealand, on 8 August 1885.[1][2][3] Her father was the farmer John Matthias Barker (1856–1933), the son of Dr Alfred Barker (1819–1873). Her grandfather, while trained as a doctor, was prominent as a photographer in colonial Christchurch. Her mother was Emily Studholme (1863–1938), the daughter of the pioneering runholder Michael Studholme (1833–1886).[4]

Barker married Henry Norman Hope in 1919,[5] and died on 16 July 1975.[3]

Hope's early education was at Miss Bowen's School in Christchurch. Her first art teachers included Captain Edwyn Temple and Margaret Stoddart.[6] After travelling to England, Hope's art education included attending the Slade School of Fine Art in London, receiving tuition from Henry Tonks, John Peter Russell, and Ambrose McEvoy.[7] While in London she also studied at the Chelsea College of Arts under Ernest Borough Johnson and Frank Spenlove-Spenlove.[6]

Hope is known for her watercolour paintings, specifically gouaches of Mackenzie Country.[6]

After completing her art education, Hope travelled around several European countries to paint. While in Brittany, World War I began and she was unable to return to England. Following her return she drove trucks between London docks and the city, before travelling to Malta to become a Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD). She returned to New Zealand in 1919 and began exhibiting her work there from 1920.[5] After it had been decided to build a church at Lake Tekapo, Hope prepared some sketches for a church building in 1933 and these were given to an architect in Christchurch. The Church of the Good Shepherd opened in 1935.[8]

Internationally she exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts, the Salon in Paris, the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour, and the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour.[7][5] In New Zealand Hope exhibited with:

• Auckland Society of Arts[9]
• Canterbury Society of Arts[10] between 1930–1950[5]
• South Canterbury Arts Society in 1910 (including receiving first prize), 1920, 1953–1964[5]
• New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts[11][12] between 1933–1965[5]
• Otago Art Society[13]
• and at the New Zealand and South Seas International Exhibition, Dunedin, 1925–1926[14][15]

She was represented by the several New Zealand galleries including: Robert McDougall Art Gallery, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, and Aigantighe Art Gallery in Timaru.[6]

Her work is held in the collection of the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu[16] and the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.[17]

Artist files for Esther Studholme Hope are held at:

• E. H. McCormick Research Library, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki
• Hocken Collections Uare Taoka o Hākena
• Te Aka Matua Research Library, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

Also see:

• Concise Dictionary of New Zealand Artists, McGahey, Kate (2000) Gilt Edge
• Landscape Paintings of New Zealand Johnstone, Christopher (2013) Random House