James Nairn lecture at Rotorua Museum on Sunday

Jane Vial, curator of Bohemians of the Brush: Pumpkin Cottage Impressionists exhibition currently on display at Rotorua Museum, will discuss the work of the father of New Zealand's Impressionist movement James Nairn.

The public talk will take place at the museum on Sunday [29 January] at 1pm.

Scottish-born Nairn and his Wellington-based club of avant-garde painters went against mainstream artistic ideas of the 1890s to develop this unique style of painting in New Zealand. These artists, known as the Pumpkin Cottage Impressionists, encouraged individual experimentation and painting en plein air (outside).

Lecturer Jane Vial is well placed to shed light on this chapter of New Zealand’s art heritage. She has a background as art history researcher, curator and gallery manager, and her exhibition Bohemians of the Brush: Pumpkin Cottage Impressionists won a 2011 Museums Aotearoa Award.

Entry to this event is included with admission to the Museum, which is free for Rotorua residents with proof of residency.