Pumpkin Cottage

From 1892 Pumpkin Cottage was used by James Nairn and a coterie of Wellington artists as a base for sketching and paintng in the Hutt Valley. It was demolished in 1980 but a memorial stone has been placed on the site. Works by Nairn are held in the National Art Collection at Te Papa and in the Expressions Gallery in Upper Hutt. James Nairn was a teacher at the Wellington design school and his ramshackle ‘Pumpkin Cottage’ (a large pumpkin was painted on its side) attracted painters interested in Impressionism.

Hutt River by James Nairn

Image Credit: Silverstream, 1896, Wellington, by James Nairn. Bequest of Miss Ann Katherine Blackett, 1959. Te Papa