‘I paint for myself. That’s the only way. For when you paint to please, it’s not the honest thing and inhibits the chances of discovery, because there’s no point in writing or painting unless you make your own discoveries.’ Olivia Spencer Bower wrote those words near the end of an almost six-decade career as one of New Zealand’s finest and best-loved artists.

Born in England, she initially came to New Zealand reluctantly but learnt to call this country home and to cherish its landscape, particularly in the South Island. She was a superb watercolourist but worked in a wide variety of media, was always keen to experiment, and remained open to new ideas.

In this, the first book to consider Olivia Spencer Bower’s life and work, art historian Julie King offers, through a lively and impeccably researched text and a selection of watercolours, paintings, drawings, prints, and illustrations, a superb evocation of one of the most important and vital artists this country has produced.