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Save the McDougall, Botanical Gardens, Christchurch (2026)

05/08/2026

Save the McDougall Campaign

The Robert McDougall Art Gallery in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens

Hello everyone,

I am sorry for the delay in my latest posting which is due to my having problems in logging into Facebook which I hope I have now solved with the help of a computer expert. Logging in has now become more difficult due to protections they have put in place to protect account holders.

Our petition this week has moved on very slowly to 1393 with signatories saying how they used to love the gallery and the beautiful paintings. It is sad that all these memories that people have are from so long ago. The gallery was in effect closed in 2002 when the city’s collection was transferred to the Christchurch Art Gallery in 2002 in preparation for its opening in 2003. It was then used by Canterbury Museum on occasions for a few inappropriate displays until the earthquakes in 2011 when it was closed to the public. It was not damaged in the quakes but had to be earthquake strengthened in accordance with the Council’s requirements for all public buildings. But it was then leased in 2021 to Canterbury Museum for 50 years and became included in the Museum’s redevelopment project which has delayed it’s reopening even more. The Museum project together with the Gallery is not due to be finished until 2029. The Gallery by then would have been unused to display art for 27 years – a whole generation!

However, the Council is spending $24.5m on it to earthquake strengthen it and provide base isolation and deepen the basement and other improvements.

The news this week was that the Council on Friday 24 July asked six local Members of Parliament to a meeting to encourage them to ask the Government to reconsider their request for them to meet the Council’s $15m pledge towards both the Cathedral and Museum projects which the Government decided against in their recent budget. After the meeting Councillor Sam MacDonald was quoted as saying he did not know whether he had persuaded any politicians to support additional funding for either project but as it was election year parties needed to consider what they could offer Christchurch voters. As far as the Museum project is concerned, we will probably have to wait until after the election before we receive another assessment of the financial state of the project including any further cost increases.

Having in my last posting talked about Robert McDougall’s biography I thought it might be interesting to mention a third painting that he gave the Gallery that I have always thought is of a very high standard. It is the End of the Chapter by George Paul Chalmers who was one of the most important Scottish artists of his time and painted many significant portraits. However, The End of the Chapter is intended as an allegory, representing the idea of a life lived rather than any specific individual. The elderly man is placed within a dark interior; light enters the scene and is reflected up from the book to illuminate the face of the reader. Chalmers expresses something existential through his use of chiaroscuro, the contrast of light and dark, which here provides a contemplative mood and suggests an intimate internal dialogue.

The McDougall has now been leased to Canterbury Museum for 50 years under a lease agreement which does not specify that it should be used only to display the city’s historical art from all possible available sources. This lease agreement has dishonoured the terms of Robert McDougall’s 1928 gift of the gallery to the art loving citizens of Christchurch which was for the city’s own collection. What this means is that how it is used in future could depend to some extent on the views of the future Director and staff of the Museum. If they wish to go off at a tangent and start using it for Museum purposes rather than as an art gallery for the city, the Council is unlikely to stop them just as they have not stopped the staff at the Christchurch Art Gallery from only displaying contemporary art.

This is the reason why it is important before the McDougall reopens that the city’s art lovers, who were gifted this beautiful building, make their views well known to the Council and Museum staff by signing the petition.

If you wish to see the McDougall Art Gallery when it reopens used only for the historical art owned by the city as a whole it is imperative you sign my petition. The link is:

Save the McDougall as our Museum of Historical Art - Petitions.nz

Please send this posting on to all your Facebook friends and ask them to forward it onto their friends. In that way we can hopefully build the numbers up.

Thank you everyone for your support.

Tim Seay

Save the McDougall Campaign 5 August 2026

30/07/2026

Save the McDougall Campaign

The Robert McDougall Art Gallery in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens

Hello everyone,

In 2019, I decided to commission author Jennifer Haworth to research and write a biography of the life of my maternal grandfather Robert Ewing McDougall (1860-1942). I never knew him as he died before I was born and the only memories I had of him was what my mother had told me. But the one thing that had always puzzled me a bit as I grew older was how quickly he seemed to have become forgotten by people when writing about the history of the city. And yet his contribution to the city through his business empire and his philanthropy which knew no bounds, for which he was never honoured, were probably second to none as Jenny Haworth discovered in her research. That is why we decided to call the book Forgotten Philanthropist.

The book is also an interesting history of Christchurch especially during the difficult years of the First World War and the Depression.

But there is one story in the book which I believe tells us exactly what sort of a man he really was. During his life time the art gallery building had no name on it at all and it wasn’t until the 1990’s that the Council put the words Roberrt McDougall Art Gallery above the front door. Having no name had caused problems as visitors to the Museum and the Gardens on their way out would come up to the front door wondering what the building was and whether to go in and often would not go in and walk out to Rolleston Avenue. Eventually the staff had to get the Council to put its name on the gallery. Back in 1925 it had been the suggestion of the Governor General Charles Fergusson that a new art gallery for Christchurch should be named after anyone who would provide the major funding for it. As a result, it was always referred to as the Robert McDougall Art Gallery but when it was completed and opened in 1932 no name was put on it. My grandfather never asked the Council to put its name above the front door.

Copies of the book can be obtained from:
Nationwide Book Distributors
351 Kiri Kiri Road,
Oxford
Canterbury 7495

Nationwide Books [email protected]

Phone: 03 312 1603

Robert Ewing McDougall 1932 oil on canvas Archibald Nicoll (1886- 1953)
Presented to the Robert McDougall Art Gallery 1933

We still have a few books available for people who are interested at Nationwide Book Distributors.

I hope you enjoy it.

Tim Seay

Save the McDougall Campaign 30 July 2026

26/07/2026

Save the McDougall Campaign

The Robert McDougall Art Gallery in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens
Hello everyone,

Our petition has slowed up this week with only one signatory from Christchurch saying he was signing so people will be able when the McDougall opens to see the city’s historical art which is currently in storage. It is currently held in storage at the Christchurch Art Gallery but not displayed to the public – 600 oil paintings and 300 watercolours worth around $30m! I hope the petition will pick up again next week!

The news this week has been the two articles in the Press on Wednesday and Friday by Tina Law concerning funding for the Cathedral in which she said the Council had invited local Members of Parliament to a meeting to discuss funding for the Cathedral and Museum projects. It seems the Council is holding firm on the condition of its offers of future funding for both projects being conditional on the Government providing a similar amount and is asking the MP’s to put pressure on the Government to provide the funding requested. The Council is hoping that the Government will come to the party as it is election year. So it now seems we will have to wait until nearer the election before we know the final outcome. If the Government does not provide further funding both projects will be in trouble. In the meantime, there is also the possibility that the cost of the Museum project will escalate further over the next 3 years due to the Iran War which has now flared up again.

It is interesting now to look at Canterbury Museum’s own art collection and what works they will wish to display in the first hang when the McDougall opens. The Museum have a large collection of art that has been left to them over the years but they have never really been in a position to be able to display it fully in a public art gallery. They did for many years have 50 of their best oil paintings held for display at the McDougall but these were returned when Anthony Wright became the Museum Director in 1996. Since then to my knowledge their art has not really ever been on public display. The Museum Redevelopment will give them the opportunity to do this but not all of their works are of a public art gallery standard and some of it requires conservation work which they have never really been able to carry out because of the cost. They are apparently carrying out some of this work at the moment on certain works while their collection is in storage at Hornby. Most of the collection is actually watercolours and because they can only be displayed for 6 months at a time it is unlikely they will be able to meet the cost of having to frame these each time they are displayed.

In the meantime, Sarah Murray, their Deputy Director, has provided me with a list of the first 10 paintings they have chosen for the first proposed hang. Here is the first one:

Rapaki 1877 oil on canvas John Gibb

The Museum have several John Gibb paintings amongst their oil paintings which will become a wonderful addition to the city’s historical collection and, in that respect, it should be seen as an advantage of the McDougall becoming part of the Museum’s redevelopment. It should be hoped they can get as many of their works of a public art gallery standard in future as possible ready for display in the McDougall.

The McDougall has now been leased to Canterbury Museum for 50 years under a lease agreement which does not specify that it should be used only to display the city’s historical art from all possible available sources. This lease agreement has dishonoured the terms of Robert McDougall’s 1928 gift of the gallery to the art loving citizens of Christchurch which was for the city’s own collection. What this means is that how it is used in future could depend to some extent on the views of the future Director and staff of the Museum. If they wish to go off at a tangent and start using it for Museum purposes rather than as an art gallery for the city, the Council is unlikely to stop them just as they have not stopped the staff at the Christchurch Art Gallery from only displaying contemporary art.

This is the reason why it is important before the McDougall reopens that the city’s art lovers, who were gifted this beautiful building, make their views well known to the Council and Museum staff by signing the petition.

If you wish to see the McDougall Art Gallery when it reopens used only for the historical art owned by the city as a whole it is imperative you sign my petition. The link is:

Save the McDougall as our Museum of Historical Art - Petitions.nz

Please send this posting on to all your Facebook friends and ask them to forward it onto their friends. In that way we can hopefully build the numbers up.

Thank you everyone for your support.

Tim Seay

Save the McDougall Campaign 26 July 2026

19/07/2026

Save the McDougall Campaign

The Robert McDougall Art Gallery in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens

Hello everyone,

Our petition has continued its slow but steady progress increasing this past week to 1389 with one Christchurch signatory commenting that the gallery when reopened should be used for the art that the donor intended - a view often expressed.

Something interesting happened in Christchurch this week in the art world.

A local art broker advertised a painting for sale as being by the famous New Zealand artist Charles Goldie. It is called Lost in Thought 1917 and depicts a high ranking chieftain of the Tuhourangi Ngaheke tribe of Te Arawa. The authenticity of this particular work has apparently been disputed for some time but what was interesting to me was the fact that the New Zealand news media considered this event to be of such public interest that it was included on TVNZ’s Tuesday evening News. It was also written about in yesterday’s Press newspaper. This is hardly surprising given Goldie’s works today sell for up to $3m at auction! This public interest in his works contrasts with the lack of interest currently displayed in his paintings by the Christchurch Art Gallery who are fortunate to have five of them. In my recent visit to the gallery, I cannot remember a single Goldie work being on display. This contrasts with the Auckland Art Gallery which always has several of their Goldie paintings on display.

How on earth has the Christchurch City Council allowed its public art gallery to be run in this way? As I have explained before, it’s because their management policy leaves the final decision on what type of art is displayed at anyone time to the Director and curatorial staff and prohibits the Council from interfering in this decision. This policy has resulted in the gallery being run in the interests of the staff instead of the public who are the ratepayers who pay their salaries! The purpose of building the new gallery was to be able to show more of the city’s collection as the McDougall had become too small. This has not been achieved. The new gallery now shows less of the city’s collection than before. And the Council has let down the donors of the city’s collection and the people who provided some of the funding for the gallery’s construction that included two members of my family.

When the McDougall reopens in 2029, managed by Canterbury Museum, the city’s art lovers won’t want it run in this manner. They will want it run to display the city’s historical art that is currently held by all sources and that has been held in storage for years unseen by the public. For this reason, it is important that the city’s art lovers sign my petition so that it can be presented to the Council and the Museum later on closer to the reopening time. So, art lovers, please continue to sign my petition! Thank you.

And here is another of the city’s five Goldie’s:

Whitening Snow of Venerable Age, Charles Frederick Goldie (1870-1947) Tamati Pehiriri, a Noble Chieftain of the Ngapuhi Tribe, oil on canvas, bequeathed by Robert Bell 1943.

The McDougall has now been leased to Canterbury Museum for 50 years under a lease agreement which does not specify that it should be used only to display the city’s historical art from all possible available sources. This lease agreement has dishonoured the terms of Robert McDougall’s 1928 gift of the gallery to the art loving citizens of Christchurch which was for the city’s own collection. What this means is that how it is used in future could depend to some extent on the views of the future Director and staff of the Museum. If they wish to go off at a tangent and start using it for Museum purposes rather than an art gallery for the city, the Council is unlikely to stop them just as they have not stopped the staff at the Christchurch Art Gallery.

This is the reason why it is important before the McDougall reopens that the city’s art lovers, who were gifted this beautiful building, make their views well known to the Council and Museum staff by signing the petition.

The McDougall Art Gallery has been leased to Canterbury Museum for fifty years but they do not have a sufficient art collection of a public art gallery standard to fully utilise it, and while they intend to borrow works from the city’s collection to display in it, they could try under the terms of the lease, to also use it for their huge decorative arts and crafts collections.

If you wish to see the McDougall Art Gallery when it reopens used only for the historical art owned by the city as a whole it is imperative you sign my petition. The link is:

Save the McDougall as our Museum of Historical Art - Petitions.nz

Please send this posting on to all your Facebook friends and ask them to forward it onto their friends. In that way we can hopefully build the numbers up.

Thank you everyone for your support.

Tim Seay

Save the McDougall Campaign 19 July 2026

12/07/2026

The Robert McDougall Art Gallery in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens

Hello everyone,

The petition this week has advanced to 1373 which is steady progress except unfortunately a few signatories did not show their names. However, one of the last signatories emphasised very well what is probably the most commonly held view – the McDougall was a beautiful gallery with such wonderful paintings and the new gallery doesn’t show any of them any longer. Please open the McDougall asap.

In the meantime, there has been no word from anyone in the press about the future financing of the Cathedral and Museum projects. Why will the Press newspaper report nothing on either?

What I would like to emphasise again this week is how important it is for all art lovers throughout Canterbury who want to see our historical art once again on display in the McDougall when it is reopened, to sign my petition. It is simply for this reason.

How either of the city’s two public art galleries are managed in future will depend not on decisions made by the Council as owner but rather by the director and curatorial staff running them – the actual managers. As far as the Christchurch Art Gallery is concerned, as I have explained, the operating managerial guidelines are laid down in the Council’s Long Term Plan but the actual decisions as to what type of art is displayed is decided by the Director and Curatorial staff and cannot be interfered with by Council. This is what has allowed the new Gallery to display an unbalanced selection of works of modern art.

The McDougall has now been leased to Canterbury Museum for 50 years under a lease agreement which does not specify that it should be used only to display the city’s historical art from all possible available sources. This lease agreement has dishonoured the terms of Robert McDougall’s 1928 gift of the gallery to the art loving citizens of Christchurch. What this means is that how it is used in future will probably depend on the views of the Director and staff of the Museum. If they wish to go off at a tangent and start using it as a museum rather than an art gallery, the Council is unlikely to stop them just as they have not stopped the staff at the Christchurch Art Gallery.

This is the reason why it is important before the McDougall reopens that the city’s art lovers, who were gifted this beautiful building, make their views well known to the Council and Museum staff by signing the petition.

And here is another forgotten painting purchased by the city’s ratepayers that has probably not been displayed for the last 25 years!

Touching Up 1893 James McLauchlan Nairn (1859-1904) oil on board purchased, 2001

James McLauchlan Nairn was a well known Scottish artist who lived in New Zealand in the 1890’s and became a respected teacher here of tertiary level art. He was a slightly impressionist painter.

The McDougall Art Gallery has been leased to Canterbury Museum for fifty years for their use but they do not have a sufficient art collection of a public art gallery standard to fully utilise it, and while they intend to borrow works from the city’s collection to display in it, they could under the terms of the lease, also use it for their huge decorative arts and crafts collections.

If you wish to see the McDougall Art Gallery when it reopens used only for the historical art owned by the city as a whole it is imperative you sign my petition. The link is:
Save the McDougall as our Museum of Historical Art - Petitions.nz

Please send this posting on to all your Facebook friends and ask them to forward it onto their friends. In that way we can hopefully build the numbers up.

Thank you everyone for your support.

Tim Seay

Save the McDougall Campaign 12 July 2026

05/07/2026

Save the McDougall Campaign

The Robert McDougall Art Gallery in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens

Hello everyone,

The petition this week has risen to 1350 which is really good. I can’t thank you enough and especially for your wonderful comments. Once again, the latest signatories want to see the city’s historical art which has been given to them by generous donors not locked away. After all it’s your art! Why on earth is the Council preventing you from enjoying it?

As I have explained, Canterbury Museum has recently started planning how it is going to run the McDougall. This is being done under the guidance of their Deputy Director, Sarah Murray. It seems they are going to use it solely for the city’s historical art from all available sources. The Museum itself has a large collection of historical art but only some of it is of a public art gallery standard – probably around 80 works. The main source of course will be from the city’s collection – 600 oil paintings and 300 watercolours worth around $30m. Other sources could be from the public art galleries in Auckland and Dunedin and also Te Papa but the numbers they might be prepared to lend at anyone time will probably be quite small. And they might also be able to borrow some works from private collectors not just in Christchurch but throughout the country.

When it opens, as it is the best neoclassical art gallery in the country, hopefully these other sources will wish to lend some of their works as a mark of the occasion.

They have already been planning the layout of the first hang and held initial discussions with the Christchurch Art Gallery on borrowing some of the best known works for it. The Gallery can display around 300 historical paintings so will probably need, at any one time, to borrow from these sources up to 220 works which is a lot.

As far as I know, no provision has been made for paintings from the city’s collection at the Christchurch Art Gallery to be stored in the Museum but this could be possible in their new buildings and in the future be welcomed by the Gallery as they are very short of storage space and have already asked the Council to find additional storage capacity for them in the future.

There has still not been any media reports on the financial state of the Museum project since the Budget in which the Government declined to give either the Museum or the Cathedral any further funding. Nor has there been any letters to the Press. As I mentioned last week, if the worst comes to the worst, and the Museum project ends up being mothballed like the Cathedral has been, the Council will hopefully finish the McDougall as planned so it can finally be opened again after 24 years. While it is progressing well, having been shown around it recently, there is still a lot of work yet to be done.

Last week it really upset me when I told you about the beautiful Charles Goldie painting that was given to the city in 1970 by Geoffrey and Aileen Woods because they were close friends of my parents and I can remember them well when I was young. The Gallery used to show their Goldie paintings but now don’t seem to anymore. Here is another example, this time of a beautiful painting which was given to the McDougall in 1964. And it has only been shown once in the last 25 years!!
It was painted by the English artist William Byles who lived in Christchurch from 1907 to 1909. It is in a slightly impressionist style. It is another example of a beautiful painting given to the city and never displayed to the public.

The Hay Rick William Hounson Byles (1872-1928) oil on canvas gifted by Hariett and Archibald Anthony 1964.

The McDougall Art Gallery has been leased to Canterbury Museum for fifty years for their use but they do not have a sufficient art collection of a public art gallery standard to fully utilise it and while they intend to borrow works from the city’s collection to display in it they could, under the terms of the lease, also use it for their huge decorative arts and crafts collections.

If you wish to see the McDougall Art Gallery when it reopens used only for the historical art owned by the city as a whole it is imperative you sign my petition. The link is:

Save the McDougall as our Museum of Historical Art - Petitions.nz

Please send this posting on to all your Facebook friends and ask them to forward it onto their friends. In that way we can hopefully build the numbers up.
Thank you everyone for your support.

Tim Seay

Save the McDougall Campaign 5 July 2026

28/06/2026

Hello everyone,
Save the McDougall Campaign

The Robert McDougall Art Gallery in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens

Hello everyone,

Our petition has crept up to 1326 with some wonderful recent comments. The common thread through all comments is that the McDougall is a beautiful heritage art gallery and that the city has lots of historical art but it is not on display. And they want the McDougall to be the city’s gallery for historical art.

The big news this week came from the Christchurch City Council meeting on Wednesday in which they confirmed their decision that they would not give the Canterbury Museum Redevelopment Project any further funds unless the Government provides the same amount. The amounts involved are a cash sum of $15m and a loan of $28.6m to be paid back over 25 years from charging international visitors. Unfortunately, the Government in the Budget decided not to provide any further funding for the project which leaves it with no further source of public funding and an uncertain future. Both the Council and the Government decisions were made as part of their annual budgets and they are both unlikely to reconsider their decisions for another year.

There must also be a real risk that the cost of the project could increase further over time and also due to the Iran War. If the project is eventually unable to be completed, hopefully, the Council would always make sure the McDougall is completed and opened to the public because unlike the Museum it is their building. This is especially so as it has been unused since 2002. If it reopens in 2029 it would have been closed for 27 years! They are currently spending $24.5m on it for earthquake strengthening, removal of asbestos and lead paint, base isolation, deepening of the basement, new roof lining and a new cork floor. Under Council regulations all public buildings after the earthquakes had to be earthquake strengthened.

In the meantime, Sarah Murray, Deputy Director of Canterbury Museum, has kindly offered to keep me in touch as they develop their plans for running the McDougall when it does finally reopen. As I have said I am now much more confident that they will use it in accordance with the terms of my grandfather’s gift to the art loving citizens of Christchurch as recorded on the gallery’s foundation stone - namely as the city’s art gallery for historical art drawing on works of a public art gallery standard currently held at the Christchurch Art Gallery, the Museum itself and works that can be borrowed from other public galleries in NZ and also from privately held collections. If they follow this plan, they will make a success of running it when it reopens.

The city’s historical collection contains 600 oil paintings and 300 watercolours worth around $30m. It never ceases to amaze me the size of the collection which is now no longer displayed in the Christchurch Art Gallery. For example, it holds no less than 5 Goldies. Here is another one of his fantastic works:

Rakapa, an Arawa Chieftainess, Rakapa Te Tira, 1910, oil on canvas, Charles Frederick Goldie (1870-1947) gifted by Geoffrey and Aileen Wood 1970

The McDougall Art Gallery has been leased to Canterbury Museum for fifty years for their use but they do not have a sufficient art collection of a public art gallery standard to fully utilise it and while they intend to borrow works from the city’s collection to display they could, under the terms of the lease, also use it for their huge decorative arts and crafts collections.

If you wish to see the McDougall Art Gallery when it reopens used only for the historical art owned by the city as a whole it is imperative you sign my petition. The link is:

Save the McDougall as our Museum of Historical Art - Petitions.nz

Please send this posting on to all your Facebook friends and ask them to forward it onto their friends. In that way we can hopefully build the numbers up.
Thank you everyone for your support.

Tim Seay

Save the McDougall Campaign 28 June 2026

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