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Save the McDougall, Botanical Gardens, Christchurch (2026)

31/05/2026

Save the McDougall Campaign

The Robert McDougall Art Gallery in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens

Hello everyone,

We have had a few more signatories to our petition which now stands at 1313 with some wonderful comments by art lovers reminiscing about visiting the McDougall years ago and when they were young. One of you even commented that we lost our art collection when the Christchurch Art Gallery opened! They were referring to when Jenny Harper took over as the Director of the new gallery in 2006 and since then when they have shown more and more extreme contemporary art.

The Government in this year’s Budget did not provide any further funding for either the Cathedral or Canterbury Museum projects leaving the CCC now as the only public source of future funding for both projects. There has been no comment so far from the CCC in the Press but this must surely leave both projects with an uncertain future as the additional funding just recently provided by the CCC for both projects was strictly conditional on receiving the same amount of funding from the Government.

But what concerns me about the Museum project is that there could be further cost increases to be announced. This is because the whole of the new four story building has yet to be built over the next 3 or 4 years and a further cost increase over this period is likely. But, also, an additional cost increase in building materials due to the effects of the Iran War is inevitable as has been announced for other current construction projects. The CCC will surely announce some update this week.

Petrus van der Velden (1837–1913) was a prominent Dutch realist painter who immigrated to New Zealand in 1890 and lived in Christchurch for much of that decade. Associated with the Hague School, he is widely regarded as one of New Zealand's finest early professional painters. His best known work was the frontispiece painting of the McDougall and was always commented on by visitors. It was donated by Henry van Asch when the gallery opened in 1932.

Burial in the Winter on the Island of Marken 1872 [The Dutch Funeral] oil on canvas Petrus van der Velden (1837-1913) Gift of Henry Charles Drury van Asch, 1932

But more recently in 2010 the Christchurch Art Gallery has been able to purchase a wonderful earlier work by van der Velden as shown below. This was possible due to bequests from Gabrielle Tasman and Olive Stiratt and the Challenge Grant from the Christchurch City Council. It is an example of a wonderful historical painting being acquired by the city’s collection in more recent times and shows that the historical collection, as in other city’s who have built new galleries, needs a home of its own. This is art the McDougall should be used for when it reopens. Attached to Canterbury Museum it should become our Art Museum.

The Leuvehaven, Rotterdam 1867 Petrus van der Velden 1837-1913
Oil on canvas Purchased with assistance from Gabrielle Tasman in memory of Adriaan and the Olive Stirrat bequest. Purchase supported by Christchurch City Council's Challenge Grant to Christchurch Art Gallery Foundation, 2010.

The McDougall Art Gallery has been leased to Canterbury Museum for fifty years for their use but they do not have an art collection of a public art gallery standard to display in it so they intend to use it for some of the art they have and also for some of their huge decorative arts and crafts collections.

If you wish to see the paintings from the city’s historical collection again on display in the McDougall Art Gallery when it reopens 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 on to their friends. In that way we can hopefully build the numbers up.

Thank you everyone for your support.

Tim Seay

Save the McDougall Campaign 31 May 2026

28/05/2026

Save the McDougall Campaign

The Robert McDougall Art Gallery in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens

Hello everyone,

Our petition has continued to creep up slowly and now stands at 1310. Thank you again to everyone who has signed but I must emphasise again that it is important you do enter your name when signing the petition. And thank you again for your wonderful comments on how much you used to enjoy seeing all the wonderful paintings in the city’s collection in the old days and how much you enjoyed it as a neo classical art gallery.

At the moment everyone will be waiting for this afternoon’s budget to see if the Government will provide further funding for the Museum’s project. There is no doubt the project has now reached a critical stage in this respect because from here on it seems the costs of building materials can only increase further due to the effects of the Iran war.

As I look at all the wonderful works in the city’s historical collection, I can’t believe how many there are for a city the size of Christchurch and the generosity of past citizens in gifting them so everyone can enjoy them. It was in order that more of the collection could be displayed that the Christchurch Art Gallery was built when the McDougall became too small. It is outrageous that we now have a situation where less of the collection is now displayed because the new gallery only really displays contemporary art. This means the wishes of the people who donated $14m towards the total $52m funding for the gallery have not had their wishes carried out.

As I mentioned last week, the collection has five Goldie works but also has some wonderful other Maori paintings. One of these was one of the four paintings given by my grandfather:

Maori Mother and Child 1898 oil on canvas Sydney Lough Thompson (1877-1973) gifted by R E McDougall 1932

The McDougall Art Gallery has been leased to Canterbury Museum for fifty years for their use but they do not have an art collection of a public art gallery standard to display in it so they intend to use it for some of the art they have and also for some of their huge decorative arts and crafts collections.

If you wish to see the paintings from the city’s historical collection again on display in the McDougall Art Gallery when it reopens 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 on to 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 May 2026

24/05/2026

Save the McDougall Campaign

The Robert McDougall Art Gallery in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens

Hello everyone,

Our petition continues to slowly attract people and now has 1305 signatories. Most have continued to make supportive comments in which they remember visits in the past and the wonderful paintings they saw from the city’s collection. A lot often comment on remembering it as a beautiful building. A few unfortunately do not wish to record their name which is a pity.

As a different posting today, I thought I would mention an interesting story about my grandfather to do with his lifelong philanthropy. It came to light when we were researching his life for his biography back in 2019 which we decided to call Forgotten Philanthropist. It goes like this.

When the gallery opened in 1932 one of the first people employed was someone to be a custodian to look after the coal fired heating system. As it was the depression there were 280 applicants. The position was filled by Harold Cowell who was experienced in this work having been employed in the meat industry in Hawkes Bay. Robert McDougall became friendly with Harold Cowell and used to visit the gallery each week with some biscuits from Aulsebrooks and have morning tea with him and his wife. Harold Cowell’s salary was 286 pounds. One day Harold explained to him that he was trying to build a house but was having a problem in trying to raise a mortgage of 2000 pounds so Robert offered to lend him the money instead. Cowell began repaying the loan as he could afford, but when he left the gallery in 1939 for another job with the Council, Robert just cancelled the debt still owing. This was typical of how he helped people throughout most of his life. And when in 1928 the city was desperate to build a public art gallery but couldn’t raise the money to do so from the public he came to the rescue with what has turned out to be the largest gift that has ever been made to Christchurch. And in 2002 the Council led by Lianne Dalziel dishonoured the gift by leasing it to Canterbury Museum for their use for 50 years when the Museum don’t even have a suitable art collection in order to use it! No wonder I am trying to get this mess sorted out so it will still be used properly when it reopens hopefully in 2029.

And what about the Goldie’s? The collection has five of them! Here is probably the best one:

Ina te Papatahi, a Ngāpuhi Chieftainess 1902 oil on canvas Charles Frederick Goldie (1870-1947) presented by James Jamieson 1932. This is another of the original foundation paintings given by the Jamieson family to the McDougall Art Gallery when it opened in 1932.

None of the magnificent Goldie paintings are on permanent display in the Christchurch Art Gallery. They could all be on permanent display in the McDougall Art Gallery when it is reopened if it is used for the city’s historical art collection.

Tim Seay

Save the McDougall Campaign 24 May 2026

21/05/2026

Save the McDougall Campaign

The Robert McDougall Art Gallery in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens

Hello everyone,

Since my last posting at the weekend the petition has had some further signatories and now stands at 1298. Thank you everyone who has signed. But please note it is important to confirm your name when signing.

I have been especially encouraged by the number of art lovers who have expressed the specific view that it is important the original purpose of the gift of the gallery to the citizens of Christchurch is honoured. The reason I say this is because of all the different matters involved in how the gallery should be used in the future this is the one that I just cannot believe is an issue. I find it unbelievable that the Council who own the gallery on behalf of the city’s art lovers don’t care that they have dishonoured the gift by leasing it to Canterbury Museum for fifty years for their use. I find it unbelievable that none of the 17 councillors who run the city care that the terms of the largest gift ever given to the city have been dishonoured. In fact, no one seems to care – the Council, the media including the Press, the Christchurch Art Gallery that doesn’t seem to be interested in using the McDougall in future to help them display any of the city’s art collection or even the city’s best known heritage advocates. And because the whole of the media has not written at all about this matter, the public have no idea of what is happening to the McDougall.

Most people think it has been closed for so long because it was badly damaged in the earthquakes and have no idea it has been leased to the Museum for their future use. The reason it has been closed for so long is because its $24.5m earthquake strengthening and base isolation by the Council has been held up waiting to be caried out as part of the Museum Redevelopment project. So, it seems to me I am the only one that does care! As a result, I am very grateful for the city’s art lovers expressing their views that the gift should be honoured. This whole matter reflects appallingly on the Council’s honesty.

And here is possibly the next best painting in the historical collection:

Lyttelton Harbour Inside the Breakwater 1886 oil on canvas John Gibb (1831 -1909) presented by the Lyttelton Harbour Board 1989.

This beautiful painting is one of about 15 that is in the city’s historical collection by this wonderful artist.

It was first shown at the Colonial and Indian Exhibition at the Royal Albert Hall in London in 1886, where it would have served well in promoting the progressive industry of the port and the prosperity of the Canterbury Province to an international audience.

The McDougall Art Gallery has been leased to Canterbury Museum for fifty years for their use but they do not have an art collection of a public art gallery standard to display in it so they intend to use it for some of the art they have and also for some of their huge decorative arts and crafts collections.

If you wish to see the paintings from the city’s historical collection again on display in the McDougall Art Gallery when it reopens 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 on to their friends. In that way we can hopefully build the numbers up.

Thank you everyone for your support.

Tim Seay
Save the McDougall Campaign 21 May 2026

17/05/2026

Save the McDougall Campaign

Tim Seay on the steps of the Robert McDougall Art Gallery in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens

Hello everyone,

Our petition is still moving slowly and currently stands at 1279. If you like the paintings I am showing you from the city’s historical collection and would like to see them once again displayed in the McDougall Art Gallery when it reopens in 2029 attached to Canterbury Museum you need to sign my petition because the Museum does not currently intend to use the gallery for the city’s collection. Instead, it intends to use it for some works from their own collection and also decorative arts and crafts. This means it will probably display a few paintings from their collection which are in a displayable condition and are of a public art gallery standard rather than works from the city’s historical collection of 600 oil paintings and 300 watercolours worth around $30m all of which are of a public art gallery standard and no longer displayed to the public in the Christchurch Art Gallery. And the decorative arts and crafts are likely to be displayed on the floors of the picture galleries in display cabinets on the floors and larger objects hung on the walls.

In other words, it won’t really be used much any longer as an art gallery despite it being the best neoclassical art gallery in the country and despite it being an art gallery as stated on its two foundation stones and being owned by the Council as an art gallery on behalf of the art lovers of Christchurch. In doing this they will dishonour the terms of Robert McDougall’s 1928 gift of the gallery to the citizens of Christchurch.

In my last two postings I have talked about the Gallery’s two foundation stones. But there is also another interesting story about its name. Before Robert McDougall made his gift of the gallery to the citizens of Christchurch in 1928, the Governor General Charles Ferguson in 1925 had said that he believed that whoever provided the major funding for a new city art gallery should have it named after them. And the gallery after it opened in 1932 was always known as the Robert McDougall Art Gallery but a name was never put on it and it was badly sign posted with nothing on the outside to tell visitors it was an art gallery! Eventually this became a problem as visitors were turning up at its front door after visiting the Gardens and wondering what the building was and not going in. It was not until the 1990’s that the staff insisted the Council put a proper name on it above the front door which you can see in the above photo of me on the front steps. Robert McDougall died in 1942 so he never saw his name on the building. This tells you what a modest man my grandfather was. You can imagine what a present day philanthropist would want by way of naming rights!

And here is probably the next best painting from the city’s historical collection:

Mrs Margaret Hight Elizabeth Kelly 1935 (1877-1946) pastel presented by Mrs Eileen O’Malley

Elizabeth Kelly (née Abbott) was one of New Zealand's most celebrated portrait painters of the early 20th century. Born in Christchurch in 1877, she became the first New Zealand woman to be awarded a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) for services to art.

The McDougall Art Gallery has been leased to Canterbury Museum for fifty years for their use but they do not have an art collection of a public art gallery standard to display in it so they intend to use it for some of the art they have and also for some of their huge decorative arts and crafts collections.

If you wish to see the paintings from the city’s historical collection again on display in the McDougall Art Gallery when it reopens 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 to their friends. In that way we can hopefully build the numbers up.

Thank you everyone for your support.

Tim Seay

Save the McDougall Campaign 17th May 2026

15/05/2026

Save the McDougall Campaign

The Robert McDougall Art Gallery in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens

Hello everyone,

Our petition has had a few more signatories so far this week but it has been very slow. I am hoping that continuing to show the historical paintings in the city’s collection will want its art lovers to hope they will see them in the McDougall again when it reopens. But this is unlikely to happen unless you sign my petition because the Museum have indicated they intend to use it for their own art and also decorative arts and crafts.

In my last posting I discussed the terms of Robert McDougall’s 1928 gift of the gallery to the citizens of Christchurch and how they are recorded on the building’s foundation stone which I showed. In actual fact there were two foundations stones laid for the building. The other one was more important because it occurred on the the occasion of the city’s Diamond Jubilee on 28 May 1928 following the gift being made on 12 March. The Jubilee ceremony was held in the Botanic Gardens and involved mayors and senior politicians from around the country who planted a series of trees to mark the occasion. Robert McDougall planted a kauri tree and laid the foundation stone for the gallery which was also later placed at the front door.
It reads:

“This memorial stone was laid by R. E. McDougall Esq donor of the Art Gallery on the occasion of the Diamond Jubilee of the Christchurch City Council May 28th 1928.”

This stone also proves that the building is an Art Gallery not a Gallery as Canterbury Museum now call it in breach of the terms of the gift and also the building’s heritage status. Canterbury Museum now refer to the building as the McDougall Gallery instead of the McDougall Art Gallery.

You can read all about this in his biography, Forgotten Philanthropist, printed in 2019 and shown below. There are still some copies available that can be purchased from Nationwide Book Distributors. Details are shown below.

And here is probably the next best painting in the city’s historical art collection:

Making Ligurian Lace 1905 oil on canvas Henry La Thangue 1859-1929 Purchased by the Canterbury Society of Arts, 1912, with the J T Peacock bequest; presented to the city, 1932

This is another one of the foundation paintings presented to the McDougall Art Gallery when it opened in 1932.

The McDougall Art Gallery has been leased to Canterbury Museum for fifty years for their use but they do not have an art collection of a public art gallery standard to display in it so they intend to use it for some of the art they have and also for some of their huge decorative arts and crafts collections.

If you wish to see the paintings from the city’s historical collection again on display in the McDougall Art Gallery when it reopens 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 to their friends. In that way we can hopefully build the numbers up.

And here are the details of Robert McDougall’s biography produced in 2019. Some copies are still available from Nationwide Books Distributors

Thank you everyone for your support.

Tim Seay

Save the McDougall Campaign 14 May 2026

10/05/2026

Save the McDougall Campaign

The Robert McDougall Art Gallery in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens

Hello everyone,

Our petition seems to be stuck at the moment and is looking for more signatories. My page is receiving more friend requests all the time providing more people to sign so hopefully these people do sign to ensure the gallery is used properly when it finally reopens in accord with its heritage status as the country’s best neo classical art gallery.

The Christchurch City Council is spending $24.5m on it at the moment in order to earthquake strengthen it which involves removing asbestos and lead paint and base isolate it to bring it up to a full international standard. The basement is also being deepened to the same level as the new Museum basement and access to it is being made available from the Museum as well as its front door onto the Gardens.

But the problem is how the Museum can use it in a way that protects its heritage status when they don’t have an art collection that has ever been collected on the basis of its artistic merit. The gallery can display 240 historical paintings at one time. Where are they going to come from? The Museum only has a few paintings of a public art gallery standard whereas the city has a historical collection of 600 oil paintings and 300 watercolours valued at around $30m currently held in storage at the Christchurch Art Gallery but no longer on display to the public. What an extraordinary situation!

In 2003 the Council got Parliament to pass a replacement McDougall Act 2003 in order to be able to lease the McDougall to the Museum for 50 years. This new Act allows the whole of the McDougall land area and the gallery on it to be used not just for fine arts but also decorative arts and crafts. This clause should only have applied to the area of the Gallery land used for storage and also the area the Museum is building its new extensions on – not the Gallery’s display areas – the 13 beautiful neo classical picture galleries. This has given the Museum the opportunity of using these spaces for their huge collections of decorative arts and crafts. This means they could place in these picture galleries display cabinets with items in them like a piece of greenstone from their Maori taonga collections and to hang objects on the walls like antique fire arms. And this I believe is what they are planning to use these picture galleries for because they haven’t got a suitable art collection to utilise the Gallery.

But there is a problem with using the McDougall picture galleries to display decorative arts and crafts. For a start it dishonours the terms of Robert McDougall’s gift of the Gallery to the citizens of Christchurch in 1928 in order that the city could establish an art collection of its own starting from works donated mainly from the Canterbury Society of Arts. Secondly such a use does not comply with either the Gallery’s Conservation Plan or the Council’s more recent Heritage Strategy 2019.
But there is also something else it doesn’t comply with – the buildings own foundation stone shown below which records the terms of Robert McDougall’s gift - two vital pieces of information. It tells us who owns the building, what the building actually is and therefore what it is to be used for!
It records that the building is owned by the citizens of Christchurch – not the Museum. This means that it is actually owned by that group of citizens who actually want to use it – namely the art lovers of Christchurch. And it means that the Council who legally own it on their behalf are obligated to ensure it is used how our art lovers wish it to be used today. And it also states that the building is an art gallery – not a gallery which is what the Museum has already changed its name to – The Robert McDougall Gallery – in order to better align its name to what they intend to use it for.

And it also tells us what type of art it was given to the citizens of Christchurch to display – art that existed in 1928 – namely what today we call historical art rather than today’s contemporary art. So, it really tells us what art should continue to be displayed in it.

The foundation stone of the Robert McDougall Art Gallery 28 May 1928

So, what is the answer to this huge problem – a problem which the Council continues to acknowledge even exists and which the Press in Christchurch continues to refuse to report on to the public leaving them unaware of the problem. Clearly the answer is that the Council must tell the Museum it must be used when it opens in 2029 for the city’s historical art collection currently in storage at the Christchurch Art Gallery and no longer displayed to the public. This is what has happened in every other city in the world that has built a new art gallery – the old gallery is used for historical art and the new one for modern art separating out historical art from contemporary art for the benefit of their viewing public.

And probably the next best painting in the city’s historical collection is:

Evening Concarneau 1901 Terrick John Williams (1860-1936) oil on canvas, gifted to Canterbury Society of Arts in 1903 by citizens of Christchurch, this is another of the foundation paintings of the collection which was presented to the McDougall Art Gallery when it opened in 1932.

If you wish to see these paintings again on display in the McDougall Art Gallery when it reopens 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 on to their friends. In that way we can hopefully build the numbers up.

Thank you everyone for your support.
Tim Seay

Save the McDougall Campaign 10 May 2026

04/05/2026

The Robert McDougall Art Gallery in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens

Hello everyone,

Since my posting last weekend further signatories to the petition seem to have fallen away so we need to regain the momentum again which I hope will happen this weekend with my posting two further paintings from the city’s historical collection.

Meanwhile in the Press on Thursday morning, journalist Tina Law has written again about the latest cost estimates for the Museum project which is planned to be completed in 2029. She says the Museum has a funding gap of $$91.9m which they are asking the Christchurch City Council and the three regional Councils in total to each contribute a further $32m over the next four years and the Government the same amount. This leaves a remaining amount of $27.9m which the Museum says they expect to raise from philanthropist, trusts, grants, wills and various partnerships. The total estimated cost of the project currently stands at $261.9m.

The project has been plagued by cost increases since it began and there is no reason to believe these will not continue over the next 3 to 4 years. The figures quoted by Tina Law are simply those released by the Museum Board as in the past. While I understand they include an amount for contingencies, past performance has shown that these have not been sufficient to cover the actual cost increases. So, there is no reason to believe that their latest estimates will be sufficient to cover the actual increases over the next 3 to 4 years of the project together with the recent additional increases which will result from the Iran War due to higher fuel prices and higher costs for building products such as, for example, plastic piping which apparently has soared in price due to the higher cost of resin.

Clearly, if the Government does not provide further funding in next month’s budget for the project, which is quite possible (having already contributed $35m) and if there are further cost increases, the project will be in trouble and there could be a real chance it could eventually have to be mothballed as has already been discussed before. What then would happen to the McDougall which is owned by the Council? I would expect the Council to get it re-opened as soon as possible and use it to display the city’s historical collection. There is provision in the lease agreement for it to terminate if the project is not concluded.

In the meantime, here are probably the two next best paintings from the city’s historical collection:

Marion Lorna Guthrie 1895 Sir James Guthrie (1859-1930) bequest by Marion Lorna Grant 1972
Helen Graham Chalmers and her mother 1908 Frank Bramley (1857-1915) bequest DMR and H Cameron 1990

If you wish to see these paintings again on display in the McDougall Art Gallery when it reopens 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 on to their friends. In that way we can hopefully build the numbers up.
Thank you everyone for your support.

Tim Seay

Save the McDougall Campaign 3 May 2026

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