Arthur's pass

Arthur's Pass, the mountain crossing connecting Canterbury and the West Coast of the South Island, was one of the most dramatic and visually spectacular landscapes in New Zealand — the route ascending through gorges and beech forest to the alpine pass before descending to the rainforest-covered West Coast. Gully's 1885 watercolor was painted shortly after the construction of the railway through the pass began, and his documentation captures the landscape in its pre-industrial state even as development began transforming it. The pass route was known to Māori as a traditional pathway across the Alps.

The mountain pass subject requires Gully to convey the dramatic scale of the alpine landscape within the intimate format of watercolor. His handling of the beech forest, mountain streams, and rocky terrain of the pass approaches develops the botanical and geological specificity that distinguishes his South Island mountain subjects from European alpine painting. Atmospheric conditions in the pass — cloud, mist, and the passage from eastern to western weather patterns — provide additional visual complexity.