Described as one of New Zealand’s most singular interpreters of landscape, Dutch-New Zealand painter Gerda Leenards’ atmospheric depictions of mist-enveloped headlands and ghostly, cloud-wrapped landscapes earned Leenards a reputation for depicting the New Zealand landscape in a new light. Her intention has always been to convey the inner qualities of the land - the facts and effects of its history, and to capture a sense of shifting climatic conditions by photographing changing weather patterns to paint from.

Morning conveys a sense of this dramatic landscape, sky and weather across the harbour from Wellington, through the vision of an artist immersed in the unpredictable rawness of nature – the artist lives and works at Breaker Bay, near the entrance to Wellington Harbour.

Gerda Leenards (born 1946, Holland) came to New Zealand with her family in 1956. After a career in draughting and graphic design, she completed a Diploma of Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury School Of Fine Arts in 1970, followed by a solo exhibition at City Gallery Wellington. In 1992, Leenards returned to the Netherlands to take up a 6-month residency and to immerse herself in the artistic traditions of her homeland. Returning to New Zealand, Leenards’ paintings took on a more moody, poetic style, evoking a sombre, romantic beauty with an unmistakeable sense of European painting traditions.