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| Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of the Auckland Society of Arts, 1931 |
This painting is titled The Road to Little Sark and was painted by Rhona Haszard in 1930. I discovered it in the local Sark magazine the day after I visited La Coupee, a narrow causeway that connects Sark with Little Sark. I was captivated as much be the artist herself as I was with the painting. La Coupee is spectacular, with dramatic cliff edges on each side of a narrow crossing with a picturesque beach at the bottom, if you're brave enough to dare the stairs downward. But the artist herself is just as fascinating. Rhona Haszard was born in New Zealand and studied at the Canterbury College of Art, later becoming known for her bohemian lifestyle. An affair with her art tutor, Leslie Greener (while married to another artist), caused scandal and eventually they moving to Europe - staying on Sark for a time where Greener's father owned a house (photograph below). 
Rhona and her second husband lived a colourful life, travelling around Europe and later living in Alexandria (also in the company of her first husband). But she suffered from chronic pain after falling while getting off a boat. Rhona died aged 30, the day after an art exhibition, falling from a tower in Alexandria (recorded as accidental but suicide suspected).
Artist Rhona Haszard photographed with artworks at Victoria College, Alexandria, Egypt, in the late 1920s or early 1930s. (photograph from te ara website)
"Haszard evolved a decorative, modernist style which became more experimental and sophisticated after she was exposed to modern European art movements in Paris"
from Auckland Art Gallery
