The Press Art Collection Saturday, 3 October 2026 / 11:00 am start
Walter Bowring - 'It was Dr Nikola', Ink & Gouache on Board
Current Bid $10 (1 bid, reserve met)
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Lot Details
Walter Bowring (1874-1931) It was Dr Nikola Ink and Gouache on Card Sign bottom right on recto and undated 415 x 272mm 'The Press' private archive of Walter Bowring Additional Information: Title on recto Unframed with drawn border and sketches/notes around border. Marked and Ink stained border, with rough edges on card, including graphite transfer. In a worn condition with no implications to image drawn. Features Dr Nikola, revealing elements of popular New Zealand culture in the press. The Dr. Nikola series by Australian author Guy Boothby (1867–1905) is a seminal five-novel Victorian-era thriller collection featuring a brilliant, occultist anti-hero seeking immortality and world domination. The caption of the artwork, it was Dr Nikola, appears multiple times in Boothby’s novels when the character is suddenly revealed to the reader. Boothby’s novels were apparently very popular with Christchurch schoolboys, something a Press correspondent takes issue with in August 1901 due to them being “a lot of light nonsensical fiction turned out one on top of the other, without the trace of a decent idea in them.” As both an artistic creation and a historical document, the work serves as an important resource for the study of regional history. Images can be directly connected to contemporary reporting in The Press, enhancing their significance when viewed in conjunction with written primary sources. Above all, each piece stands as an engaging and accessible record of its time, inviting collectors and the wider public alike to explore and appreciate Canterbury’s heritage, while reflecting the vital role of the Press in documenting Christchurch during a period of transition and renewal.
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