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Simpson and his donkey, Gallipoli painting

Horace Millichamp Moore-Jones, Private Simpson, D.C.M., & his donkey at Anzac, 1918.

Moore-Jones’s most widely recognised work was not painted at the battlefront, but from a photograph. His depiction of Private John Simpson Kirkpatrick and his donkey was done when Moore-Jones was touring his watercolours in Dunedin in 1918, three years after the Gallipoli landings. He altered the composition of the photo to make for a more dramatic drawing.

The photograph this painting is based on is actually of a New Zealand stretcher-bearer, Richard (Dick) Henderson. Henderson served in Gallipoli and later on the Western Front. Seriously gassed in October 1917, he spent several months convalescing in England before his repatriation to New Zealand in February 1918.

This image Appears In 2 Articles:

  • Moore-Jones' Gallipoli landscapes
    The Gallipoli campaign
  • Moore-Jones' Gallipoli landscapes
    First World War art

Keywords

gallipoli campaign
war art
horace moore-jones
Credit

Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: C-057-002
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any reuse of this image.

How to cite this page

'Simpson and his donkey, Gallipoli painting', URL: http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/photo/simpson-and-his-donkey, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 27-Mar-2014

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Community contributions

4 comments have been posted about Simpson and his donkey, Gallipoli painting

What do you know?

Anon.

Posted: 10 May 2016

I am disappointed with this article. Since this is a NZ website and the painting while named (wrongly) after an Australian is actually of a NZ soldier the LEAD paragraph of the description should more strongly indicate that "Moore-Jones based his painting on a photograph of New Zealander Richard Henderson who worked at the same time as Simpson and for several weeks after Simpson died." After all, they try to steal Phar-Lap, pavlova, Split Enz... Also, there should be a link to wikipedia's article on Henderson, not just Simpson. That a website produced by the NZ Culture and Heritage Ministry should so blatantly understate NZ's role while promoting Australia's is a travesty.

Heather

Posted: 19 May 2014

My Husband Bruce is a Grandson of private James Gardiner Jackson who did take the photo, regards Heather.

Anonymous

Posted: 29 Sep 2008

This picture does noy actually depict Simpson. It was based on a photograph of a NZ soldier, Private Richard Alexander Henderson, taken by Private James Gardiner Jackson, whose brother showed the photograph to Moore-Jones.