Like George O’Brien’s paintings, Aubrey’s depiction of colonial towns provides a record of colonial settlement with the proficiency of detail in his description of buildings and streets, indicating a degree of technical training. However, the elegance of his figures and curious descriptions of horses and livestock, are also comparable with the naive and optimistic view of colonial life by Canterbury artist James Preston from this same period. Aubrey’s work is held in the Auckland Art Gallery and Hocken Library, Dunedin, New Zealand.
