New Zealand painter Trevor Moffitt died at home in Christchurch on Tuesday, aged 70. His last exhibition of paintings, "Hokonui Moonshine Final Works", opened the same night.

Growing up in Gore in Southland, Moffitt resisted the idea of leaving school early to start work. Instead he informed his father he was going to university to study art. One of his best-known paintings, now in the Christchurch Art Gallery, depicts his father reading Best Bets and exclaiming: "No son of mine goes to university."

After graduating from Ilam, Moffitt taught art in South Island schools for 40 years. His art depicts Kiwi life in a series of works covering village and suburbia.