Dagley lived and worked in Tauranga his entire life, however his lack of a national profile and loyalty to the town in which he was born resulted in him being overlooked in the country's art history. As one art writer noted "Dagley has been called the most underrated painter in New Zealand." Apart from his landscapes, seascapes, portraits and figurative narratives, Dagley was inspired by the burgeoning expansion of Tauranga's port. Many of his works feature the harbour bridge, freighters, glimpses of ships coming into port, even an old barge washed up on Sulphur Point where he overlaid bolts to emulate its three-dimensional nature, bringing the barge off the canvas and into the viewer's space; the early stages of mixed media. He exhibited in approximately 50 solo exhibitions and numerous group shows, and was a 1968 Benson & Hedges Art Award finalist and recipient of the National Bank Art Award in 1973.
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© 2009 Tauranga Art Gallery © 2009 Tauranga Art Gallery