'Lyttelton legend' Bill Hammond will be remembered
for his 'immense' contribution to New Zealand's art Martin Van Beynen, Tina Law and Lee Kenny21:20, 1st of February, 2021.
STUFFArtist Bill Hammond, photographed with one of his paintings in 1994, has died.The story of Aotearoa’s art history cannot be told without mentioning Bill Hammond’s work, Arts
Minister Carmel Sepuloni said of the exalted artist following his death.
Hammond, one of New Zealand’s leading artists, was a legendary figure in his home in the port town of Lyttelton, just outside Christchurch.
One of his best known works, Fall of Icarus, is displayed at the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū.
CHRISTCHURCH ART GALLERY TE PUNA O WAIWHETÅ«Hammond’s famed paintings often had environmental themes.
“Bill’s contribution to the New Zealand art scene and the sub-genre of the New Zealand Gothic was immense,” Sepuloni said on Monday.
“His passing will be felt throughout the art community of Aotearoa, but especially in Lyttelton, where Bill Hammond was described by locals as a ‘Lyttelton Legend’.”
Hammond, who was born in August 1947, died on Saturday night, close friends confirmed on Monday.
He was “always his own man”, writer and columnist Joe Bennett said.
“I greatly admired him. He was unaffected by his success and had no bulls... to him. He was honest, modest and a lovely man to talk to. I liked him very much.”
Bennett said Hammond had struggled in his early days and paid his bar bills with canvasses – and Lyttelton's Volcano bar became plastered with valuable Hammond paintings.
ALDEN WILLIAMS/STUFFChristchurch Art Gallery curator Peter Vangioni with The Fall of Icarus, one of Hammond’s best-known works.
Hammond’s place in the art world was recalled by Christchurch Art Gallery curator Peter Vangioni, who curated his last exhibition at the gallery in 2019..
“He was one of New Zealand’s major painters, and he’s got a special place in the heart of Cantabrians as well. He was part of the Lyttelton community.”
Vangioni had been working closely with Hammond on a book of his art, being published by the gallery in the middle of this year.
“He was a great guy once you got to know him. He had a wry sense of humour. We had a lot of laughs.”
Vangioni said Hammond was quite guarded and did not like talking about his own paintings.
“One of the last times I saw him he said, ‘I’ve done all the hard work, now it’s up to you to write about them’.”
ALDEN WILLIAMS/STUFFHammond painted Bone Yard, Open Home in 2009.
The gallery recently acquired another Hammond artwork, adding to the dozen pieces and 10 prints it already owns.
The artwork, Bone Yard, Open Home, painted in 2009, was the biggest single piece of canvas Hammond painted.
“There are a lot of younger artists that looked up to Bill,” Vangioni said. “He’s been a role model for them.
“People who did not know about his art still look at a Bill Hammond painting and get a lot from it. His paintings had such a wide appeal. He really truly loved painting, and he could paint too.”
After attending Burnside High School and the School of Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury from 1966 to 1969, he worked in a sign factory, made jewellery and designed and manufactured wooden toys before returning full-time to painting in 1981.
Despite becoming famous in the art world, he remained private and elusive.
Fellow painter Tony de Lautour, who was awarded a New Zealand Arts Laureate in 2012, said that like many Kiwi artists he was influenced by Hammond.
He first met him during a school trip to Christchurch’s Brooke Gifford Gallery, where Hammond’s work was being exhibited.
But it was after de Lautour left art school that the pair became friends.
STACY SQUIRES/STUFF/STUFFArtist Tony de Lautour became friends with Hammond early in his own career.
“A lot of early work that he did was uncompromising. He never really worried about criticism, he just forged his own path really.”
Deputy mayor and long-time Lyttelton resident Andrew Turner said he had known Hammond as a member of the town’s community for many years.
“He resided and had his studio for many years in the old Kilwinning Lodge building, one of Lyttelton town centre’s more prominent heritage buildings.
“After damage to that building in the earthquakes, Bill continued to live elsewhere in Lyttelton.
“As one of New Zealand's most prominent artists, Bill will be much missed, both for his contribution to art, and as a member of our community.”
Ruth Dyson, former Lyttelton MP, said Hammond was a “Lyttelton legend” and very generous in his support of the community.
Hammond began painting full time in the early 1980s but it was a decade later that he would produce his now iconic avian-headed figures.
His work during the 1990s included Buller’s Tablecloth (1994), Placemakers 1 (1996) and Hokey Pokey (1998).
In January 2009, his painting Fortified Gang Headquarters (1996) sold at auction to a private South Island collector for $290,000 – a record for a Kiwi artist that stands to this day.
Department of Conservation (DOC) director general Lou Sanson said New Zealand had lost a great advocate for native wildlife.
“We join the rest of the country in mourning the sad loss of Bill.
“I recall that Bill’s initial inspiration for his famous ‘bird people’ work came on a joint trip with DOC and the Royal NZ Navy to the Sub-Antarctic islands in the early 90s.
“Inspired by the birds in rata trees on Auckland Islands, he went on to create his iconic series so well-loved by many.
“We will have this art forever, and he leaves us with an incredible legacy,” Sanson said.
Hammond’s work reflected many of the environmental and social themes he was concerned about, including the threat humankind posed to itself.
Stuffhttps://www.stuff.co.nz/national/124114 ... alands-art
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