Desmond W. Helmore (born 1940) is a New Zealand artist and illustrator, known both for his fine art and for his scientific work depicting insects, not least illustrating the
New Zealand Arthropod Collection
The New Zealand Arthropod Collection is a collection of terrestrial invertebrates held by Maanaki Whenua – Landcare Research in Auckland, New Zealand.http://biocol.org/institutional-collection/new-zealand-arthropod-collection It specialises i ...
. One of the country's most noted and prolific biological illustrators, over 1000 of his illustrations of insects were published in research papers from 1976 to 2006.
Life and education
Helmore was born in
Takapau
Takapau is a small rural community in the Central Hawkes Bay in New Zealand. It is located 20 kilometres west of Waipukurau, off State Highway 2, and has a population of more than 500.
The original township was founded in 1876 by farmer Sydney ...
,
Hawkes Bay
Hawke's Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui) is a local government region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region's name derives from Hawke Bay, which was named by Captain James Cook in honour of Admiral Edward Hawke. The region is ...
, New Zealand, and lived there on a farm until age 12.
Interested in drawing since childhood, he attended
Christ's College in
Christchurch
Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...
, and then the
Ilam School of Fine Arts
The Ilam School of Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury was founded in 1882 as the Canterbury College School of Art. The school became a full department of the university in the 1950s, and was the first department to move to the suburban Ila ...
at the
University of Canterbury
The University of Canterbury ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was ...
from 1959 to 1962, where he was taught by
Rudi Gopas,
Russell Clark, and
Bill Sutton.
His fellow students at Ilam included
Dick Frizzell
Richard John Frizzell (born 1943) is a New Zealand artist known for his pop art paintings and prints. His work often features Kiwiana iconography combined with motifs from Māori art traditions, such as the tiki and tā moko. He is based in ...
,
Tony Fomison
Tony Fomison (12 July 1939 – 7 February 1990) was a notable artist in New Zealand. He was an important post-war visual artist in the country and influenced New Zealand art by incorporating elements of narrative and myth into contemporary a ...
, and
John Panting. In his survey of New Zealand art, Frizzell described Helmore as someone who "seemed to have already graduated from somewhere else. All that quiet abstract pondering. I
rizzellcouldn't believe he knew what he was doing, because I certainly didn't."
At this time Helmore, through
beatnik
Beatniks were members of a social movement in the 1950s that subscribed to an anti-materialistic lifestyle.
History
In 1948, Jack Kerouac introduced the phrase "Beat Generation", generalizing from his social circle to characterize the undergr ...
culture, became interested in
Zen Buddhism
Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...
and
Taoism
Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of Philosophy, philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of China, Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmo ...
.
He won a life-painting prize, and graduated in 1963 with a Diploma of Fine Arts (Hons).
After working in London from 1967 to 1969, Helmore returned to New Zealand and lived in
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
for over 40 years.
He moved to
Hastings
Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England,
east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...
in 2018.
Illustration
From 1967 to 1969 Helmore worked as a geographical illustrator at
University College London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = ...
where he learnt the technical aspects of creating maps and illustrations for publication. Upon returning to New Zealand in 1970 he was employed as an entomological illustrator at
Canterbury Museum, Christchurch, working alongside the painter
Tony Fomison
Tony Fomison (12 July 1939 – 7 February 1990) was a notable artist in New Zealand. He was an important post-war visual artist in the country and influenced New Zealand art by incorporating elements of narrative and myth into contemporary a ...
.
From 1971 to 1975 he worked as a graphic artist and graphic designer for
NZBC Television and
TV1 News in Christchurch, creating lettering, illustrations, and title sequences, but was unhappy with the daily deadlines.
In June 1975 Helmore moved to Auckland and worked as an entomological illustrator for the Systematics Section of Entomology Division,
Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, abbreviated DSIR was the name of several British Empire organisations founded after the 1923 Imperial Conference to foster intra-Empire trade and development.
* Department of Scientific and Industria ...
, until 1992, then for Invertebrate Systematics at
Landcare Research Landcare may refer to:
* Australian Landcare Council, a now superseded Australian government body
* Landcare in Australia, umbrella approach promoting land protection in Australia
* Landcare Research, New Zealand
*The Landcare movement in Australi ...
from 1992 to 2006. Over these years he created over 1000 insect illustrations for scientific publications, particularly the ''Fauna of New Zealand'' series''.
'' The illustrations were created using a stereomicroscope with a
camera lucida
A ''camera lucida'' is an optical device used as a drawing aid by artists and microscopists.
The ''camera lucida'' performs an optical superimposition of the subject being viewed upon the surface upon which the artist is drawing. The artist se ...
, and were drawn two to three times larger than final print size on illustration board with technical pens (or sometimes on
scraperboard
Scratchboard (North America and Australia) or scraperboard (Great Britain), is a form of direct engraving where the artist scratches off dark ink to reveal a white or colored layer beneath. Scratchboard refers to both a fine-art medium, and ...
).
Each took three or four days to complete.
His drawings have been described as "magnificent" and "exquisitely executed" by entomologists. The scientist
Sir Charles Fleming wrote, "Des Helmore's drawings supply the need for pictures of entire insects felt by many New Zealand amateurs and interdisciplinary students, to an artistic standard few can hope to emulate."
The entomologist Anthony Harris said, "Desmond Helmore's superb illustrations rank with the very best in the field – such as those of
Arthur Smith,
A. J. E. Terzi, and
T. Nagatani."
''
Helmoreus'', a genus of
weevil
Weevils are beetles belonging to the Taxonomic rank, superfamily Curculionoidea, known for their elongated snouts. They are usually small, less than in length, and Herbivore, herbivorous. Approximately 97,000 species of weevils are known. They b ...
s, is named in his honour, "in recognition of his contribution to New Zealand entomology as a scientific illustrator".
In 2014 a species of beetle, ''Sagola helmorei'', was also named in his honour.
Art
Since leaving art school Helmore has continued painting. His work has been described by Dick Frizzell as having a "strangely dense atmosphere"
and critic T.J. McNamara has referred to its "lonely vertical shapes" and "dim and strange" light.
After being influenced by constructivism and cubism in the 1960s, he began painting depictions of rural landscapes after about 1985. Since 2000 his work has focussed on depictions of urban environments.
His first solo show was in 1964 at the
Hawke’s Bay Art Gallery,
Napier. In 1965 he received a Merit Award for the Manawatu Contemporary Art Competition, which was followed in 1966 by a solo exhibition at the Manawatu Art Gallery (now
Te Manawa
Te Manawa (Māori: ''The Heart'') is a museum, art gallery and science centre in Palmerston North, New Zealand. It is operated by the Te Manawa Museums Trust, a charitable trust incorporated on 20 August 1999. From that date, the Trust assumed r ...
) in
Palmerston North
Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...
.
While living in London he had a solo show at the
B. H. Corner Gallery in 1968, and in 1972 he was a finalist in the
Benson & Hedges Art Awards.
Helmore has exhibited since 1990 in solo and group shows at the Auckland galleries
Lopdell House,
Claybrook,
Anna Bibby,
Jane Sanders Art, and
nkb Gallery. He has also exhibited at
Ramp Gallery in Hamilton, the
Hastings City Art Gallery, and, in 2017, at
Spa_ce Gallery, Napier.
Reviewing his 2011 solo exhibition at Jane Sanders Art, for ''
The New Zealand Herald
''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspapers ...
'', T.J. McNamara said:
His work is in a number of collections, including those of
Christchurch Art Gallery
The Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, commonly known as the Christchurch Art Gallery, is the public art gallery of the city of Christchurch, New Zealand. It has its own substantial art collection and also presents a programme of New ...
,
the
University of Canterbury
The University of Canterbury ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was ...
,
the
Hocken Library
Hocken Collections (, formerly the Hocken Library) is a research library, historical archive, and art gallery based in Dunedin, New Zealand. Its library collection, which is of national significance, is administered by the University of Otago.
T ...
, the
Canterbury Society of Arts
Centre of Contemporary Art (CoCA, formerly the Canterbury Society of Arts) is a curated art gallery in the central city of Christchurch, New Zealand.
The gallery is administered by the Canterbury Society of Arts (CSA) Charitable Trust. Quarte ...
, and Hawke's Bay Art Gallery.
Publications
* Deitz, L.L., and Helmore, Desmond W. (1979). "Illustrated key to the families and genera of planthoppers (Homoptera: Fulgoroidea) from the New Zealand sub-region". ''New Zealand Entomologist'': 7(1). 11–19.
* (contains 22 drawings of a variety of insects, with additional information about each drawing and an introduction on the purpose of the illustrations.)
References
External links
*
*
New Zealand Arthropod Collection gallery of over 1000 published imagescreated by Des Helmore from 1976 to 2006
{{DEFAULTSORT:Helmore, Des
1940 births
Living people
Date of birth missing (living people)
People from Takapau
20th-century New Zealand painters
20th-century New Zealand male artists
21st-century New Zealand painters
21st-century New Zealand male artists
Natural history illustrators
New Zealand entomologists
Ilam School of Fine Arts alumni