![Russell Clark seabird image](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Russell_Clark_seabird_image.jpg)
Russell Stuart Cedric Clark (27 August 1905 – 29 July 1966) was a New Zealand artist, illustrator, sculptor and university lecturer. He was born 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 Rive ...
,
North Canterbury
Canterbury ( mi, Waitaha) is a region of New Zealand, located in the central-eastern South Island. The region covers an area of , making it the largest region in the country by area. It is home to a population of
The region in its current fo ...
,
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
, on 27 August 1905.
He attended Canterbury College School of Art from 1922 to 1928. He was an Official War Artist for New Zealand during the Second World War.
Colin McCahon
Colin John McCahon (; 1August 191927May 1987) was a prominent New Zealand artist whose work over 45 years consisted of various styles, including landscape, figuration, abstraction, and the overlay of painted text. Along with Toss Woollaston an ...
and
Doris Lusk
Doris More Lusk (5 May 1916 – 14 April 1990) was a New Zealand painter, potter, art teacher, and university lecturer. In 1990 she was posthumously awarded the Governor General Art Award in recognition of her artistic career and contributions. ...
were among his students.
Clark worked as an illustrator at the ''
New Zealand School Journal
The ''New Zealand School Journal'' is a periodical children's educational publication in New Zealand. Founded in 1907 by the Department of Education, it is one of the world's longest-running publications for children. Since 2013 it has been pub ...
'' both before and after the war, and was "the first unofficial art editor".
By the 1950s, he was working for both the ''School Journal'' and the
''Listener''. Many of Clark's art works are held in
Archives New Zealand
Archives New Zealand (Māori: ''Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga'') is New Zealand's national archive and the official guardian of its public archives. As the government's recordkeeping authority, it administers the Public Records Act 2005 and ...
in Wellington.
The Russell Clark Award, established in 1975 for excellence in children's book illustration, was named in his honour. Since 2016, it has been awarded as part of the
New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults
The New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults are a series of literary awards presented annually to recognise excellence in children and young adult's literature in New Zealand. The awards began in 1982 as the New Zealand Governm ...
.
References
1905 births
1966 deaths
New Zealand educators
People educated at Christchurch Boys' High School
Ilam School of Fine Arts alumni
University of Canterbury faculty
20th-century New Zealand sculptors
20th-century New Zealand male artists
Place of death missing
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