BILL'S STORY

A portrait of W.A.Sutton

Pat Unger - Canterbury University Press - $39.99

Let me say straight off that I have been a great admirer of Canterbury artist Bill Sutton's work for as long as I can recall.

I only have to see his name in print and I immediately see in my mind's eye his 1949 painting Dry September (below) . His Canterbury landscapes are an important artistic record of that province. He was also a noted portrait artist in keen demand for many years having painted more than a hundred notable New Zealanders from all walks of life from the mid-50's through to the 80's. Among his subjects were many leading figures from industry, law, local body politics, academia and the church including Sir James Wattie, Bishop W.A.Pyatt, Dr.R.S.Duff, Sir Michael Fowler, Sir Richard Wild and Raewyn Adam. He also did a number of self portraits including the one featured on the cover of this fine publication.

Author Pat Unger is herself an artist and former student of Sutton at the University of Canterbury. She was motivated to write Bill's Story after the major retropsective of his work held to mark the opening of the new Christchurch Art Gallery in 2003. She has done him proud.

I was interested to note that Unger had access to Sutton's archival material "which is held in 20 boxes and a crate " in the library of the Christchurch Art Gallery.

My congratulations to the publisher and author on this thoughtful, interesting & detailed book. I am honoured to have it on my bookshelf.