WOOLLASTON, TOSS (1910-1998)

"Man Writing" (1955)
ink on paper
29 x 21cm
signed lower left
*private collection, Sydney
 
Sir Mountford Tosswill "Toss" Woollaston was a leading New Zealand Modernist. She studied art at the Canterbury School of Art in Christchurch. One of his teachers at the Canterbury School of Art was Margaret Stoddart. He became interested in modernism after moving to Dunedin to study with R N Field. In 1934 he settled at Mapua, near Nelson, and married Edith Alexander two years later. They became part of a circle of local artists and writers which included Colin McCahon, Charles Brasch and Ron O'Reilly. After World War II the Woollastons moved to Greymouth, and the landscape of the West Coast became a major feature in his art. It was only from the 1960s that Woollaston was able to paint full-time; previously he had taken numerous part-time jobs to support himself and his family. As well as painting, Woollaston wrote, poetry in particular having been a lifelong passion. His books included The Far-away Hills in 1960, and Sage Tea (his autobiography) in 1980. In The Far-away Hills, Woollaston acknowledges the influence of artist Flora Scales, who allowed him to study her notes from training by Hans Hoffman. Woollaston was appointed a Knight Bachelor in the 1979 Queen's Birthday Honours, becoming the first New Zealander to be knighted for services to art (Peter Siddell being the second). His works are represented in all major galleries and institutions in New Zealand!!