Bernard Ford Aris Britain, New Zealand, 1887-1977
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About Bernard Ford Aris
Bernard Aris was born in Wallington, Surrey, England in 1887 and emigrated to New Zealand for health reasons. He worked on farms wandered the countryside and sketched and painted what he saw, and later worked on ships as a wireless operator. During World War I he was in the Royal Navy and after the war ended, returned to New Plymouth in 1919. He made further trips back to England before finally settling in New Zealand in 1921. A painter, watercolourist and print-maker he is best known for his scenes of the Taranaki area, including Mt. Egmont. In 1972 he received a scroll giving him the freedom of the city of New Plymouth and a fund was established for an Annual Bernard Aris competition, to acknowledge his contribution to the visual arts of New Zealand. Bernard Aris died in New Plymouth aged 90 in 1977.
The total number of works by Bernard Aris offered for sale by auction since 1974 is 161, of which 132 (82%) were sold. The highest price recorded for the artist is $4,383 for Mt Egmont sold by Dunbar Sloane in March 2023. This year one work has been offered for sale. Works by Bernard Aris are held by the Museum Of New Zealand and Auckland Art Gallery.
Bernard Ford Aris is listed in the following standard biographical references:
- McGahey, Kate. The Concise Dictionary of New Zealand Artists Painters Printmakers Sculptors, Gilt Edge Publishing, Wellington, New Zealand, 2000. Page 6
- The Find New Zealand Artists web site: a database of artist names that directs researchers to the rich resources found in New Zealand's libraries, art society exhibition histories and published sources.
The Australian Art Sales Digest is a database of over 610,000 works by more than 12,000 artists who are listed as having either lived or worked in Australia or New Zealand, and an additional 36,000 foreign and other artists, offered for sale by auction in Australia and New Zealand from the early 1970s to the present day.
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