William James (Bill) Reed New Zealand, 1908-96
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About William James (Bill) Reed
Born in Christchurch, New Zealand in 1908, William James Reed studied at Cantebury School of Art along with his lifelong friends Rita Angus, Olivia Spencer Bower and Russell Clark. He was influenced by tutors John Weeks and Art Gallery of New South Wales Archibald Nicholl. He served with the Army medical Corps in the Pacific from 1942 to 1944, becoming an unofficial war artist. On his return he became a teacher, working first at the Dunedin School of Art and later at Otago Polytechnic. A modernist artist, he frequently drew inspiration from the Pacific region.
The earliest auction listing we have for Bill Reed is in 1989 and in total 271 works by the artist have been offered for sale, of which 206 (76%) were sold. The highest price recorded for the artist is $11,363 for Maori Fisherman with Nets sold by International Art Centre in March 2002. This year 3 works have been offered for sale. Works by Bill Reed are held by the Museum Of New Zealand, Auckland Art Gallery and Christchurch Art Gallery.
William James (Bill) Reed 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 209
- 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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