Obituary Mr R. C. Field

Press, 21 February 1987, Page 4

Obituary Mr R. C. Field

PA Dunedin Mr Robert N. Nettleton Held, one of New Zealand’s best known art teachers, has died, in Auckland. He was 88. A prolific painter and sculptor himself, he gave guidance and inspiration for more than 35 years to those he taught, including Sir Tosswill Woollaston, Colin McCahon, Anne Hamblett, Rodney Kennedy, Doris Lusk, H. V. Miller, Len Castle, and Peter Stitchbury. He was born near London and in 1919 won a Royal Exhibition Scholarship to attend the Royal College of Art, London, where he was awarded diplomas in painting and sculpture. Mr Field worked for a time in London, before

applying to come to New Zealand under the La Trobe Cultural Scheme. He arrived in 1925 and started teaching at the New Zealand Schoo! of Art (then part of the King Edward Technical College) at the same time as his friend and fellow graduate of the Royal College of Art, W. H. Allen.

In 1933 he travelled to Britain to study pottery, returning to Dunedin in 1935 where he continued to teach at the School of Art until 1945. He then became head of the art department of Avondale College in Auckland, where he stayed until he retired in 1960.

During his time in Dunedin Mr Field served as president of the Otago Art Society. ■ ■ ,<■'