B.
Lawrence Baigent and Robert Erwin
Behind the scenes
While much has been written about the wrecked buildings in Christchurch's cbd and the loss of some of the city's iconic heritage buildings, demolition work also continues in the suburbs, often on a more personal scale.
Gaps are appearing in neighbourhoods across town and the most recent loss in my neck of the woods is this empty section in St Albans that was once the home of Lawrence Baigent and Robert Erwin, two very generous benefactors to the Christchurch Art Gallery.
Rita Angus Mountains Cass 1936. watercolour. Presented by Robert Erwin in 1985 in memory of Lawrence Baigent.
The bulk of Erwin and Baigent's art collection came to the gallery on Robert's death in 2003 and was an incredible gesture to Christchurch. The collection includes no fewer than 10 works by Rita Angus including the absolute gem of a painting Mountains, Cass as well as exceptional examples by Leo Bensmann. There was a strong friendship between Baigent, Angus and Bensemann as they had all worked closely together in the late 1930s when they shared a studio on Cambridge Terrace. This was a highpoint in Angus's and Bensemann's careers and several memorable portraits of the two artists, as well as Baigent, were painted at the time including Russian Saint (Lawrence Baigent) by Bensemann.
Leo Bensemann Russian Saint (Lawrence Baigent) c.1938. Lawrence Baigent / Robert Erwin bequest, 2003
I had the good fortune to meet Robert once when he came into the Robert McDougall Art Gallery around 2001 to drop off two hand-painted Christmas cards by Rita Angus to be sold at a fundraising event for the new gallery. In mid 2003 a call came through that Robert had passed away and I was called on to go to the house on St Albans Street to collect the works left to the gallery with fellow curators Neil Roberts and Felicity Milburn. The house was a treasure trove not only of art on the walls but also the vast book collection that extended to every room.
You can see the Baigent / Erwin collection in a 'my gallery' page. Check it out.
Related
Collection
Rita Angus Mountains, Cass
Rita Angus never forgot the experience of sketching at Cass, an isolated place nestled in the high country of Te Waipounamu that she visited on a 1936 painting trip with artists Louise Henderson and Julia Scarvell. Although her oil painting of its isolated railway station (currently on display nearby in From Here on the Ground) is more famous, this dazzling watercolour is a vivid record of the exhilaration and inspiration she felt when working in this landscape. A small hut in state of disrepair is dwarfed by the hills, mountains and sky that surround it, all of which seem alive with colour and presence. Angus later recalled how reading notes she made during that trip took her back to "those days of clear blue green skies, sun setting behind the dark hills, cold shadows... They were happy days. I long for a later return into the mountains."
(Perilous: Unheard Stories from the Collection, 6 August 2022-21 July 2024 )