John A. Hammond
Encyclopedia
John A. Hammond was a Canadian
adventurer, photographer artist
, printmaker and art
educator.
Born in Montreal, Quebec, at age nine he began working with his father as a marble
cutter. As a young man he joined the local militia
and was sent to counter attack an expected Fenian raid
that never materialized. Seeking his fortune, in the 1860s he joined in on the Central Otago Gold Rush
in New Zealand
and spent three years looking for gold
. After returning to Montreal, he trained and worked as a staff photographer for the renowned William Notman
then joined the Geological Survey of Canada that laid out the route west for the Canadian Pacific Railway
. His interest in painting was enhanced by his travels and after becoming a member of the Plymouth Brethren
religious sect, his devotion to Christianity
would sometimes be reflected in his art.
A member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts
, he traveled to Dordrecht
in South Holland
where he painted with James McNeill Whistler
and in France
, he painted with Jean-François Millet
. and later in 1886 exhibited at the Paris Salon
, winning two awards. His works were also shown at a number of other important venues including the Royal Academy
in London
and the National Academy of Design
in New York City
. Today, examples of his work can be seen in the National Gallery of Canada
and some of his photography at the McCord Museum
.
John Hammond was a friend of the wealthy businessman and art collector William Van Horne who purchased some of his paintings. Van Horne was president of Canadian Pacific Railway
(CPR) and he hired John Hammond to do paintings and murals at CPR hotels and offices depicting scenes from the company's various railroad routes. Hammond traveled via steam ship to China
and Japan
but these influences are minimal in his art. Some of Hammond's best known works are of the Bay of Fundy
and scenes of the harbour at Saint John, New Brunswick
with its ever-present fog.
In 1893, Hammond was appointed the head of the Fine Arts Department at Mount Allison University
in Sackville, New Brunswick
and served as Administrator of the university's Owens Museum of Fine Arts.
In 1929, Montreal department store
magnate and avid art collector J. Aird Nesbitt
published "John Hammond : A Short Biography of Canada's Oldest Artist."
John Hammond died in 1939 at the age of 96. The "Hammond Gate" at Mount Allison University was his design and is named in his memory. In 2002, the town of Sackville 2002 held a "Celebration of John Hammond’s Cultural Gifts" that included an exhibition of his paintings.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
adventurer, photographer artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
, printmaker and art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
educator.
Born in Montreal, Quebec, at age nine he began working with his father as a marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
cutter. As a young man he joined the local militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
and was sent to counter attack an expected Fenian raid
Fenian raids
Between 1866 and 1871, the Fenian raids of the Fenian Brotherhood who were based in the United States; on British army forts, customs posts and other targets in Canada, were fought to bring pressure on Britain to withdraw from Ireland. They divided many Catholic Irish-Canadians, many of whom were...
that never materialized. Seeking his fortune, in the 1860s he joined in on the Central Otago Gold Rush
Central Otago Gold Rush
The Central Otago Gold Rush was a gold rush that occurred during the 1860s in Central Otago, New Zealand...
in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
and spent three years looking for gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
. After returning to Montreal, he trained and worked as a staff photographer for the renowned William Notman
William Notman
William Notman was a Canadian photographer and businessman.Notman was born in Paisley, Scotland in 1826, the same year in which photography was born in France. William Notman moved to Montreal in 1856. An amateur photographer, he quickly established a flourishing professional photography studio on...
then joined the Geological Survey of Canada that laid out the route west for the Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
. His interest in painting was enhanced by his travels and after becoming a member of the Plymouth Brethren
Plymouth Brethren
The Plymouth Brethren is a conservative, Evangelical Christian movement, whose history can be traced to Dublin, Ireland, in the late 1820s. Although the group is notable for not taking any official "church name" to itself, and not having an official clergy or liturgy, the title "The Brethren," is...
religious sect, his devotion to Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
would sometimes be reflected in his art.
A member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts
Royal Canadian Academy of Arts
The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts is a Canadian arts-related institution founded in 1880, under the patronage of the Governor General of Canada, Sir John Douglas Sutherland Campbell, the Marquess of Lorne. Canadian landscape painter Homer Watson was a member and president of the Academy...
, he traveled to Dordrecht
Dordrecht
Dordrecht , colloquially Dordt, historically in English named Dort, is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the fourth largest city of the province, having a population of 118,601 in 2009...
in South Holland
South Holland
South Holland is a province situated on the North Sea in the western part of the Netherlands. The provincial capital is The Hague and its largest city is Rotterdam.South Holland is one of the most densely populated and industrialised areas in the world...
where he painted with James McNeill Whistler
James McNeill Whistler
James Abbott McNeill Whistler was an American-born, British-based artist. Averse to sentimentality and moral allusion in painting, he was a leading proponent of the credo "art for art's sake". His famous signature for his paintings was in the shape of a stylized butterfly possessing a long stinger...
and in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, he painted with Jean-François Millet
Jean-François Millet
Jean-François Millet was a French painter and one of the founders of the Barbizon school in rural France...
. and later in 1886 exhibited at the Paris Salon
Paris Salon
The Salon , or rarely Paris Salon , beginning in 1725 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France. Between 1748–1890 it was the greatest annual or biannual art event in the Western world...
, winning two awards. His works were also shown at a number of other important venues including the Royal Academy
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and the National Academy of Design
National Academy of Design
The National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts, founded in New York City as the National Academy of Design – known simply as the "National Academy" – is an honorary association of American artists founded in 1825 by Samuel F. B. Morse, Asher B. Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Today, examples of his work can be seen in the National Gallery of Canada
National Gallery of Canada
The National Gallery of Canada , located in the capital city Ottawa, Ontario, is one of Canada's premier art galleries.The Gallery is now housed in a glass and granite building on Sussex Drive with a notable view of the Canadian Parliament buildings on Parliament Hill. The acclaimed structure was...
and some of his photography at the McCord Museum
McCord Museum
The McCord Museum is a public research and teaching museum dedicated to the preservation, study, diffusion, and appreciation of Canadian history...
.
John Hammond was a friend of the wealthy businessman and art collector William Van Horne who purchased some of his paintings. Van Horne was president of Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
(CPR) and he hired John Hammond to do paintings and murals at CPR hotels and offices depicting scenes from the company's various railroad routes. Hammond traveled via steam ship to China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
but these influences are minimal in his art. Some of Hammond's best known works are of the Bay of Fundy
Bay of Fundy
The Bay of Fundy is a bay on the Atlantic coast of North America, on the northeast end of the Gulf of Maine between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine...
and scenes of the harbour at Saint John, New Brunswick
Saint John, New Brunswick
City of Saint John , or commonly Saint John, is the largest city in the province of New Brunswick, and the first incorporated city in Canada. The city is situated along the north shore of the Bay of Fundy at the mouth of the Saint John River. In 2006 the city proper had a population of 74,043...
with its ever-present fog.
In 1893, Hammond was appointed the head of the Fine Arts Department at Mount Allison University
Mount Allison University
Mount Allison University is a primarily undergraduate Canadian liberal arts and science university situated in Sackville, New Brunswick. It is located about a half hour from the regional city of Moncton and 20 minutes from the Greater Moncton International Airport...
in Sackville, New Brunswick
Sackville, New Brunswick
Sackville is a Canadian town in Westmorland County, New Brunswick.Mount Allison University is located in the town...
and served as Administrator of the university's Owens Museum of Fine Arts.
In 1929, Montreal department store
Department store
A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
magnate and avid art collector J. Aird Nesbitt
J. Aird Nesbitt
James Aird Nesbitt was a Canadian department store owner. Born in Westmount, Quebec, he was the first of the two sons of the prominent stock broker, Arthur J. Nesbitt...
published "John Hammond : A Short Biography of Canada's Oldest Artist."
John Hammond died in 1939 at the age of 96. The "Hammond Gate" at Mount Allison University was his design and is named in his memory. In 2002, the town of Sackville 2002 held a "Celebration of John Hammond’s Cultural Gifts" that included an exhibition of his paintings.