Through his illustrations in the New Zealand Listener and New Zealand School Journal, Russell Clark's art became part of New Zealanders daily lives from the 1940s to 1970s. Clark attended Canterbury College School of Art, in Christchurch from 1922 to 1928, and then worked in advertising for 20 years. However it was as a painter and sculptor that Clark contributed to an emerging Modernist movement in Post-War New Zealand.
Read MoreIn 1944 he was appointed Pacific War Artist by the New Zealand government, and this experience in Polynesia and Melanesia stimulated his inquiry into Māori art and culture, culminating in the Urewera series (1949-1951). Ironically, these works also reveal the influence of British artists Henry Moore and Barabara Hepworth, particularly in the use of stylised monumental forms which in turn were influenced by Pre-Columbian and African art.
In 1947 he was appointed to the staff at Canterbury University College School of Art, Christchurch. Although criticised for his eclecticism, Clark’s association with 'The Group' and his Urewera series highlight his important contribution to New Zealand’s cultural development.
His work is represented in the collections of the Christchurch Art Gallery and the Museum of New Zealand - Te Papa Tongarewa, the Auckland Art Gallery and many other public and private collections in New Zealand.
