Australian watercolour cows, gumtrees by W.H. Page Hammond, circa 1935
$540.00 AUD
W.H. Page Hammond (1889-1967)
Cows amongst gums, with distant hills
Signed lower left ‘W.H. Page Hammond-
circa 1935
38 x 28 cm
Not recorded in the usual references, W.H Page Hammond is a little-known local artist, active in the earlier 20th century. He is on record as a photographer, rather than a painter.
A 1930 photograph ‘A Mountain Homestead’ in The Argus, Melbourne is captioned:
“Reminiscent of the art of Hans Heysen and the late Penleigh Boyd is this grouping of eucalypts, entered in Class I of the Photographic Competition by Mr. W. H. Page Hammond, Burwood.”
He is also recorded in the 1924 ‘Australasian Photographic Review’:
“Among the more decorative landscapes I may single out the simple but effective study, called “The Towering Watcher” by W.H. Page Hammond, Victoria…”
He won first prize for the ‘Typical Australian Scene’ the same year for a photo titled ‘A Settler’s Home’.
In 1930, he won a prize in ‘The Argus’ photographic competition, where it is noted ‘Mr Hammond’s study of gums in soft grey tones showed artistic treatment of an attractive subject’.
He exhibited successfully in numerous international photographic exhibitions in the 1930’s, and in the 1940 the ‘Wartime motor show’ in the Royal Exhibition Buildings, Melbourne, which included a ‘Hall of Photography’. There W.H. Page Hammond won equal-first prize in Class 1: Landscape Photography.
He also appears amongst the entries in the regular Herald ‘Garden Design Competitions’ in the 1930’s. There’s a photograph of his front garden in 1930, notable for using rounded ‘stepping stones’ up his driveway instead of straight concrete strips.
His photographs show the inspiration for his watercolours; for this scene, his cows are taken directly from his 1934 ‘A Pastoral Symphony’ – in fact, some are absolutely identifiable by their unique spotted hides.
He was the son of a very gifted Melbourne artist, Edwin Rowland Hammond (1833 – 1904), with an incredible story he recorded in great detail in an illustrated journal. He married three times, and had a total of 12 children; many of these were artists and photographers in the earlier 20th century.
Page’s half brother was Harry Beaumont Hammond,(1866-1951), photographer active in the 1910-20’s period. He published a booklet of photos titled ‘Beauty spots of Maffra’ in 1914.
Another half brother, Charles Edward Bruges Hammond (1870-1953), also made a name for himself as a photographer / artist, providing illustrations of events in Gippsland such as bushfires for the newspapers to reproduce.
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