Bob Walls Explained

Robert Walls
Birth Name:	Robert Guy Walls
Birth Date:	8 June 1927
Birth Place:	Upper Hutt, New Zealand
Death Date:	11 November 1999
Death Place:	London, United Kingdom
Nationality:	New Zealand
Known For:	Painting
Training:	Chelsea School of Art

Robert “Bob” Guy Walls (8 June 1927 – 11 November 1999) was a painter born in Upper Hutt, New Zealand.^[1]

After finishing his education at Wellington College, Walls worked for the Union Steamship Company.^[2] He spent 17 years (1943 to 1960) employed by the shipping company, including 12 years at sea as a purser on ships trading mainly between New Zealand and Canada,^{[3] [4]} and as shipping representative in Tonga and the Cook Islands.^{[5] [6]} It was during this time that he began painting as a hobby.^[7]

Walls arrived in London in 1960, and subsequently studied at the Chelsea School of Art (1960–1963).^{[8] [9] [10]} His first solo exhibition was in 1964 at the Drian Galleries in London.^{[11] [12]} He painted full-time for many years, along with some lecturing and teaching.^[13]

By the 1970s, Walls was finally obliged to obtain employment to ease the insecurity of living off an artist’s income.^[14] He worked briefly at the Foreign Office, and then at the British Museum. Here, he worked as a curator until 1992 in the Prehistoric and Romano-British Departments,^{[15] [16] [17]} among other things being involved with arrangements for the famous Lindow Man and in displaying the Vindolanda Tablets, the earliest written materials yet found in Britain.^{[18] [19]} Walls held many exhibitions in Europe, the United Kingdom and New Zealand, and his works are in numerous collections both public and private, including those of the Contemporary Art Society and the New Zealand National Gallery.^[20]

Painting

Walls painted using various media, including oils, water colour and pastels, and gouache. His works are typically of land, sea and townscapes, the landscapes being mainly those of Yorkshire, Scotland, Spain and New Zealand.^{[21] [22] [23]}

Personal life

Walls lived much of his adult life in London, with his partner John McLeod.

Notes and References

1. Evening Post, 3 October 1968
2. Evening Post. Kiwi helps care for antiquities. Wednesday 16 November 1988
3. Upper Hutt Leader, U.H born artist makes name in Britain
4. An exhibition of recent paintings by Tony Lewis and Robert Walls. The MacGregor Wright Gallery, Wellington. 1993
5. Horton-Fawkes N. Edgar Mansfield, Sculptures; Robert Walls, Paintings.
6. An exhibition of recent paintings by Sylvia Riley and Robert Walls. The MacGregor Wright Gallery, Wellington. 1989
7. Evening Post. Kiwi helps care for antiquities. Wednesday 16 November 1988
8. Evening Post, 3 October 1968
9. Evening Post. Kiwi helps care for antiquities. Wednesday 16 November 1988
10. Wadia B. Robert Walls. The Arts Review. Drian Galleries. 1965
11. Upper Hutt Leader, U.H born artist makes name in Britain
12. Horton-Fawkes N. Edgar Mansfield, Sculptures; Robert Walls, Paintings.
13. An exhibition of recent paintings by Sylvia Riley and Robert Walls. The MacGregor Wright Gallery, Wellington. 1989
14. Nelson Evening Mail. Exhibition by NZ artist. 2 February 1989
15. Evening Post. Kiwi helps care for antiquities. Wednesday 16 November 1988
16. An exhibition of recent paintings by Tony Lewis and Robert Walls. The MacGregor Wright Gallery, Wellington. 1993
17. An exhibition of recent paintings by Trevor Hayter and Robert Walls. The MacGregor Wright Gallery, Wellington. 1996
18. An exhibition of recent paintings by Sylvia Riley and Robert Walls. The MacGregor Wright Gallery, Wellington. 1989
19. Nelson Evening Mail. Exhibition by NZ artist. 2 February 1989
20. An exhibition of recent paintings by Sylvia Riley and Robert Walls. The MacGregor Wright Gallery, Wellington. 1989
21. Upper Hutt Leader, U.H born artist makes name in Britain
22. Nelson Evening Mail. Exhibition by NZ artist. 2 February 1989
23. New Zealand Women’s Weekly. New Zealander holds second one-man-show. 28 March 1966, page 20