Memories of Sir Sam Neill — a quiet, but passionate, patron of the arts

suppliedJim Geddes with Alan Pearson’s Portrait of Sam Neill, 1982, oil on canvas, gifted by Sam Neill 2020. A portrait of the late actor Sir Sam Neill that hangs in Gore’s Eastern Southland Gallery will stand as a lasting tribute to a man who cared deeply about the gallery and its future, curator Jim Geddes says. The painting, by Alan Pearson, was donated to the gallery by the actor himself and “has always been a reminder of Sam’s warmth, humour and connection to Gore”. Sir Sam, who died from pneumonia last Monday in Sydney at the age of 78, had a connection with the gallery as a “treasured friend, supporter and benefactor” spanning nearly 25 years. “We have lost a valued friend, and New Zealand has lost one of its most respected and beloved cultural figures,” Mr Geddes said. Over the past five years, Sir Sam made a “significant contribution” to the gallery’s permanent collection in both gifts and acquisitions, including notable works by New Zealand artists Jeffrey Harris and Nigel Brown. This year he donated a major work by internationally known artist Yuki Kihara, in memory of his mother. “The image is somebody arriving from another country to New Zealand; the background is Port Chalmers, where his mother arrived from England,” Mr Geddes said. “He always saw that work as being very personal to him, and it was a memorial to his mum, which is why he purchased it and then decided it needed to be in Gore — which is lovely, a lasting memorial,” he said. Mr Geddes described Sir Sam as an incredible patron of the arts. “He’s always been a big supporter of artists and writers, literature and music, but I think the visual arts was very important to him, and that was evidenced by his personal collection which was an amazing body of work,” he said. They met in 2002 after the gallery opened its Ralph Hotere exhibition, being introduced by the artist himself, and had kept in touch ever since, as Sir Sam would continue his support of the gallery. “We worked a few years later on a couple of exhibitions he curated especially for us. One was contemporary Chinese art — he had a great interest in that. [Missing Credit]Sir Sam Neill giving a floor talk at the Eastern Southland Gallery back in 2014, discussing an untitled piece of work by the Chinese artist Chang Xugong, where he organised one of the many exhibitions he had a hand in throughout the years. “He also sourced artworks from other collections around the Queenstown area — he came down and did a floor talk for it, he was quite keen. “Two or three years later we did an exhibition mostly from his own private collection.’’ The exhibition, “Available Light”, was international photography, Mr Geddes said. “He had a great interest in it and had quite a collection. “He selected an exhibition specifically for us,” he said. Mr Geddes said Sir Sam was a humble man who he found a great connection to through the gallery and their shared interests in the art world. “He was always a quiet supporter. He didn’t shout it from the rooftops, it was something he saw and really liked what we were doing. “He was really interested in the exhibitions we had, also the artists we worked with were artists he had a great interest in and often had in his collection. There was a mutual kind of understanding of the importance of visual arts. “I think he appreciated you could go to a small town like Gore and see top quality art by major artists. He really liked and liked to support that notion it wasn’t just for the cities: it was for everyone,” he said. “His legacy for us is that he not only engaged with our programme and participated in it, but gifted us some remarkable works of art, significant works of art. “We are profoundly grateful for everything he did for us,” Mr Geddes said.

Memories of Sir Sam Neill — a quiet, but passionate, patron of the arts

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