Jeanne Macaskill

Jeanne Macaskill
MNZM
Born Jeanne Bensemann
12 November 1931
Motueka, New Zealand
Died 9 November 2014 (aged 82)
Wellington, New Zealand
Alma mater Chelsea School of Art
Known for Painting

Jeanne Macaskill, MNZM (née Bensemann, 12 November 1931 – 9 November 2014) was a New Zealand artist.

Biography

Born in Motueka in 1931, Macaskill studied at Victoria University College, and teachers' colleges in Wellington and Dunedin.[1] She trained as an art advisor with Gordon Tovey and worked for the Department of Education in both Auckland and Wellington.[2] Arriving in London in February 1955,[3] she studied full-time for five years at Chelsea School of Art, gaining a Diploma of Fine Art and a National Diploma in Design.[2] She was for a time an assistant to sculptor Henry Moore.[4] She married Australian sculptor Neil Stocker in London in 1963,[5] and the couple had two children.[2] Following her husband's death in 1969, she returned to New Zealand in 1972 to live in Wellington, where she remained resident for the rest of her life.[2][5]

In Wellington she married Patrick Macaskill, a noted educationalist. His death in 1994 inspired her painting Cascade.[1]

At the 1996 general election Macaskill was a list candidate for the Labour Party. She was ranked at number 52 on the party's list[6] and consequently was not elected. She served as a member of the council of the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts, including four years as vice-president.[2]

In the 2004 New Year Honours, Macaskill was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the arts and the community.[7] In 2009 she received the Governor-General Art Award and became a Fellow of the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts.[2]

Macaskill died in Wellington in 2014.[8]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Jeanne Macaskill—Day by Night". City Gallery Wellington. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 "Jeanne Macaskill". New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  3. ↑ "UK incoming passenger lists, 1878–1960 (database online)". Ancestry.com Operations Inc. 2008.
  4. ↑ "Order of Merit winner at City Gallery Wellington". City Gallery Wellington. 17 November 2006. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Exhibitions — Jeanne Macaskill" (PDF). Journal of the Canterbury Society of Arts (81): 6. September 1978. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
  6. ↑ Oakley, Vivienne (23 September 1996). "Release of final party lists marks countdown". The Press. p. 24.
  7. ↑ "New Year honours list 2004". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 31 December 2003. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
  8. ↑ "Jeanne Macaskill death notice". Dominion Post. 12 November 2014. Retrieved 20 November 2014.