Ans Westra, 1936 – 2023

Self Portrait by Ans Westra, [c.1963], ATL Ref AWM-0705-F
We are greatly saddened to hear of the passing of one of New Zealand’s best-known and loved photographers, Ans Westra. Born in Leiden, Netherlands, Ans migrated to New Zealand in 1957 aged 21 and briefly lived in Auckland before moving to Wellington the following year. She quickly settled into her adopted city and set about capturing local communities, street fashion and generational shifts as the baby boomers came of age. Wielding a medium-format Rolleiflex camera held at her waist, for many years she was a regular sight at parades, concerts and school fairs; her lens always focused on the people who were attending rather than the event itself. She also travelled across the country and paid special attention to photographing Māori communities who until then had been largely ignored by contemporary photographers.

Ans Westra was a regular visitor to the former Wellington Central Library and became friendly with a number of staff in the old New Zealand Room. When tasked with establishing a photograph collection in the 1970s, the Local History Librarian Hilda McDonnell recognised the quality and breadth of Westra’s photographs and acquired several hundred images.  Hand-printed by Ans in her own darkroom, these photographs capture the people and streets of Wellington with a rare degree of intimacy.


Photograph by Ans Westra, 1976. Wellington City Recollect Ref AW-992-8

With permission from her family and agent {Suite} Gallery, we digitised our collection of her photographs and these are now available to view on our heritage platform, Wellington City Recollect. Browse them online via the button below:

Ans Westra Collection – Wellington City Recollect

Our thoughts are with Ans’ family during this difficult time.

Raymond Briggs, author of “The Snowman”, has died

Raymond Briggs, one of the world’s most unique and beloved author/illustrators has died, aged 88.

The Snowman, by Raymond BriggsAn iconic children’s author, he is perhaps best known for his hugely popular books of the 1970s, including Father Christmas, Fungus the Bogeyman, and especially The Snowman (1978). Although he was already well established as a children’s author at the time it was made, it was the 1982 multi-award winning animated adaptation of The Snowman that really propelled Briggs and his work into the wider public consciousness.

Born in Wimbledon in 1934, Briggs was evacuated as a child from London during the second world war. After doing his national service, he studied painting at University College London, which he briefly pursued as a career, before becoming a professional illustrator.

In 1966, he won the first of many major awards — the Kate Greenaway Medal, for illustrating  The Mother Goose Treasury. His 1970s work appealed to children, teenagers, and adults alike, whilst later works took on a more serious political aspect, with works such as When The Wind Blows (about nuclear destruction) and The Tin-Pot Foreign General and the Old Iron Woman (about the Falklands War).

In many of his works, Briggs liked to include autobiographical elements with poignant, humanist portrayals, such as Ethel and Ernest (about his parents). His last work — the brutally honest  illustrated memoir Time for Lights Out.

Taken as a whole the body of his works is remarkable funny, sad, political and sometimes deeply personal.  He always adapted his illustration style in a chameleon type way, to precisely suit the mood and tone of each work. In short, he created books that matter and will continue to matter as time passes and surely that is the ultimate point of great books, or indeed great art.


The snowman / Briggs, Raymond
“When his snowman comes to life, a little boy invites him home and in return is taken on a flight high above the countryside.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Father Christmas / Briggs, Raymond
“Strip pictures, with an occasional full-page spread, and words in comic-style balloons show domestic activities as well as the working life of a slightly reluctant Father Christmas.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Father Christmas goes on holiday / Briggs, Raymond
“Follows Father Christmas on a search for the ideal holiday spot.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Fungus the bogeyman / Briggs, Raymond
“Everyday life in Bogeydom is examined as Fungus the Bogeyman describes the skills of scaring people in the nighttime and living underground amidst slime and grime in the daytime.” (Adapted from Catalogue). We also have the award winning film available on DVD.

Ug : boy genius of the stone age and his search for soft trousers / Briggs, Raymond
“Ug, an inventive and inquisitive Stone Age boy, is misunderstood by his family and friends when he tries to improve their living conditions.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

The Puddleman / Briggs, Raymond
“Tom refers to his grandfather as ‘Collar’ because he drags him around on a lead. One day, Tom decides that he will take Collar on a walk to see the puddles he has named after the members of the family, but the puddles are not there. Collar insists that this is because it hasn’t rained, but Tom believes that it’s just because they haven’t been put in yet. He wanders off, leaving Collar talking to Mrs Whitebobblehat, and comes across just the person he needs.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Time for lights out / Briggs, Raymond
“In his customary pose as the grumpiest of grumpy old men, Raymond Briggs contemplates old age and death… and doesn’t like them much. Illustrated with Briggs’s inimitable pencil drawings, Time for Lights Out is a collection of short pieces, some funny, some melancholy, some remembering his wife who died young, others about the joy of grandchildren, of walking the dog… He looks back at his schooldays and his time as an evacuee during the war, and remembers his parents and the house in which he grew up. But most, like this one, are about his home in Sussex.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Notes from the sofa / Briggs, Raymond
“In ‘Notes from the Sofa’, Raymond Briggs traces the course of his life in a series of wonderfully observed vignettes that take him from the awkwardness and embarrassment of growing up to the vicissitudes and frustrations of growing old.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Gentleman Jim / Briggs, Raymond
“Jim is the story of Jim Bloggs, an imaginative toilet cleaner who, dissatisfied with his station in life, devotes his time to envisioning a world beyond it. His walls are lined with books like Out in the Silver West, The Boys’ Book of Pirates, and Executive Opportunities, which provide fodder for his ruminations on career change. Encouraged by his wife, who is also eager to incorporate more adventure into her life, Jim sets out to bring these dreams to fruition by accumulating various accoutrements, only to discover that the life of an executive, an artist, or a cowboy is more complicated and costly than it appears.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Tribute to Sondheim

“Art, in itself, is an attempt to bring order out of chaos.” – Stephen Sondheim

Sadly, there have been a number of notable deaths of well-known figures this year, but among the most significant was the passing of musical theatre titan, Stephen Sondheim. Passing at the age of 91 at the end of November, Sondheim redefined musical theatre over his more than sixty year career. He notably collaborated on West Side Story with another renowned composer, Leonard Bernstein, and was mentored by Oscar Hammerstein II, of the famous musical theatre duo, Rogers and Hammerstein. Sondheim began his musical theatre career as a lyricist, before going on to both write and compose. Some of his most notable works are: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1979), and Into the Woods (1987). See below for some of our holdings both by and about Stephen Sondheim.

The story so far… / Sondheim, Stephen
“Stephen Sondheim: The Story So Far is a four-CD box set of 82 recordings of music by the Broadway songwriter, with a running time just under five hours. It is far from the first compilation of Sondheim’s work, or even the first box set, but it follows a pattern in such compilations and in box sets in general, in that the selection seems aimed at two different classes of potential purchasers, those general fans looking for a single omnibus collection of the best or most popular of an artist’s efforts, and the aficionados primarily interested in rarities”. ~ William Ruhlmann” (Abridged from the catalogue)

Stephen Sondheim : a life / Secrest, Meryle
“”In the first full-scale life of the most important composer-lyricist at work in musical theatre today, Meryle Secrest draws on her extended conversations with Stephen Sondheim as well as on her interviews with his friends, family, collaborators, and lovers to bring us not only the artist – as a master of modernist compositional style – but also the private man.” “We see Sondheim at work with composers, producers, directors, co-writers, actors, the greats of his time and ours, among them Leonard Bernstein, Ethel Merman, Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein, Jerome Robbins, Zero Mostel, Bernadette Peters, and Lee Remick (with whom it was said he was in love, and she with him), as Secrest vividly re-creates the energy, the passion, the despair, the excitement, the genius, that went into the making of show after Sondheim show.”–BOOK JACKET. Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved” (Catalogue)

Sondheim’s Broadway musicals / Banfield, Stephen
“The first in-depth look at the work and career of one of the most important figures in the history of musical theater.” (Catalogue)

 

 

 

Finishing the hat : the collected lyrics of Stephen Sondheim with attendant comments, principles, heresies, grudges, whines and anecdotes / Sondheim, Stephen
“The winner of seven Tonys, seven Grammys, an Oscar, and a Pulitzer Prize, Stephen Sondheim has become synonymous with the best in musical theatre. Now, in Finishing the Hat, he has not only collected his lyrics for the first time, he’s giving readers a rare, personal look into his extraordinary shows and life. Along with the lyrics, both published and unpublished, for all of his productions from 1954 to 1981 – including West Side Story, Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, and Sweeney Todd, which have starred some of the most famous and talented actors in the world from Johnny Depp and Catherine Zeta Jones, to Judi Dench and Alan Rickman, Finishing the Hat is a celebration of the act of creation. Sondheim discusses his relationship with his mentor, Oscar Hammerstein II, and his collaborations with legends Leonard Bernstein, Richard Rodgers, Angela Lansbury, and countless others.  (Abridged from the catalogue)

Look, I made a hat : collected lyrics (1981-2011) with attendant comments, amplifications, dogmas, harangues, digressions, anecdotes and miscellany / Sondheim, Stephen
“Filled with behind-the-scenes photographs and illustrations from original manuscripts, and with the same elegant design as the earlier book, ‘Look, I Made A Hat’ will be devoured by Sondheim’s passionate fans today and for years to come.” (Catalogue)

 

The Stephen Sondheim collection : 52 selections from 17 musicals or film scores / Sondheim, Stephen
“Standards Piano/Vocal/Guitar” (Catalogue)

 

 

 

The Stephen Sondheim collection. Volume 2, 40 songs from 14 shows and films / Sondheim, Stephen
“Standards Piano/Vocal/Guitar” (Catalogue)

 

 

 

Sweeney Todd : the demon barber of Fleet Street / Sondheim, Stephen
“Musical Theatre Vocal Solo” (Catalogue)

 

Iconic legend of the comic book world, Stan Lee, has died

Stan Lee, co-creator of some of the most famous super heroes ever: including Spider-man, The Hulk, The X-men, The Fantastic Four, Thor and the Black Panther died yesterday (12th November 2018). It is no exaggeration to say that the comic creations he helped bring to life changed the global entertainment world profoundly. Some of those characters have permeated just about every aspect of world culture. His larger than life public persona often appeared as cameos in Marvel Universe films.

He will be greatly missed but there is no doubt those creations he helped to form will go on.

R.I.P. Stan Lee.

Syndetics book coverAmazing fantastic incredible : a marvelous memoir / Stan Lee and Peter David and Colleen Doran.
“In this gorgeously illustrated, full-color graphic memoir, Stan Lee–comic book legend and cocreator of Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Avengers, the Incredible Hulk, and a legion of other Marvel superheroes–shares his iconic legacy and the story of how modern comics came to be.” (Adapted from Syndetics summary)

Syndetics book coverSpider-Man 2099 [6] : Apocalypse soon / Peter David, writer ; Will Sliney, artist.
“Spider-Man 2099 has learned the location of the headquarters of the Fist – the extremist anti-government offshoot of the Hand that put his fianc’e in a coma – and he’s ready to mount his attack! But it turns out that he’s not the only one investigating the radical group. Elektra Natchios, Marvel’s most deadly assassin, has her own reasons for hunting these terrorists. Can Miguel trust this mysterious newcomer, or is she yet another obstacle in his quest for vengeance?  (Adapted from Syndetics summary)

Syndetics book coverStan Lee’s How to draw comics : from the legendary creator of Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, Fantastic Four, X-Men, and Iron Man / Stan Lee.
Contents of this book include: A brief history of comic books . . . by a guy who lived them! — Tools of the trade — Form, perspective & foreshortening — The human head — Amazing anatomy, action & acting — Characters & costumes — Bring on the backgrounds — The life behind the layouts — Peerless penciling — Imaginative inking — Lively lettering — Crafting the color — Commanding covers — and Creating the comic book.

 

Nobel prize winning author VS Naipaul dies aged 85

Nobel prize winning author V.S. Naipaul died over the weekend. He was acknowledged by all as a master story teller with a sharp eye for the human condition, but he was also a highly controversial figure — his statements on gender, race and Islamic culture were often extreme. He leaves behind a challenging and complicated body of work, his acknowledged masterpiece being A House for Mrs Biswas (link and synopsis below).

You can read obituaries for V.S. Naipaul at the links below:

Syndetics book coverA house for Mr Biswas / V.S. Naipaul ; with an introduction by Karl Miller.A House for Mr. Biswas
“In the comic masterpiece which established him one of the greatest writers in the English language, Naipaul follows the fortunes of Mr Biswas, the outsider who refuses to conform to the customs of his grander in-laws whose house he lives in. Finally finding a house of his own, he triumphs over the smaller minds who would repress him.” (Adapted from Syndetics summary)

Tom Wolfe, one of America’s leading literary figures, has died

Syndetics book coverSyndetics book coverThomas Kennerly Wolfe, one of America’s leading literary figures, born 2 March 1930, has died on 14 May 2018. He was perhaps best known for his novel The Bonfire of the Vanities which was about the fall of a young Wall Street trader. It is often described as the novel that defined the 80’s and turned Wolfe into a superstar author, a role he relished with his famous flamboyant suits. He was however very far from a one book wonder. The Right Stuff was his non-fiction account of America’s first manned space flights and was turned into a multiple Oscar winning movie. Likewise, his account of Ken Kesey and the merry pranksters’ LSD soaked voyage of discovery across America in the sixties came to be one of the books that defined the flower power generation in much the same way as The Bonfire of the Vanities did for the 80s.