Rolfe Hattaway Drawings

New Zealand artist, Theo Schoon (1915-85) worked at Auckland Mental Hospital (later known as Oakley Hospital) for a short period in late 1949 as a night orderly. During this time he discovered art brut artist, Rolfe Hattaway (1907-70), to whom he gave paper and pencils. Hattaway had been a committed patient at Auckland Mental Hospital since 1937. He was transferred to Lake Alice near Marton in 1958. Each day Schoon would take the drawings that Hattaway had made and sometimes would date them. Schoon would show the works to fellow artist, Gordon Walters (1919-95) and Hattaway's influence can be seen in both Schoon and Walters' art works. The archive consists of over 200 drawings and some writings by Hattaway, two annotated folders and a copy of the catalogue Hattaway, Schoon, Walters: Madness and Modernism Auckland: Lopdell House Gallery, 1997.