John A. Hammond RCA OSA (Canadian, 1843-1939)
Sand Dunes, Holland
dated 1895
 
Oil on canvas
Signed 'J Hammond / 1895' lower left
21.75 inches x 34.5 inches (55.2 cm x 87.6 cm)
 
Exhibited:
Exhibited in Toronto at The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (1896) no.68, titled “Sand Dunes, Holland”.
 
Provenance:
Collection of A. Murray Vaughan, CC (1899-1986). 
Vaughan was the president of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) formerly called the Art Association of Montreal, and displayed much of his collection at the MMFA before it was divided up into various private and public collections, including the Beaverbrook. Vaughan was honorary chair to The Beaverbrook Art Gallery, a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in London (UK) and is widely recognised as Canada's greatest patron of the arts.
The present painting was gifted by Mrs. A. Murray Vaughan in 1981 to The Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton, New Brunswick, and later sold to benefit art purchases at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery.
 
John A. Hammond is one of Canada’s earliest celebrated historical artists. Hammond exhibited at the National Gallery in New York in 1887, and at the Pan-American Exhibition in 1901. He was elected Associate of the Royal Canadian Academy in 1890, and then as a full member in 1893. He exhibited regularly at the Royal Canadian Academy between 1891 and 1935.
 
Born in Montreal in 1843, Hammond later moved to Saint John, New Brunswick where he painted portraits in 1880. He was listed in the Saint John Directory as an artist from 1880 to 1882, and as an artist with Wm. & J. Notman from 1882 to 1884. He became the principal of the Owens Art Institution. Examples of his work can be found in institutions and private collections worldwide including the Vancouver Art Gallery, the National Gallery of Canada, the Musée National des Beaux-arts du Québec and at the McCord Museum.