Dr Gray Hassell

Text originally created for Tūrangawaewae: Art and New Zealand exhibition at Te Papa, March 2018. A husband and wife portrait – minus the wife. Look closely, and you’ll notice a touch of lace in the painting’s bottom right corner. That’s all that remains of Dr Gray Hassell’s first wife, Eliza, who died in 1926. Apparently, his second wife, Brownie Goddard, had her predecessor literally cut out of the picture. Dr Hassell was born in Ōamaru, and trained as a doctor in Scotland. He spent most of his working career in charge of Porirua’s mental hospital. He kōwaiwai kiritangata o te tāne me tana wahine – heoi, ngaro ana te wahine. Āta tirohia te kōwaiwai nei, kei te kokonga o raro ki te taha matau tētahi kōtui paku nei. Koinā noa iho te toenga o Eliza, te wahine tuatahi a Dr Gray Hassel, i mate i te tau 1926. E ai ki ngā kōrero, nā tana wahine tuarua, nā Brownie Goddarn te wahine tuatahi i ‘tapahia atu’ i te kōwaiwai. I whānau mai a Dr Hassell ki Ōamaru, ā, i whakangungua hei tākuta ki Kōtimana. Ko ia te kaiwhakahaere o te hōhipera mate hinengaro ki Porirua mō te roanga o tana oranga.