John A. Hammond

Who was John A. Hammond?

John A. Hammond was a Canadian adventurer, photographer, artist, printmaker and art educator.

Born in Montreal, Quebec, at age nine he began working with his father as a marble cutter. As a young man he joined the local militia and was sent to counterattack an expected Fenian raid that never materialized. Seeking his fortune, in the 1860s he joined in on the Central Otago Gold Rush in New Zealand and spent three years looking for gold. After returning to Montreal, he trained and worked as a staff photographer for the renowned William Notman then joined the Geological Survey of Canada that laid out the route west for the Canadian Pacific Railway. His interest in painting was enhanced by his travels and after becoming a member of the Plymouth Brethren religious sect, his devotion to Christianity would sometimes be reflected in his art.

A member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, he traveled to Dordrecht in South Holland where he painted with James McNeill Whistler and in France, he painted with Jean-François Millet. and later in 1886 exhibited at the Paris Salon, winning two awards.