Listing Details
Sir Michael Hill (1938–2025)
Sir Michael Hill was a New Zealand entrepreneur, arts patron and polymath who left a distinctive mark on both business and the creative realm.
Born in Whangārei, Hill left school at 16 with an ambition to become a concert violinist, but was later admitted that starting music at that age meant he was unlikely to reach the top. He shifted into his uncle’s jewellery business, spending over two decades and in 1979 founded his own company — Michael Hill Jeweller — which grew into a global jewellery retail chain.
Although best known for his jewellery empire, his interest in art, design and the visual environment was profound with his property near Arrowtown into a sculpture‑park style landscape, integrating major artworks into the golf course and grounds of his resort, The Hills Golf Course. He was a major supporter of the arts through leadership and philanthropy.
Hill often sketched casually — during board meetings, on flights, on whatever paper was handy. These drawings weren’t elaborate studio works, but spontaneous expressions of ideas and imagination. He even compiled a book, Catch & Release: A Life of Art Thoughts and Nonsense (2019), described as “a compilation of… doodled diary entries, snatches of inspiration and plenty of attempted wisdom” that “come directly from his imagination, scrawled on whatever is made available in front of him: board papers, airline vomit bags, or a more traditional sketch book.” His sketches serve as a window into his thought‑process, his humour, and the way he looked at the world.
Edition: AP
Image Dimensions: 420mm W x 625mm H
Framing: Framed
Image Dimensions: 605mm W x 825mm H
