{{Short description|New Zealand artist and museum director}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=March 2022}} {{Infobox artist | name = Russell Beck | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=NZL|ONZM|size=100%}} | birth_name = Russell Joseph Beck | birth_date = {{birth date|1941|02|21|df=y}} | birth_place = Invercargill, New Zealand | death_date = {{death date and age|2018|02|10|1941|02|21|df=y}} | death_place = Invercargill, New Zealand | known_for = Museum director, artist | children = 3, including Peter Beck (son) }}
'''Russell Joseph Beck''' {{post-nominals|country=NZL|ONZM|size=85%}} (21 February 1941 – 10 February 2018) was a New Zealand archaeologist, museum curator, and artist.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Pat Veltkamp |date=2018-02-16 |title=Russell Beck obituary: Saying goodbye to a treasure |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/101495566/russell-beck-obituary-saying-goodbye-to-a-treasure |access-date=2022-03-08 |website=Stuff |language=en |archive-date=12 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212232101/https://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/101495566/russell-beck-obituary-saying-goodbye-to-a-treasure |url-status=live }}</ref> He has three children, one of whom is Peter Beck, founder of aerospace company Rocket Lab.<ref name=":0" />
== Biography == Beck came from an old settler family in Southland, with his great-grandfather arriving in 1863. He was one of six children (four girls, two boys) and was educated at Waihopai Primary School and then Southland Technical College.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Prickett |first=Nigel |title=Russell Beck - Obituary |journal=Archaeology in New Zealand |volume=64 |issue=4 |pages=5–16|date=December 2021|publisher=NZ Archaeological Association|url=https://nzarchaeology.org/download/obituary-beck-vol-64-no-4}}</ref>
He had a wide interest in science which was developed at secondary school. He developed an interest in geology when aged 10 or 11 when digging a long-drop toilet at the family's crib (holiday home) in Te Anau, and took up astronomy and built a six-inch reflecting telescope which formed the basis of a home observatory, followed in 1959 by a 12-inch Cassegrain telescope which he later donated to the Southland Museum and Art Gallery and installed in the observatory constructed in 1972.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />
From 1961, Beck began volunteering his weekends at Southland Museum while undertaking a motor mechanic apprenticeship in his father's business, and he was offered a job at the museum in 1965. In 1976, Beck was appointed as museum director following Arthur McKenzie.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />
Throughout his career, Beck's research focused on jade from around the world, producing five books on the topic, and creating the Beck International Jade Research Collection (now housed by GNS Science in Lower Hutt). He became known as a qualified gemmologist and skilled mineralogist, particularly when working with pounamu, and undertook efforts to educate and support local Māori on pounamu.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Cox |first=Simon |title=Russell Beck - Obituary |journal=Archaeology in New Zealand |volume=64 |issue=4 |pages=5–16}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Adams |first=Chris |title=Russell Beck- Obituary |journal=Archaeology in New Zealand |volume=64 |issue=4 |pages=7}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last=Ritchie |first=Neville |title=Russell Beck- Obituary |journal=Archaeology in New Zealand |volume=64 |issue=4 |pages=5–16}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sand |first=Christophe |title=Russell Beck- Obituary |journal=Archaeology in New Zealand |volume=64 |issue=4 |pages=5–16}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last=Whaanga |first=Dean |title=Russell Beck- Obituary |journal=Archaeology in New Zealand |volume=64 |issue=4 |pages=5–16}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite web |date=2018-02-12 |title=Southern pounamu expert, artist dies age 76 |url=https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/west-coast/southern-pounamu-expert-artist-dies-age-76 |access-date=2022-03-08 |website=Otago Daily Times |language=en |archive-date=16 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220416072354/https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/west-coast/southern-pounamu-expert-artist-dies-age-76 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Beck helped to establish a restricted area in the Mount Aspiring National Park, which is now a {{lang|mi|tōpuni}} (protected area), to protect iwi access to pounamu deposits.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4" /> Beck also supported Ngāi Tahu leaders in a variety of aspects, including managing the physical environment and reburying {{lang|mi|kōiwi}} (human bodies). He was also a trustee for the ''Te Maori'' pounamu mauri stone which accompanied the exhibition in 1984.<ref name=":5" /> thumb|Anchor Chain Sculpture, Russell Beck, Lee Bay, Rakiura Track Beck supported local artists, and produced a large number of works in and around Southland.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":5" /> He was also an artist himself, creating the controversial giant chain connecting Bluff to Stewart Island / Rakiura at Stirling Point with his three sons and his wife, Ann.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":6" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=2009-01-31 |title=Bluff to replicate anchor chain sculpture |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/466612/Bluff-to-replicate-anchor-chain-sculpture |access-date=2022-03-08 |website=Stuff |language=en |archive-date=8 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220308123631/https://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/466612/Bluff-to-replicate-anchor-chain-sculpture |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Lind |first1=Greg |last2=Taonga |first2=New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu |title=Entrance to Rakiura National Park |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/37619/entrance-to-rakiura-national-park |access-date=2022-03-08 |website=Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand |language=en |archive-date=8 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220308123641/https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/37619/entrance-to-rakiura-national-park |url-status=live }}</ref> Some of his jade sculptures are held in Dowse Art Museum collections.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Russell Beck |url=https://collection.dowse.org.nz/persons/165/russell-beck |access-date=2022-03-08 |website=The Dowse Art Museum Collection Online |language=en |archive-date=8 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220308123636/https://collection.dowse.org.nz/persons/165/russell-beck |url-status=live }}</ref>
== Honours == In the 2000 New Year Honours, Beck was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to art and local history.<ref name=":1" />
== References == {{Scholia|id=Q88496116}} {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Beck, Russell}} Category:1941 births Category:2018 deaths Category:New Zealand archaeologists Category:People from Invercargill Category:New Zealand curators Category:Directors of museums in New Zealand Category:20th-century New Zealand male artists Category:21st-century New Zealand male artists Category:20th-century New Zealand sculptors Category:21st-century New Zealand sculptors Category:New Zealand carvers Category:Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit