Eion Stevens was a prolific artist until he stopped painting a few years ago. Photo / Diederik van Heyningen
A renowned and increasingly reclusive artist has died, leaving family and friends hunting for a stashed treasure trove of about 2000 paintings hidden in a city lock-up garage.
Eion Stevens, 69, died at his home in central Christchurch recently. His close friend and fellow artist Philip Trusttum fears he could've lain dead for a month.
Stevens, who studied art in Otago and England in the 1970s, exhibited regularly throughout New Zealand in the 80s and 90s.
A prolific painter, his work attracted a dedicated following: his work entitled Falling Boy fetched $14,025 in 2001 - his highest recorded price for a sale, according to the Australian and New Zealand Art Sales Digest.
But Trusttum says Stevens stopped painting around five years ago "and that is usually fatal for an artist".
"He wouldn't tell us why or explain it. He just said there was no point," Trusttum said.
"He was very secretive, he shut himself away. He wouldn't talk about his problems.
"When I had a blockage and told him I just couldn't do any painting, he suggested I find an artist I like in the history of art and copy them. And that's what I did and that saved me painting, I've been painting ever since.