PETRUS VAN DER VELDEN

Van der Velden was born in Rotterdam, apprenticed in lithography and painted professionally from 1867. By the 1870s his paintings of the Marken fishing villages had established his reputation, but in 1890 he emigrated to Christchurch. As a professional artist conversant with romantic realism his artistic authority was immediately recognised and he exhibited his major painting Dutch Funeral at the Canterbury Society of Arts gallery in Christchurch in November 1890. In January 1891 he travelled to Otira Gorge in the South Island and he found the dramatic landscape a revelation, contributing to paintings in which he confronted humanity’s insignificance against the forces of God and nature. His paintings of the Otira River and Mount Rolleston are recognised as some of the most important works in the history of New Zealand art, notably influencing Colin McCahon Waterfall series.

Van der Velden moved to Sydney in 1898, returning to New Zealand in 1904. His work is represented in the collections of the Museum of New Zealand - Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington; the Christchurch Art Gallery, New Zealand; the Auckland Art Gallery and the Dunedin Public Art Gallery.