Sir Peter Graham Siddell (31 July 1935 – 24 October 2011) was a New Zealand artist.

Biography

Siddell was born in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

and educated at

Mt Albert Grammar School Mount Albert Grammar School, commonly known as MAGS, is a co-educational state secondary school in Mount Albert in Auckland, New Zealand. It teaches students in year levels 9 to 13. , Mount Albert Grammar School is the second largest school in N ...

and the

Auckland College of Education The Auckland College of Education, earlier known as the Auckland Training College and the Auckland Teachers' Training College, was a teachers' college in Auckland, New Zealand's largest city. It was established in 1881 and was based in the Au ...

. In 1960 he married artist

Sylvia Siddell Sylvia Grace Siddell, Lady Siddell (1941 – 26 August 2011) was a New Zealand painter, etcher, and screen-printer, based in Auckland. Education Siddell attended the Avondale College (Art teacher: R.N.Field), Auckland Post Primary Teachers' ...

, with whom he lived in Auckland. They had two daughters, Avril and

Emily Emily may refer to: * Emily (given name), including a list of people with the name Music * "Emily" (1964 song), title song by Johnny Mandel and Johnny Mercer to the film ''The Americanization of Emily'' * "Emily" (Dave Koz song), a 1990 song ...

(also an artist). Siddell had painted full-time since 1972, when he held his first solo show. Following this, he took part in many exhibitions in both public and commercial galleries. Many of his artworks depict the hills around Karekare beach in the West Coast of the

Waitākere Ranges The Waitākere Ranges is a mountain range in New Zealand. Located in West Auckland, New Zealand, West Auckland between metropolitan Auckland and the Tasman Sea, the ranges and its foothills and coasts comprise some of public and private land. ...

, as Siddell owned a holiday home at the beach which he built by hand in the early 1970s. The house was partially destroyed in Cyclone Gabrielle in February 2023, and sold by the family. Siddell's realist paintings are identified mainly with depictions of the environs of Auckland. While his works appear to be records of actual places, his paintings have a subjective component, and might be better described as

magic realism Magical realism, magic realism, or marvelous realism is a style or genre of fiction and art that presents a realistic view of the world while incorporating magical elements, often blurring the lines between speculation and reality. ''Magical re ...

than truly realistic. The cityscapes and townscapes in Siddell's paintings are rendered empty, but with the unnerving suggestion of events occurring outside the picture area. In this sense, his work can be compared to the

metaphysical Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some theorists view it as an inquiry into the conceptual framework of h ...

works of

Giorgio de Chirico Giuseppe Maria Alberto Giorgio de Chirico ( ; ; 10 July 1888 – 20 November 1978) was an Italian artist and writer born in Greece. In the years before World War I, he founded the art movement, which profoundly influenced the surrealists. His ...

. Siddell's work is held in the permanent collections of all New Zealand major public art galleries, as well as many private, corporate and institutional collections. He was appointed a

Companion of the Queen's Service Order The King's Service Order () established by royal warrant (document), royal warrant of Queen regnant, Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, is used to recognise "valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to t ...

for community service in the

1991 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1991 were appointments by Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by people of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. They were published on 28 December 1990 for the United Kingdom, ...

, and a

Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have r ...

for services to art in the

2008 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2008 for the Commonwealth realms were announced on 29 December 2007, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 2008. The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour, and ...

. Following the restoration of titular honours by the New Zealand government in

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, Siddell accepted re-designation as a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit. He was only the second New Zealand artist to be knighted, after Sir Toss Woollaston. In 2008, Siddell was diagnosed with an inoperable

brain tumour A brain tumor (sometimes referred to as brain cancer) occurs when a group of cells within the brain turn cancerous and grow out of control, creating a mass. There are two main types of tumors: malignant (cancerous) tumors and benign (non-cancero ...

. In February 2011, a comprehensive survey of his art career was published by Random House New Zealand, "The Art of Peter Siddell." Siddell died in Auckland on 24 October 2011, months after the passing of his wife Sylvia.

References

External links

Artworks by Peter Siddell in the collection of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o TāmakiImages of Siddell's art

. '' Art New Zealand'' issue 98.
Ten Dreams GalleriesArtis Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Siddell, Peter 1935 births New Zealand painters Knights Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit 2011 deaths People educated at Mount Albert Grammar School Artists from Auckland Companions of the Queen's Service Order Artists awarded knighthoods