PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Auckland Mr P C R W van der Velden, Christchurch Mrs G S de Wijs-Stortenbeker and Mr J P Stortenbeker, The Hague

ILLUSTRATED
Plate 1.4.2-43 Petrus van der Velden - A Catalogue Raisonné Volume II T L Rodney Wilson, Chancery Chambers, Sydney 1979

Born in Rotterdam, Van der Velden trained both there and in Berlin. After his arrival in The Hague, he taught at the Pulchri Studio and exhibited in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, London, Manchester and Scotland. He was well established in Dutch art circles and his genre paintings of everyday life on the island of Marken, near Amsterdam were particularly well received. In a letter to his brother Theo, fellow artist Vincent van Gogh described Petrus Van der Velden as a solid, serious painter.

In 1890 at the age of 53,Van der Velden emigrated to New Zealand with his wife and three children. The family lived in Christchurch until 1898. As an artist Van der Velden was greatly inspired by the southern landscape and in particular the West Coast's Otira Gorge.

This became one of his most successful and enduring subjects. By 1894 van der Velden was teaching from his Durham Street studio, his pupils included Sydney Lough Thompson, Robert Proctor, Cecil Kelly, Elizabeth Kelly, Leonard Booth and Raymond McIntyre.

In 1898 van der Velden sailed to Sydney. Little is known of his time there, but the expedition was short lived and Petrus returned to New Zealand in 1904, this time residing in Wellington. He continued to exhibit in Christchurch and Wellington. In March 1909 a self-portrait shown by the Canterbury Society of Arts in Christchurch was purchased by Dame Nellie Melba, after whom his daughter was named. He died in Auckland in 1913 and is buried in Waikaraka Cemetery.