Peter Siddell

Sir Peter Graham Siddell, KNZM, QSO (born 1935) is a noted New Zealand artist.

Siddell was born in Auckland and educated at Mt Albert Grammar School and the Auckland College of Education. In 1960 he married artist Sylvia Siddell. They live in Auckland and have two adult daughters. Siddell has painted full-time since 1972 when he held his first solo show. He has since taken part in many exhibitions in both public and commercial galleries.

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 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.

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 received a QSO in the 1990 New year's honours list, and a DCNZM in 2008. Siddell is only the second New Zealand artist to be knighted: the first was Sir Toss Woollaston.

In 2008, Siddell was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour.

In February 2011, a comprehensive survey of his art career was published by Random House New Zealand, "The Art of Peter Siddell."

Source: Wikipedia