-
Sir Peter Siddell - Source: Fairfax
Celebrated Auckland artist Sir Peter Siddell has died.
Sir Peter had been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour in 2008 and he died yesterday at Mercy Hospice, in Auckland.
Sir Peter was born in 1935 in Grey Lynn, the son of a watersider. He was a self-taught painter who was an electrician and school teacher until he took up full-time painting in 1972.
His early work was mainly landscapes but he became a 'super realist' and was known for his work painting Auckland streetscapes, landscapes and buildings. One particular collection was of the buildings he remembered from his childhood job as a paper boy.
In 1979 he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council travel grant, and used the money to visit Australia and study the art scene.
In 1990 he was made a Companion of the Queen's Service Order for community service and in 2008 he was knighted, becoming only the second New Zealand artist to be knighted.
Sir Peter's work is held in the permanent collections of most New Zealand major public art galleries, as well as many private, corporate and institutional collections.
His wife, the late Lady Sylvia Siddell, was also a well-known artist. Siddell is survived by two adult daughters
