Picture of the month

Press, 27 May 1983, Page 11

Picture of the month

/ ... at the Robert McDougall Art Gallery

“Urban Memory 1982” by Peter Siddell was inspired by the Auckland scene. At first glance the view may look familiar. In reality, it does not exist. Rather the painting is an imaginary composition based on typical features of the city’s architecture and landscape. For example, the pale grey weatherboard house with orange lead-light windows, the trees, the view of rounded hills and harbour, and the puffy clouds are all characteristic of Auckland. Peter Siddell was born in Auckland in 1935. His father was a “wharfie” and the family lived in Grey Lynn. From childhood Siddell took an interest in art but this was not immediately developed. Indeed, on leaving Mt Albert Grammar he

was apprenticed as an electrician. Ten years later he became a primary school teacher. It was not until he was 30 that he decided to paint. Apart from a term at night school art classes Siddell was selftaught. He recalls the works of Rita Angus as an early influence. Possibly her meticulous technique and her concentration on familiar and meaningful subjects inspired him. Certainly he developed a style which gives close attention to detail. His delicate rendering of the chimney moulding in “Urban Memory” is an example of this. Fur-

thermore, all his paintings deal with subjects he is close to whether it be the Auckland architecture he loved as a boy, or the mountains he climbed as a young man.

Siddeli’s main concern in “Urban Memory” was to create a still image. This is why he did not include people, cars, or even power poles in the composition. He explains: “I feel they give a narrative interest and I don’t want that. They detract from the stillness of the work and I want to create a still image that lingers in the memory.” “Urban Memory” was bought in 1982. It was the only painting by Siddell in the gallery’s collection.

DEBORAH SHEPARD

Gallery information officer