B.
The Dutch 'Dude'
Behind the scenes
In-house disappointment at the closure of the Van der Velden exhibition has been lifted today by rumours of Hollywood interest in the story of the Dutch painter and his sorties into the weather-lashed upper reaches of the South Island alpine pass.
Petrus van der Velden Self-portrait with Otira background Charcoal. Collection of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, bequeathed by Miss D C Bates 1983
Tinseltown's producers are only recognising something local Van der Veldians have long known – this story's got it all. Bad weather, brooding landscape, death, creation, beards, stagecoaches, thick paint and true grit. Sources won't confirm who's in line to play Petrus, but let's just say that we here in Christchurch have someone in mind.
Related
Collection
Petrus van der Velden Self Portrait with Otira background
Van der Velden: Otira, 11-22 February 2011
In this charcoal self-portait, completed just three weeks before his death, van der Velden remains emotionally in tune with the region and his earlier experiences as he pays modest homage to his Otira series. The artist portrays himself, paintbrushes in hand, standing in front of his 1912 painting Otira Gorge, proclaiming to the world the importance of his Otira paintings to him as an artist.