Petrus van der Velden

Netherlands / Aotearoa New Zealand / Australia, b.1837, d.1913

A Marken Bargeman

  • c. 1871-c. 1874
  • Pencil
  • Presented by Mr F A Shurrock 1960
  • 366 x 251mm
  • 79/62
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Location: W A Sutton Gallery

Tags: hats, men (male humans), monochrome, people (agents)

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This small working drawing provides a glimpse into Petrus van der Velden’s process. An earlier pencil sketch has been traced in ink, recording a composition with a funeral barge being towed by two men along the waterway and mourning figures bent over the casket. Overlaid on the drawing is a numbered pencil grid, allowing the composition to be transferred accurately to a larger scale. A larger oil study of the two men towing is in the collection of Te Papa, but no finished painting of the full composition is yet known. Van der Velden’s pencil sketch of a Marken bargeman captures the figure patiently posed, his stance and clothing deftly observed. The long towing pole, voluminous trousers allowing freedom of movement on wet decks and wharf landings, heavy waistcoat and brimmed felt hat all speak to the practical demands of life on the water. Stockings and worn leather shoes complete a study grounded in the particularities of Marken’s maritime life. Petrus van der Velden.

(Timeless: Treasures from the Historical Collection 19 September 2026 – 30 May 2027)

Exhibition History

Meindert Hobbema A Wooded Landscape with Peasants on a Path and an Angler at a Stream c. 1662. Oil on panel. Collection of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, Kathleen Stuart Hutton Bequest Fund, 1994
Timeless: Treasures from the Historical Collection
Petrus van der Velden Ploughing Charcoal. Collection of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū; presented by the family of A. F. Nicoll, 1960.
Quadrant: Four themes of Van der Velden
Image: uploads/2026_09/79_62.jpg
other labels about this work

  • Quadrant: Four themes of Petrus van der Velden, 20 October 2006 – 25 March 2007

    Van der Velden made many figure studies during his trips to Marken. In this pencil study of a Marken bargeman, he has made effective use of pencil to complete a very faithful study, including the style of regional costume worn by the men of the region. This study is more considered and detailed than some of his other more spontaneous sketches. The bargemen provided an important form of transport for people of the Marken region during Van der Velden’s time there in the early 1870s.