Whakaaturaka
Exhibitions
Taiopeka
Events
E Whakaaturia ana Ināianei
On display
Burial in the Winter on the Island of Marken
Petrus van der Velden Burial in the Winter on the Island of Marken [The Dutch Funeral] 1872. Oil on canvas. Collection of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, gift of Henry Charles Drury van Asch, 1932
Talk
Curator Ken Hall shares insights into this iconic work uncovered during a visit from a Dutch historian.
Related reading: Conservation, Petrus van der Velden, Free event
Exhibition
Gilded: Van der Velden’s The Dutch Funeral
11 October – 16 October 2025
For a short time only, see one of Ōtautahi Christchurch’s most cherished paintings, Petrus van der Velden’s Burial in the Winter on the Island of Marken.
Interview
Gold, Chalk and Rabbit-Skin Glue
Bulletin talks to Anne-Sophie Ninino, a French-trained conservator based in Ōtautahi Christchurch with international experience in museum conservation and a specialisation in gilding, frame and heritage restoration.
Article
Street urchins, blue moons and rare visions
Even in a city where surreal scenes have become somewhat routine, the sight of the Isaac Theatre Royal's eight-tonne dome, suspended like a great alien craft, had the power to turn heads and drop jaws. Preserved inside a strange white shroud while the theatre was slowly deconstructed around it was a jewel of Christchurch's decorative arts heritage – a 105 year-old Italianate plaster ceiling featuring a circular painted reverie on the theme of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. The dome, along with the rest of the theatre, is currently being restored as part of an ambitious rebuild that is expected to be completed in 2015 at a cost of over $30 million.
Interview
Otira: it's a state of mind
A short road trip to the Otira Gorge was the scene for a conversation between Gallery curator Peter Vangioni and two of the artists included in Van der Velden: Otira, Jason Greig and the Torlesse Supergroup's Roy Montgomery.
Article
Van der Velden: Otira
A first encounter with a painting by Petrus van der Velden more than twenty years ago was the start of many years of research for Gallery curator Peter Vangioni. Peter is the lead author of the Gallery's new book on van der Velden, and talks here of his fascination with the artist's Otira works.
