Christopher Perkins

Christopher Perkins (1891-1968), an English artist with considerable European experience, arrived in New Zealand in 1929 as an art teacher at the Wellington Technical College Art School. Perkins had thought he was moving to a Pacific island where he would find much 'native' art, and was surprised to find himself in what was still a markedly English settlement with little respect for Maori art forms. Perkins commented on the clear quality of New Zealand's light, and sought to capture it in his landscapes. Perkins most famous painting is his view of Mount Taranaki, one of the earliest modernist paintings of the NZ landscape. Reproduced as a good quality print by the Capper Press.