Juliet Peter

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Juliet Peter
Hammersmith School of Art
Known forPottery, printmaking, illustration, sculpture
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1952; died 2006)​
RelativesWilliam Spence Peter (grandfather)
Edward Sealy (grandfather)

Judith Eleanor Jane Cowan

CNZM (née Peter, 18 September 1915 – 12 January 2010), generally known as Juliet Peter, was a New Zealand artist, potter, and printmaker. Her husband Roy Cowan
was also a well-known New Zealand potter, printmaker and illustrator.

Early life

Peter was born at

Canterbury College School of Art at the suggestion of an aunt.[2][5]

While Peter was attending, the School of Arts had a focus on the 19th century, which did not appeal to her, and she found the library to be old and out-dated.[2] In contrast Peter described the Christchurch art scene as "lively", and said that a travelling Canadian exhibition organised by Arthur Lismer "provided an absolute window into another way of doing things" and "had a profound influence on us all, on everybody."[2]

In 1947 she started working for the Department of Education in their School Publication branch as an illustrator.[2][5] In 1952 she married potter Roy Cowan.

Career

From 1945 till 1951 Peter was based in

Hammersmith School of Art.[2] This is where Peter was first introduced to Lithography and Pottery which she says "completely changed our whole approach to the arts".[2] Owing to Cowan's commitments to contracts with School Publications they returned to Wellington, setting up a studio.[2][5][6]

In 1968, along with her friend, painter Rita Angus, Peter made a series of works recording her protest over the razing of the Bolton Street Cemetery to extend Wellington's urban motorway.[7] Peter wrote of the visits she and Angus made:

‘Conversation was kept to a minimum, we did not wish to attract attention to ourselves. But from time to time, a low voice would call, “Juliet, come and see …” and together we would examine a curious inscription, or a pattern of lichen on stone.

‘The summer of 1969 favoured our work. Sundays were usually fine, continuing into autumn. As the Engines of Destruction advanced up the cemetery, so we retreated.’[8]

In 1999 Peter was included in The Eighties Show at The Dowse Art Museum, an exhibition of artists who were still active in their eighties, including Doreen Blumhardt, John Drawbridge, Roy Cowan and Avis Higgs.[9]

Peter also exhibited at the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts, the Canterbury Society of Arts, The Group, and the Auckland Society of Arts.[10] She died in Wellington in 2010,[11] and her ashes were buried at Mākara Cemetery.[12]

Her work was shown alongside Roy Cowan's in 2014 at

The Dowse Art Museum in A Modest Modernism: Roy Cowan and Juliet Peter.[13]

Recognition

In the 2000 Queen's Birthday Honours, Peter was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to the arts.[14]

Collections

Peter's work is held in the collections of the

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.[16]

References

  1. ^ "Births". The Press. 24 September 1915. p. 1. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Skinner, Damian (2006). "A Modest Modernism: An Interview with Juliet Peter". Art New Zealand (119): 66–91. Archived from the original on 13 February 2016. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  3. ^ "Obituary Mr Charles J. Peter". Ashburton Guardian: 4. 11 May 1928.
  4. ^ "Sealy, Edward Percy". Early New Zealand photographers and their successors. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  5. ^
    ISBN 0589009532
    .
  6. ^ "Juliet Peter". Ferner Galleries. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  7. ISBN 9768097302
    .
  8. ^ "Juliet Peter sketching". Rita Angus: Life and Vision. Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  9. ISBN 0473067382
    .
  10. ^ "Peter, Juliet". Find NZ Artists. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  11. The Dominion Post
    . 23 January 2010. p. 7.
  12. ^ "Cemeteries search". Wellington City Council. 12 July 2012. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
  13. ^ a b "A Modest Modernism: Roy Cowan and Juliet Peter". The Dowse Art Museum. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  14. ^ "Queen's Birthday honours list 2000 (including special list for East Timor)". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 5 June 2000. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  15. ^ "Juliet Peter". Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu. Archived from the original on 18 December 2014. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  16. ^ "Juliet Peter". Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Retrieved 18 December 2014.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Juliet_Peter&oldid=1208622479"