Christopher Edward Perkins (born 21 September 1891 at

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...

, died

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...

, Suffolk, 8 April 1968) was a

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artist who worked in

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and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Background and education

Perkins was the son of John Edward Sharman Perkins and his wife, Margaret Charlotte . His older brother was Frank Perkins. Their father was an agricultural engineer who became managing director of Barford & Perkins. He was educated at Gresham's School, Holt, then at the Heatherley School of Art in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, in 1907, an academy in

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in 1908, and the

Slade School of Fine Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

, where his fellow students included

Dora Carrington Dora de Houghton Carrington (29 March 1893 – 11 March 1932), known generally as Carrington, was an English painter and decorative artist, remembered in part for her association with members of the Bloomsbury Group, especially the writer Lytton ...

, Mark Gertler, Stanley Spencer and

C. R. W. Nevinson Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson (13 August 1889 – 7 October 1946) was an English figure and landscape painter, etcher and lithographer, who was one of the most famous war artists of World War I. He is often referred to by his initial ...

Career

By 1914 he launched his professional career, but joined the

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at the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, rising to the rank of acting captain. He then returned to painting, and in the 1920s he and his family lived in France. He published an essay, ''On Museums'', in 1925. His work was becoming known, and in 1925 he was helped by

Roger Fry Roger Eliot Fry (14 December 1866 – 9 September 1934) was an English painter and critic, and a member of the Bloomsbury Group. Establishing his reputation as a scholar of the Old Masters, he became an advocate of more recent developme ...

and

William Rothenstein Sir William Rothenstein (29 January 1872 – 14 February 1945) was an English painter, printmaker, draughtsman, lecturer, and writer on art. Emerging during the early 1890s, Rothenstein continued to make art right up until his death. Though he c ...

for a teaching position. He held a major exhibition in London in 1927. In January 1929 he went to teach at the Wellington Technical College in

. In 1932 he let his contract lapse and moved to Rotorua, where the availability of

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

subjects was an attraction. Perkins exhibited regularly with the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts from 1929 to 1933. He held a solo exhibition in 1931. In 1933 he held a substantial exhibition in Sydney, Australia. Important works include ''Silverstream brickworks'' (1930), ''Taranaki'' (1931), ''Activity on the wharf'' (1931), ''Meditation'' (1931), ''Haka'', ''Maori meeting'' (1932–34). Perkins returned to England in February 1934. He served in the army again during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

and also worked as an unofficial war artist. He achieved a reputation as a portrait painter, showing pictures at the Royal Academy of Arts and holding many exhibitions, but never attained the leading position he had had in New Zealand.

Family

Perkins was married on 1 April 1914, to Agnes Berry Shaw. They had three children; Jane Perkins married the mycologist Denis Garrett and published a memoir in 1986, ''An Artist's Daughter'', recounting the family's time in New Zealand. J. L. Harley (1991). "Stephen Denis Garrett. 1 November 1906–26 December 1989", ''

Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society The ''Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society'' is an academic journal on the history of science published annually by the Royal Society. It publishes obituaries of Fellows of the Royal Society. It was established in 1932 as ''Obitua ...

'' 37: 176–195

Publications

''On Museums'' by Christopher Perkins (St Tropez, 1925)

References

*''The art of Christopher Perkins'' by P.W. Robertson, in ''Art in New Zealand'' 4, No 13 (September 1931): 8-40 *''The story of Christopher Perkins'' in ''Art in Australia'' 3, No 48 (February 1933): 31-37 *''An introduction to New Zealand painting 1839-1980'' by G. H. Brown & H. Keith (Auckland, 1980) *''An Artist's Daughter: with Christopher Perkins in New Zealand, 1929–1934'' by Jane Garrett (Shoal Bay Press, Auckland, 1986)
Biography of Christopher Edward Perkins at Dictionary of New Zealand Biography

External links

Works in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perkins, Christopher 1891 births 1968 deaths 20th-century English painters English male painters New Zealand painters People educated at Gresham's School Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art People from Peterborough British Army personnel of World War I British Army officers 20th-century English male artists