Charles Fredrick Peter Brown (12 April 1921 – 14 October 2005) was a

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born artist of the school of traditional realism. Brown served in the

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throughout

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and the drawing and sketching he did while a German prisoner of war from 1943 helped him decide to pursue art seriously as a career. After escaping from the prison camp, and on returning to New Zealand, the Rehabilitation Department (an organisation set up to assist returned servicemen back into the workforce) assisted Brown to study commercial art and he began his training at the Elam Art School of the

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in 1946.Thwaites, Ian & Fletcher, Rie ''We Learnt to See: Elam's Rutland Group 1935-1958'', Puriri Press, 2004. In 1948, Brown was asked to teach by

Archie Fisher Archie Macdonald Fisher (born 23 October 1939) is a Scottish folk singer and songwriter. He has released several solo albums since his first, eponymous album, in 1968. Fisher composed the song "The Final Trawl", recorded on the album ''Windwa ...

, then Head of the Elam Art School, so he became a part-time lecturer from 1948 to 1950, before he had even completed his studies. In 1951 he completed his studies, and he continued as a full-time lecturer at Elam from 1952 to 1959, when he left to undertake independent study and painting. During his time at Elam, he was an active participant in Elam's Rutland Group where he was known for his portrait painting. He was invited to attend the

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in 1960. After returning to New Zealand, he settled in Napier and taught at the

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Art School. He was awarded the Kelliher Prize for Landscape Painting in 1974. He went on to move to Gisborne and was active in the Gisborne art community until shortly before his death in October 2005. His sister

Olga Stringfellow Olga Stringfellow (4 June 1923 – 1995) was a New Zealand journalist and author of romantic and historical fiction. History Stringfellow was born in Dunedin as Olga Elsa Brown on 4 June 1923. She was educated at the Otago Girls' High School i ...

was a well-known journalist and novelist.

Holdings

Peter Brown's artworks are held in the collections of the: * Royal Scottish Academy * Scottish National Portrait Gallery * Royal Society of Portrait Artists * Rutland Group (Auckland) * New Group (Auckland) * American Watercolor Society * Chelsea Art Society * Artists of Chelsea * Army Art Society

References

1921 births 2005 deaths Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art Elam Art School alumni Royal Air Force personnel of World War II World War II prisoners of war held by Germany New Zealand prisoners of war in World War II People from Napier, New Zealand 20th-century New Zealand painters 20th-century New Zealand male artists {{NewZealand-mil-bio-stub