item details
NameAn 1893 sketchbook
ProductionPetrus van der Velden; artist; 1893
Classificationsketchbooks, works on paper
Materialsgraphite pencil, charcoal
Materials Summarysketchbook
DimensionsClosed: 183mm (width), 119mm (height), 17mm (depth)
Registration Number1967-0017-8/1-63 to 63-63
Credit lineGift of W. Fergusson Hogg, 1967
Overview
After arriving in New Zealand, Van der Velden’s preoccupation with the lives of everyday people shifted almost immediately to an interest in the characteristics of the land. His new focus is evident in these sketchbooks.
The Dutch artist travelled around Christchurch, to the Ōtira Gorge in the Southern Alps, to the North Island, and beyond. On his journeys, he recorded in pencil, charcoal, and ink his immediate impressions of place. Here, we see the interweaving curves of a hill, the foreground rendered in a few scratchy strokes, and moody studies of rocky outcrops in a streambed.