Juliet Peter

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.

Juliet Peter

CNZM
Born
Judith Eleanor Jane Peter

(1915-09-18)18 September 1915
Anama, New Zealand
Died12 January 2010(2010-01-12) (aged 94)
Wellington, New Zealand
EducationHammersmith School of Art
Known forPottery, printmaking, illustration, sculpture
Spouse(s)
​
(
m. 1952; died 2006)
RelativesWilliam Spence Peter (grandfather)
Edward Sealy (grandfather)

Early life

Peter was born at Anama in rural Mid Canterbury in 1915,[1] and growing up on a farm there she did not receive a formal education.[2] Her mother was Violet Peter (1875–1926), the eldest child of the surveyor, photographer, explorer, farmer, and entomologist Edward Sealy (1839–1903) from Timaru. Her father was Charles James Peter (born 1867; year of death assumed as 1926 or 1927), a son of the Hon William Spence Peter (1818–1891) MLC of Anama.[3] During the 1920s, Peter's life was disrupted by the death of her mother and illness of her father; which led to the selling of the family farm and relocation of her family to England.[2] Peter returned to New Zealand with her sister after her family faced financial strain in the 1930s, and attended the Canterbury College School of Art at the suggestion of an aunt.[2][4]

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][4] In 1952 she married potter Roy Cowan.

Career

From 1945 till 1951 Peter was based in Wellington producing work while working as an illustrator.[2] During this time she showed works at the Architectural Centre Gallery, Centre Gallery 2, Centre Gallery 3, and the Helen Hitchings Gallery.[2] Cowan and Peter moved to London in 1951, where she first studied at the Central School of Arts and Crafts but then moved to the 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][4][5]

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.[6] 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.’[7]

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.[8]

Peter also exhibited at the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts, the Canterbury Society of Arts, The Group, and the Auckland Society of Arts.[9] She died in Wellington in 2010,[10] and her ashes were buried at Mākara Cemetery.[11]

Her work was shown alongside Roy Cowan's in 2014 at The Dowse Art Museum in A Modest Modernism: Roy Cowan and Juliet Peter.[12]

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.[13]

Collections

Peter's work is held in the collections of the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu,[14] The Dowse Art Museum,[12] and the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.[15]

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References
  1. "Births". The Press. 24 September 1915. p. 1. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
  2. Skinner, Damian (2006). "A Modest Modernism: An Interview with Juliet Peter". Art New Zealand (119): 66–91. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  3. "Sealy, Edward Percy". Early New Zealand photographers and their successors. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  4. Blumhardt, Doreen; Brake, Brian (1981). Craft New Zealand: the art of the craftsman. Auckland: A.H. & A.W. Reed. ISBN 0589009532.
  5. "Juliet Peter". Ferner Galleries. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  6. Kirker, Anne (1993). New Zealand Women Artists: A Survey of 150 Years (2nd ed.). Tortola, B.V.I.: Craftsman House. p. 95. ISBN 9768097302.
  7. "Juliet Peter sketching". Rita Angus: Life and Vision. Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  8. Lloyd-Jenkins, Douglas (2000). Avis Higgs : joie de vivre. Napier: Hawke's Bay Cultural Trust. ISBN 0473067382.
  9. "Peter, Juliet". Find NZ Artists. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  10. "Artist drew triumph from tragic beginnings". The Dominion Post. 23 January 2010. p. 7.
  11. "Cemeteries search". Wellington City Council. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
  12. "A Modest Modernism: Roy Cowan and Juliet Peter". The Dowse Art Museum. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  13. "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.
  14. "Juliet Peter". Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu. Archived from the original on 18 December 2014. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  15. "Juliet Peter". Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
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