HMAS Canberra (LHD1) flooding the dock
In 2011 Peter Churcher was commissioned to represent the future HMAS Canberra and HMAS Adelaide at the Navantia shipyards in Ferrol, Spain. These giant amphibious assault ships known as Landing Helicopter Docks (LHD) are the largest ever constructed for the RAN.
This painting depicts the construction of Canberra at the Navantia shipyards in Ferrol, Spain.
- About Peter Churcher
Peter Churcher was brought up in a household involved in the arts. He is the son of Betty Churcher, who was the director of the National Art Gallery of Australia from 1990-1997. Peter Churcher's first qualifications though, were in music, not art. Travelling through Europe after gaining his Licentiate for Piano Performance from Trinity College, London, he visited a great many galleries and decided to return to his original love, painting. In 1991 he graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Painting) from Prahran School of Art and Design, now Deakin University. He held his first solo exhibition in 1994.
In 2002 Peter Churcher was commissioned as the Australian War Artist to document the Australian Navy in the Persian Gulf. He was sent to the Persian Gulf and Diego Garcia, where he recorded the people and operations of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Churcher’s paintings and drawings of the Australian military's engagement in the Coalition against Terrorism are on show at the Australian War Memorial.
During his commission he produced many oil paintings and drawings of works characterised by spontaneity, a refreshing directness, and a fascination with the figurative. For the first three weeks, he experienced life with the RAN on board the HMAS Kanimbla and Adelaide. His images range from the claustrophobic engine room to officers at work on the ship’s bridge. Churcher's work captures the day-to-day experiences of today's defence force personnel, while harking back to older art traditions and styles. His images provide a valuable insight into the nature of modern warfare.
Churcher exhibits regularly in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane at privately run galleries. His work is held in the collections of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; the National Portrait Gallery, Canberra; the Australian War Memorial; Canberra and the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Victoria. He has entered the Archibald prize ten times and been hung six times. He has been hung twice in the Sulman Prize.
Churcher is currently living and working in Barcelona, Spain. He was recently awarded first prize in “El Concurso de Grabados” (Printmaking Prize) de Sant Lluc, Barcelona, 2008.
Artist statement:
“Since graduating from art school, I have been primarily concerned with the painting of the human figure in a narrative context and the depiction of the human presence - that is the Portrait. This focus all stems from my devotion to the great figurative masters such as Velasquez and Rembrandt and my firm belief and personal quest to depict our own surrounding world of visual, sensory and emotional stimuli through paint on canvas.”
- About HMAS Canberra (lll)
HMAS Canberra is an amphibious assault ship designated Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD). Following her commissioning at Fleet Base East, Sydney she the flagship of the Royal Australian Navy. Built by the Spanish owned Navantia and BAE Systems Australia, the LHDs are the largest ships ever constructed for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The ships provide the Australian Defence Force with one of the most capable and sophisticated air-land-sea amphibious deployment systems in the world.
The ship's roles are to:
- embark, transport and deploy an embarked force (Army in the case of the ADF but could equally be an allied Army or Marines), along with their equipment and aviation units
- carry out/support humanitarian missions.
More reading
- Additional resources for Peter Churcher
- Additional resources for HMAS Canberra (lll)
