{{short description|British painter}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}} {{Use Australian English|date=June 2020}} {{Infobox person | image = <!-- Only freely-licensed images may be used to depict living people. See WP:NONFREE. --> | image_size = 150px| | name = Peter Laverty | birth_date = 1926 | death_date = 2013 | occupation = Artist, Art educator, administrator | spouse = Ursula Laverty (nee. Nathan) m.1952-2013 }}
'''Peter Laverty''' (1926–2013) was a painter, print maker, art educator and gallery director.<ref>[https://www.smh.com.au/comment/obituaries/an-artist-driven-by-his-passions-20130913-2tq8u.html An artist driven by his passions] (obituary) September 14, 2013 Sydney Morning Herald</ref> In 1971 to become Head of the National Art School, Sydney, Australia and was Director of the Art Gallery of New South Wales from 1971 to 1977.<ref name=McCulloch>The New McCulloch’s Encyclopedia of Australian Art, The Miegunyah Press, 2006, p. 601</ref>
== Life and career == Peter Phillip Laverty was born in England in 1926 and studied at Winchester School of Art. In 1951, at age 24, he emigrated to Sydney, Australia, to teach at the National art School, Sydney, from 1952 to 1971. He was appointed Director of the Art Gallery of New South Wales from 1971-1977.<ref name=McCulloch/>
Laverty served on numerous committees including: International Society of Art Critics, NSW Travelling Art Scholarship (1971–78), Sydney Biennale Committee (1975–77), Churchill Fellowships (1971–77), and New South Wales art education assessment committees. He judged many art competitions, wrote for several art journals, while giving numerous lectures.<ref name=McCulloch/>
He was a foundation member and President (1980–81) of Sydney Printmakers and member of the Australian Watercolour Institute from 1965.<ref>Australian Watercolour Painters-1780 to the Present Day, Jean Campbell, Craftsman House, 1989.</ref>
Peter Laverty died in Sydney, Australia, in 2013, aged 86<ref>The Sydney Morning Herald, June 26, 2013</ref>
== Work == Laverty worked in oil, watercolour and graphic media. From 1959 his paintings were mainly semi-abstract stylistically related to contemporary British paintings.<ref name=McCulloch/>
== Exhibitions == Laverty was included in several significant group exhibitions of Australian art held in New Zealand (1965), United States (1966), and São Paulo Art Biennial, Brazil (1961). In Australia he held joint exhibitions with his wife Ursula and had a retrospective at Penrith Sydney, in 1996.<ref name=McCulloch/>
== Represented == Works by Laverty are held in the collections of the National Gallery of Australia, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Queensland Art Gallery & Gallery of Modern Art<ref>{{Cite web |title=LAVERTY, Peter {{!}} QAGOMA Collection Online |url=https://collection.qagoma.qld.gov.au/creators/laverty-peter |access-date=2025-07-24 |website=collection.qagoma.qld.gov.au}}</ref> and the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery.<ref name=McCulloch/>
== Awards == Laverty won numerous Shire art awards including; Warringah (1957), Mosman (1961-2), Maitland (1965), Campbelltown (1966), Rockdale (1966), Berrima (1966), and Grafton (1969).<ref name=McCulloch/>
== Further reading == * ''The New McCulloch’s Encyclopedia of Australian Art'', The Miegunyah Press, 2006. * ''International Who's Who in Art and Antiques'', Hon. General editor: Ernest Kay, Melrose Press, 1972. * ''Dictionary of International Biography, Vol 15'', Melrose Press Ltd. * ''Artists and Galleries of Australia'', Max Germaine, Boolarong Publications, 1984. * ''Australian Watercolour Painters-1780 to the Present Day'', Jean Campbell, Craftsman House, 1989. https://www.smh.com.au/comment/obituaries/an-artist-driven-by-his-passions-20130913-2tq8u.html
== References == <!--- See Wikipedia:Footnotes on how to create references using<ref></ref> tags which will then appear here automatically --> {{Reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-culture}} {{s-bef | before = Hal Missingham}} {{s-ttl | title = Director of the Art Gallery of New South Wales | years = 1971–1978}} {{s-aft|after=Edmund Capon}} {{end}}
== External links == * [https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au Art Gallery of New South Wales website]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Laverty, Peter}} Category:1929 births Category:2013 deaths Category:20th-century Australian painters Category:20th-century British male artists Category:20th-century British painters Category:21st-century Australian painters Category:21st-century British painters Category:British male painters Category:Australian printmakers Category:Alumni of Winchester School of Art Category:20th-century British printmakers Category:Directors and presidents of the Art Gallery of New South Wales Category:Australian male painters Category:21st-century British male artists