Christopher Pyett is an Australian painter who has been working seriously for more than sixty years. He studied at the Tasmanian School of Art between from 1961-64 under Jack Carrington Smith, Dorothy Stoner and George Davis. It was Stoner and Davis who ignited his love for the expressive use of colour and the understanding necessary to use it creatively.
Some thirty years ago, he was introduced to the delights of tapestry, where the act of mixing colour provided new opportunities. In collaboration with the VTW, he completed more than 30 commissions including a tapestry portrait of Dame Elisabeth Murdoch for the National Portrait Gallery in 2008. As the result of his work with the VTW, Pyett was invited to give lectures on colour in Australia, USA, Scotland and Russia.
Pyett is well known for his vibrant and evocative paintings in gouache but in latter years he has devoted himself to oil paint, with its greater versatility, mixing possibilities and expressive qualities.
Pyett’s inspiration is drawn from many sources, classical music, the Tasmanian landscape and the occasional portrait. In later years he has felt the need to structure his paintings around more recognisable subject matter. But, with all his work the expressive use of colour is his primary concern.
