Early life

Pettigrew was born in the Andes

Andes

The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...

 of Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

, the son of a mining engineer whose Scottish family had settled in Sligo a generation earlier. His mother was a Blennerhassett from Tralee, County Kerry

County Kerry

Kerry means the "people of Ciar" which was the name of the pre-Gaelic tribe who lived in part of the present county. The legendary founder of the tribe was Ciar, son of Fergus mac Róich. In Old Irish "Ciar" meant black or dark brown, and the word continues in use in modern Irish as an adjective...

, the family's ancestry traces back to the Huguenots, driven out of France in the 16th century. He returned to Ireland with his family in 1930.

Career

Stanley went to school in Sligo

Sligo

Sligo is the county town of County Sligo in Ireland. The town is a borough and has a charter and a town mayor. It is sometimes referred to as a city, and sometimes as a town, and is the second largest urban area in Connacht...

 and was originally interested in carpentry. He met a painter, Jim Heuston, who developed Pettigrew's interest in landscape painting. Like Paul Henry

Paul Henry (painter)

Paul Henry was a Northern Irish artist noted for depicting the west of Ireland landscape with a spare post-impressionist style....

, he was attracted to the cloud formations and reflective water of Sligos seascape.

In 1944 Pettigrew enrolled at Trinity College, Dublin

Trinity College, Dublin

Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...

, initially to study history and later divinity. He worked as a curate

Curate

A curate is a person who is invested with the care or cure of souls of a parish. In this sense "curate" correctly means a parish priest but in English-speaking countries a curate is an assistant to the parish priest...

 in Newcastle

Newcastle, County Down

Newcastle is a small town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 7,444 people recorded in the 2001 Census. The seaside resort lies on the Irish Sea coast at the base of Slieve Donard, one of the Mourne Mountains, and is known for its sandy beach and the Royal County Down Golf Club...

, giving him the opportunity to paint with Tom Carr. In 1954 he married Vera Brownell, known for her children's books. He has lived in Wicklow

Wicklow

Wicklow) is the county town of County Wicklow in Ireland. Located south of Dublin on the east coast of the island, it has a population of 10,070 according to the 2006 census. The town is situated to the east of the N11 route between Dublin and Wexford. Wicklow is also connected to the rail...

 since 1957, exhibiting at the Wicklow Painters Gallery and the Royal Hibernian Academy

Royal Hibernian Academy

The Royal Hibernian Academy is an artist-based and artist-oriented institution in Ireland, founded in Dublin in 1823.-History:The RHA was founded as the result of 30 Irish artists petitioning the government for a charter of incorporation...

.

External links

• Stanley Pettigrew Paintings & Bio