BiographyBest known for his historical paintings of The White House and its interiors for The White House Historical Association, (“An Artist Visits the White House Past”) Peter Waddell has also created works about the Capitol in the nineteenth century (“Inside the Temple of Liberty”); the role of Freemasons in the creation of the Federal City (“The Initiated Eye”); the history of the Octagon; and numerous other commissions for historic sites including Mount Vernon and Tudor Place. In 2014, Waddell completed nine large scale paintings and a 360- degree frieze for The National Veterans Shrine and Register of Honor at the American Village in Montevallo, Alabama. He has created numerous public art works in Washington, DC including his mural “The Toy Theater” and paintings installed as part of the “Call Box Project.”
Peter Waddell was born in Hastings on the East Coast of New Zealand in 1955. A child of vivid imagination, his ability to paint and draw was always encouraged by his parents Colin and Penny. From Colin, owner of a cabinet making firm and former soldier in Egypt and Italy, he gained his love of craftsmanship and fascination with the ancient world; from Penny, a theatrical costumer and librarian, his ability to create dazzling effects. After considerable success in New Zealand as an artist, Peter came to Washington in 1992 to learn the secrets of the masters as a copyist at the National Gallery. Enamored with America and its history from the start, Peter became a United States citizen in 2002. Waddell is artist in residence at Tudor Place in Georgetown.
