Austen Deans

Alister Austen Deans OBE (2 December 1915 – 18 October 2011) was a New Zealand painter, known for his landscapes and for his work as a war artist in the Second World War.

Born in Christchurch to a well-known farming family, Deans became interested in art in his teenage years. He studied fine arts at the Canterbury College School of Art before returning to the family farm for work. He volunteered for the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force on the outbreak of the Second World War, and was posted to the 20th Battalion. In 1941 he was appointed an assistant war artist, serving under Peter McIntyre. However, he was wounded during the Battle of Crete and became a prisoner of war (POW). Allowed to paint during his captivity, his work was a useful record of life as a POW. After the war, he studied painting at the Sir John Cass Technical Institute in England before settling down on a lifestyle block in Canterbury. He was a prolific painter of the Canterbury hill country. Made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1995, he died in October 2011.