Alister Austen Deans was educated at Christ’s College and the Canterbury College School of Art in Ōtautahi. He served in the army during the Second World War. After four years in a prisoner of war camp, he returned to Aotearoa and received a bursary. This enabled him to travel to Europe, where he studied at Sir John Cass College. On his return, he settled at Peel Forest in the South Canterbury foothills and began painting the realistic mountain scenes for which he became well known, especially in the Canterbury area. He won the Kelliher Art Award in 1962 and 1963. He was awarded second prize in 1969, and merit awards in 1959, 1965, 1967, and 1971.
