"In the annals and history of Australian art, sculpture has forever taken second place to the art of painting. It is a fact that the landscape has been the source of eternal inspiration for the Australian artist, and painting is the medium for the expression of the landscape theme in art. The figurative traditions, the ultimate source of inspiration for Western sculpture, have therefore received essentially scant attention in Australia.

Peter Schipperheyn is one of the rare exceptions to that rule. His art and vision is wholly inspired by the great figurative traditions in Western art: his delicate drawings reflect an extraordinary sensitivity for the human figure, whilst his majestic marble sculptures are expressions of the grandeur and vision that aspire to the greatest European traditions. He is currently unique in Australia; no other living Australian artist has so totally dedicated himself to seeking a truly contemporary expression of Western arts most inspired tradition.

Peter Schipperheyn’s work expresses hope, sensitivity, classicism, contemporanity: it shows above all that the fundamental concerns and emotions of mankind, like great art, transcend time."

Edmund Capon, Director Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney - 1989