Painting of Donald Brown VC

Sergeant D F Brown VC, painted by Alfred Henry O’Keeffe in 1922. Donald Brown was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross (VC) for his actions on 15 September 1916 during the Battle of the Somme. He was killed in action two weeks later. This portrait was based on a photograph of Brown taken in 1914.

• Read about Donald Brown winning the VC

About the artist

Australian-born Alfred O’Keeffe (1858–1941) came to New Zealand as a child and lived in Dunedin. After completing a cabinet-making apprenticeship he moved to Paris in 1894 to study art. Unable to find work as an artist on his return from Europe, O’Keeffe managed a country hotel from 1896 to 1905. He had two sons, both of whom died of wounds received at Gallipoli. Following the war, he was commissioned to paint Donald Brown’s posthumous VC portrait.