Interior of a Maori house

Steele was born in England and studied in Italy and France before returning to England and exhibiting regularly at the Royal Academy between 1872 and 1886. He migrated to Auckland for health reasons around 1886 and set up a studio on Shortland Street. He taught and painted portraits and historical subjects, taking a particular interest in the Maori, and produced some of his most well-known large canvases of historical and Maori subjects in collaboration with Kennett Watkins and his former pupil Charles Frederick Goldie: 'Steele and Watkins were the pioneer figures in the fine art representation of New Zealand history for local, particularly Auckland, audiences. Their professional status was very high -- especially in the 1890s, when Steele was described as 'the only great artist in New Zealand', and Watkins as 'after Mr. Steele, the most notable artist in their colony' (L.Bell, Colonial Constructs, European Images of the Maori, 1840-1914, Auckland, 1922, p.155).