Melvin (Pat) Day is one of Wellington’s most respected painters and an important figure in New Zealand’s art history. He began painting in the 1930’s and has been noted for a scholarly approach to painting which brings together elements from different genres. Pat Day was at the forefront of abstraction in the 1940’s and 50’s, was the Director of the National Art Gallery (now Te Papa), had the role of Government Art Historian established for him and in 2003 was created a CNZM in recognition of his outstanding contribution and services to New Zealand Art.

Vertiginous was painted while Day was in London in the 1960's. A Mediterranean headland painted in an English winter, the work nevertheless harks back to memories of Northland where, as a youth, he was impressed by the orange-red clay cliffs along the west coast. This painting, with its bold colours and off-centre composition, seems to lie on the edges of figurative, abstract and symbolic styles.

Pat Day lived and painted in Seatoun for decades. Day and his wife Oroya (née McAuley) were well-known figures in Wellington cultural circles. He passed away two years after her, in 2016.