Mathieu,
Thanks, I found the answer there:
// Make sure that the widget context is valid before making OpenGL calls.
// This should only take up to 4 calls to processEvents(). If this test keeps
// timing out, consider that the widget initialization is broken.
while (!_qvtkWidget->isValid()) {
app.processEvents();
}
The OpenGL initialization occurs as a result of a Qt event! DOH!