Peter Schmidt (artist)

For the author of the book Color and Money, see Peter Schmidt.
The Road to the Crater

Peter Schmidt (17 May 1931 – 22 January 1980)[1] was a Berlin-born British artist, painter, theoretician of color and composition, pioneering multimedia exhibitor and an influential teacher at Watford College of Art. He was part of a generation of art school teachers in the 1960s and 1970s that had great impact on some students who later went on to work in art and music. He worked with Hansjörg Mayer, Brian Eno, Mark Boyle, Dieter Roth and had associations with Russell Mills, David Toop and Tom Phillips.

Biography

Peter Schmidt was born 17 May 1931 in Berlin, moved to England with his Jewish mother in 1938, and began painting in 1947. He studied at the Goldsmiths College from 1951–1953, and Slade School from 1953–1957. He won the Abbey Minor Travelling Scholarship 1957–58, which was spent in Sicily. On his return to England, he painted directly from objects and people, mainly in oils. His work was exhibited at Beaux Arts, with his first one-man show in 1961. He was the subject of a film called CUBISM AND BEYOND: DEPARTURES made for BBC TV in 1961. In 1963 he began a concept of painting he called PROGRAM. He produced a series of works inspired by music exhibited in a one-man show at the Curwen Gallery 1966. By this time his work had become totally abstract and he was focusing on ideas and systems. He performed an electronic music event called A PAINTERS USE OF SOUND at the ICA in 1967. Other music and performance work were at the Bristol Arts Centre, the UFO Club and, the Cochrane Theatre. He was also working with Mark Boyle at that time, performing in "Son et Lumiere" also at the Cochrane. The 1968 ICA exhibition "Cybernetic Serendipity", curated by Jasia Reichardt, had Peter Schmidt as musical director . He performed ELECTRONIC SOUP MIX in 1969 at the Curwin Gallery, and FILM SOUND MIXES at the ICA.

In 1972 he produced a series of 64 drawings based on hexagrams of the I Ching. One of his last creative explorations in non-figuative work was a series of abstract paintings, which were illuminated by a special shifting colour light box, the electronics of which were specially designed. At this point his work gradually started to become figurative once more. In 1975 he had an exhibition at the Whitechapel Art Gallery, shared with his students at Watford School of Art, "Painting on Clothes".

During his life Peter Schmidt explored many media and ideas. He produced a huge amount of work including books, prints, film, sound, and painting. For the latter years of his life he painted in water colour, spending extended periods on the Canary Islands, the Isle of Skye off the coast of Scotland, and in Iceland painting landscapes. Although representational, Schmidt's approach was to use his theory of colour and composition developed previously. In other words, to create both an abstract and figurative painting in one. The last exhibition Peter Schmidt planned, called More Than Nothing at Paul Ide Gallery in Brussels, was of collaborative works with Brian Eno. Among the works shown was the first generative light box, a watercolour painting of Eno called "Portrait of Eno with Allusions",[2] several Tiger Mountain prints, the French edition of the oracle card set called Oblique Strategies, the four "Mandala Castles" and etchings created just for this exhibit.

Schmidt was on holiday on La Gomera in the Canary Islands when he died suddenly of a heart attack on 22 January 1980, just days before the opening.

He is survived by his brother, sister, son, daughter, their mother(and his second wife), and his third wife.

Works

Peter Schmidt met Brian Eno as a visiting lecturer at Ipswich art school in the late 1960s and later became a friend and collaborator. They found they had both independently arrived at a system of using little quotes and axioms to overcome artistic obstacles. They combined efforts to publish the Oblique Strategies cards in 1975.[3] Brian Eno commented on Schmidt.[4] The Oblique Strategies seem to have been an out growth of Schmidt's own "Thoughts Behind The Thoughts".[5]

Peter Schmidt has two prints from 1971, both called "Flowing in the Right Direction"[6] in the Tate Collection. Five of Schmidt's Monoprints from late 1968 are in the UK Government Art Collection that maintains and exhibits works in various government buildings.[7] Several of these Monoprints can be seen in the James Bond 007 film "Her Majesty's Secret Service".

Schmidt created 1500 different silk screen portraits of Brian Eno, four of which are used on the cover of the LP Taking Tiger Mountain. The Robert Fripp and Brian Eno LP Evening Star has on its cover a Schmidt painting.

Brian Eno included four watercolor prints of Schmidt's work with the first edition of his LP Before and after Science and famously wrote in its liner notes: "Apart from our collaboration on this record, Peter and I have been working together and comparing notes for some time. In 1975 we produced a boxed set of oracle cards called "Oblique Strategies", which were used extensively in the making of this record."

Schmidt created the water color painting, "Portrait of Eno with Allusions"[8] originally considered for the cover of the "Before and After Science" LP.

Many of his later works were abstract/realist landscapes produced and sold in Iceland. His work was collected by the actors Terence Stamp and Julie Christie.

Publications

Exhibitions

Peter Schmidt had exhibitions at:

Quotes

Peter Schmidt Prints

References

  1. ↑ Peter Schmidt's official webpage
  2. ↑ "Portrait of Eno with Allusions", Peter Schmidt, watercolor portrait of Brian Eno.
  3. ↑ Oblique Strategies, mnemonic/oracle/decision system in cards by Peter Schmidt and Brian Eno.
  4. ↑ Brian Eno on Oblique Strategies and Peter Schmidt.
  5. ↑ "The Thoughts Behind the Thoughts" at Peter Schmidt Web.
  6. ↑ "Flowing in the Right Direction", Peter Schmidt, Tate Collection
  7. ↑ 5 Schmidt prints at the UK Government Art Collection.
  8. ↑ .
  9. ↑ , card system by Peter Schmidt and Brian Eno, 1975, published by E.G. Management as a boxed set in an edition of 500 copies.
  10. ↑ The website of the icelandic artist Eggert Petursson

External links

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