Peter Schmidt Web

Peter Schmidt - Something else in oil...

2008-09-08T17:29:00.008-04:00

Untitled, 40"x40", oil on canvas

from Peter Schmidt's psychedlic period in the late 60's

Courtesy of and from the collection of Daniel Mason

Peter Schmidt

2008-08-15T12:45:00.006-04:00

Peter Schmidt at Galeri Sudurgata 7, Reykjavik, Iceland, 1978

Photo courtesy of The Reykjavik Museum of Photography

To Become Like Music - Peter Schmidt at Mummery+Schnelle

2008-07-25T19:59:00.020-04:00

"For Esme", The Boyle Family archive materials, listening stations.

"Droplet", in the main space.

"For Esme" in the ancillary space.

Read an excellent review by Richard Mills at Enoweb:
http://music.hyperreal.org/artists/brian_eno/

Here is a small except, perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the exhibition:

"But to my mind, the greatest prize in the exhibition (which explores the connections between sound and visual material) must be the six short pieces of stereo audio by Peter Schmidt from 1969 (OK - one from 1978). They may now sound like humdrum feedback noises and tape loops but at the time they were being recorded (and these appear/claim to be among the very earliest of British audio experimental tapes in existence), they were genuinely ground-breaking. They seem quite self-conscious in places, but the naivete and assurance are quite a breath-taking combination. Wonder if Peter ever had any idea that these tapes (that were allegedly found in a bag in Norfolk) would re-surface in the 21st Century and be a point of interest, if only for the next few weeks, to a London audience?"

Note: The tapes have actually been in the care of Cally, a student of Peter's at Watford. These tapes have been transferred to digital media for this exhibit by associates of the curator, Prof. Chris Townsend, at the Department of Media Arts of the University of London.

The exhibition runs through 16 August. For more information:
http://www.mummeryschnelle.com/pages/exhibitions_current.htm

Peter Schmidt - self portrait

2008-07-11T19:58:00.015-04:00

Peter Schmidt - Self portrait, watercolour, 9.5 x 7.5 cm, no date
(Collection and by kind permission of Adalsteinn Ingolfsson)

"I think I must have met Peter through Eggert Pétursson or Ingólfur Örn Arnarson, two Icelandic artists who had brought him to the Suðurgata 7 gallery in Reykjavik for a show.

Since I had studied art history in London and was fairly familiar with the art scene there, I naturally gravitated towards Peter. I took him on rides in my car, both around Reykjavik and the lava landscape surrounding the city.

Peter´s presence was inspiring. You felt him listening intently to whatever you had to say, and his queries were always quiet, to the point, with enough unsaid to make you think.

There was a Buddist quality about him; one felt that he had found himself an utterly peaceful level of existence. At the same time there was something sad or melancholic about him.

I remember most clearly an evening at my home, when I cooked him the simplest of meals, fresh flounder with potatoes. While I cooked Peter found an LP of mine featuring Casals playing the Bach cello suites. In the end we both sat on the floor, ate the fish and listened to the music. Peter deemed this a" perfect evening". I think it was partly as a thank you for the fish that he sent me his self portrait."

Adalsteinn Ingolfsson

This self portrait watercolor painting is thought to be the only one Peter Schmidt ever painted. Soon to be featured prominently at http://www.peterschmidtweb.com/.

Peter Schmidt - "To become like music"...

2008-07-06T12:44:00.012-04:00

"Droplet", 1966 (collection of John Emr)

"For Esme", 1966 (collection of Rory Walsh)

These two paintings by Peter Schmidt will be exhibited as part of a

group show called "To become like music", alongside works by

Mary Bauermeister, Mark Boyle & Joan Hills, Earle Brown,

Sylvano Bussotti, Paul Caffell, John Cage, Alexander Calder,

Nam June Paik, and Karlheinz Stockhausen.

This exhibition is being curated by Professor Chris Townsend,

at the London gallery of Mummery+Schnelle,

83 Great Titchfield Street, W1W 6RH. The exhibition will run from

July 15 through August 9, with a private viewing July 16 from 6-8.

Newly discovered reel to reel tapes of Peter's

sound art have been restored by the University of London's

Department of Media Arts, and will accompany the exhibition.

For further details, follow this link:

http://www.mummeryschnelle.com/pages/exhibitions_futuredetails1.htm

My special thanks to Sebastian Boyle of the Boyle Family

for introducing me to Chris Townsend.

And then there were 12...

2008-07-06T12:24:00.009-04:00

#1335 of 1500

#990 of 1500

Two more versions of the "Tiger Mountain" prints have been

added to the collection, courtesy of Dr. Steven Lynn of California,

the world's foremost collector of "Tiger Mountain" prints.

PSW now has 12 examples of this edition of 1500 unique

prints assembled for your perusal.

www.PeterSchmidtWeb.com

The Deck of Cards

2008-05-10T12:18:00.006-04:00

The intrepid Rory Walsh came across "The Deck of Cards" while enjoying the Blood on the Page exhibition and researching Peter Schmidt at the Victoria and Albert Museum. This fascinating deck was the brainchild of Alan Driscoll, who produced it in 1979. Peter's Jack of Diamonds, accompanied Tom Phillips' Six of Hearts, David Hockney's King of Hearts, and John Furnival's Nine of Hearts, among this collection of original designs by 56 of England's leading artists. The scan above was created using the deck I recently purchased though Abebooks. Peter's card acknowledges the Tarot and it's duality with the standard deck, with specific imagery and letters that spell out "Page of Pentacles". A picture of this card will eventually wend it's way into the miscellaneous section of www.PeterSchmidtWeb.com

Peter Schmidt Rocks...

2008-05-04T11:55:00.014-04:00

These paintings were inspired by time Peter spent walking the Isle of Skye, Scotland.

"Enovations"...

2008-04-26T17:40:00.003-04:00

"Enovations" was a publication for admirers of Brian Eno.

The summer/1979 edition featured the watercolor painting

"Portrait of Eno with Allusions" on it's cover, as well as

Peter Schmidt's words describing the process of creating

this painting of his friend and collaborator. This painting

has been my inspiration for assembling this raisonne

catalogue dedicated to preserving Peter's legacy. Many

thanks to Rory Walsh and Russell Mills who sent this

item to me within two hours of each other. This and another

article from "Enovations"/1981, "A Line has Two Sides",

a discussion of Peter and Russell's work can be found at

the bottom of the "miscellaneous" page at

www.PeterSchmidtWeb.com

"Electrostatic Portraits", 1969

2008-04-06T14:35:00.016-04:00

Cover of "Electrostatic Portraits"

Roland Penrose

Jasia Reichardt

Peter Schmidt

The three pictures above are from an Edition Hansjorg Mayer publication called "Electrostatic Portraits", and were created by Peter Schmidt in 1968. They were made by assembling the personal effects of the subject, and then photo copying the assemblage. Here is the cover and the "portraits" of Roland Penrose, Jasia Reichardt, and Peter Schmidt. An oblong folio of 30 pages with 16 full page illustrations in black and white, photocopies pasted on grey cloth, with a heavy rubber-like opaque cover. These 3 and 13 portraits like them were bound in an edition of 25. These will be added to the "Publications" section of http://www.peterschmidtweb.com/ in the near future.

"Taking Tiger Mountain" prints - 10 of 1500

2008-03-21T18:39:00.018-04:00

The "Taking Tiger Mountain" prints, are known as such

because four of them appeared on Brian Eno's album of the

same name. They are a series of 1500 unique prints,

composed of photo booth pictures(not Polaroids)of

Brian Eno with treatments and musings by Peter Schmidt.

They were realised by Peter and his students at Watford

School of Art in 1974. Peter gave many of them to friends,

sold a few through galleries, and sold some through

EG Records. Here are ten. It would be ideal to assemble

as many of them as possible. If you have one, or a few,

please consider adding a photo of yours to the collection.

www.PeterSchmidtWeb.com

Peter Schmidt Web

2008-03-16T12:11:00.004-04:00

Peter Schmidt Web has been updated. Two pages from the 1966 Curwen Prints Catalogue, showing all six of the "Cycloid" prints has been added to the "Miscellaneous" section (many thanks to Jill at Curwen Gallery). Tiger Mountan print 73 of 1500 (collection of Dr. Steven Lynn) is our fifth, a new photograph of "Land in the North" can be found on page 6 of "His Work" (courtesy Eggert Petursson and The Living Art Museum), as well as twenty photos of recently auctioned pieces (Ewbank Auctions), six line drawings from Peter's time in Iceland (again thanks to Eggert), and several pictures of watercolors from my visit to London a few months ago to latter pages of the "His Work" section. Special thanks to Maria Kiernan for her assistance.

www.PeterSchmidtWeb.com

"Droplet", by Peter Schmidt

2008-03-13T19:48:00.005-04:00

A black and white abstract painting, 50" H x 40" W, on canvas.

Signed and dated 1966.

I obtained it through an auction held today in England.

"On Her Majesty's Secret Service", with Peter Schmidt

2008-03-09T03:29:00.013-04:00

A few of Peter Schmidt's "Monoprints" are seen in the

007 film, "On Her Majesty's Secret Service"

starring George Lazenby as James Bond from 1969.

Examples of the "Monoprints" can be found here:

http://www.peterschmidtweb.com/work12.html

A "Tiger Mountain" print, No. 73 of 1500...

2008-03-08T19:01:00.007-05:00

From the collection of Dr. Steven Lynn.

This and about thirty other works from various periods

will be added to http://www.peterschmidtweb.com/ in the days to come.

Peter Schmidt - Water, the vapors...

2008-02-25T19:39:00.008-05:00

Three watercolor paintings of clouds by Peter Schmidt.

www.PeterSchmidtWeb.com

Peter Schmidt - Water, the sea...

2008-02-18T09:41:00.007-05:00

Three paintings of the sea, by Peter Schmidt.

In Peter's family collections.

www.PeterSchmidtWeb.com

Peter Schmidt - Water, glasses of...

2008-02-15T18:37:00.011-05:00

Three paintings, glasses of water, by Peter Schmidt,

from the collection of Esme Schmidt.

http://www.peterschmidtweb.com/

"...what remained there".

2008-02-09T12:06:00.000-05:00

I would imagine these were painted around the same time. In the pamphlet for Peter's retrospective exhibition in Reykjavik in 1995, his friend Eggert Petursson wrote,"Travel was necessary for Peter to paint. He longed for solitude and sought to investigate the influence solitude had on his perception of the world about him. Painting itself was for him, just a part of the creative process. He went for walks, submitting himself to the influence of whatever met his eye. He did not take with him a sketchbook or any paint tools, but when he finished his walk he emptied his mind of all superfluities and painted from memory what remained there".

The new "Monoprint"...

2008-01-27T20:18:00.001-05:00

The new "Monoprint" has arrived. It's in much better condition than the seller's photographs indicated. It was purchased through an estate sale in Canada, sadly, it was the only piece by Peter Schmidt. There were 200 of the "Monoprints" created by Peter in 1968. I will add this, and a few detail pictures of it to www.PeterSchmidtWeb.com in the coming days.

Curwen Gallery circa 1965-66...

2008-01-16T20:34:00.000-05:00

Inquiries have been made to PeterSchmidtWeb for works like these illustrated above. This request could lead to possible inclusion in an exhibit at a London gallery this summer of late modernist painting. These and other works like them were exhibited at Curwen Gallery in 1966. The piece on the left is "For Esme", 1965, and on the right "not titled", 1965, both emulsion on photographic paper. The ownership of these two pieces is unknown. The advertisement appeared in "Studio International", February 1966. Please email info@peterschidtweb.com if you are aware of any examples of Peter's work from this period.

“Snæfellsnes in the distance”

2008-01-13T11:44:00.000-05:00

Ingólfur and Susan Guðjónsson of Sheffield, England,

have shared the image of their Peter Schmidt painting which is a view across Faxaflói Bay to the glacier of Snæfellsnes in Iceland. "I dont think it had a name,but when the image was used for the Living Art exhibition in Reykjavík in 1995 somebody wrote on the back “Snæfellsnes in the distance”. I don't think it was there before! We bought the painting in 1978 at Gallery Suðurgata 7 and we almost bought another, "Sprengisandur", which subsequently appeared in the Iceland Review magazine. How we love ours and miss the other one! We only met once or twice with Peter but we could so easily have become friends. I guess that that feeling is common to most of us as he died so young".

Insights from Russell Mills...

2008-01-08T20:12:00.000-05:00

Peter Schmidt and Russell Mills were good friends. They met through a common friend, Brian Eno, and both are responsible for making some classic album covers for Brian. I've had the pleasure of corresponding with Russ for several years, and he's been sharing his thoughts on Peter's motivation and technique. Have a look at the "Quotes" section of PeterSchmidtWeb for an excerpt from a recent note...

New Picture of "The Tunnel"

2008-01-07T18:39:00.000-05:00

Eggert Petursson, a dear friend of Peter's and an esteemed artist, has sent a much better photograph of "The Tunnel", a watercolor painting from 1978, which resides in the National Gallery of Iceland. Eggert and another artist, Ingolfur Arnarsson were instrumental in bringing Peter and his work to Iceland for two exhibitions in the late 70's, and later a retrospective in 1995. They have both been very supportive of the effort to preserve Peter's legacy.

New acquisition...

2008-01-06T16:54:00.001-05:00

Monoprint, 1968