Remembering Peter...

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Today marks 32 years since the passing of Peter Schmidt during a painting holiday in the Canary Islands.  Though I never met him, through my work assembling www.PeterSchmidtWeb.com, I have come to know him well, getting to know him has been a rewarding and enriching experience for me.  I have met his two children, his brother and sister, two of his wives and countless friends and acquaintances.  All have been very kind and generous, letting me into their homes and their lives for the purpose of documenting the life of this obscure but dedicated artist.  As his friend Alain D'Hooghe once said to me, "there is not a day that passes that I don't think about him..."

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"Winterflowers", Eggert Pétursson

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"Winterflowers"

2011

Eggert Pétursson(b. 1956)

Oil on canvas, 20" x 10"

Dedicated to Peter Schmidt
(Collection of John Emr)

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I absolutely love this artist's work.  He has been a pivotal supporter and good friend to me and of the Peter Schmidt Web.  He and his friend Ingolfur Arnarsson are responsible for all of the content culled from Peter's time spent in Iceland.  A while back, I humbly asked Eggert to enter into a trade, one of mine for one of his.  He agreed.  Within days, I dug out one of my favorite pieces, "Duchamp Box" and shipped it to Reykjavik.  After Eggert completed the work for his spring and summer exhibits, he took a well needed break, and about 2 months ago, set aside some time to create a painting for me.  A month ago he advised me he'd completed it, and that once it was dry, he'd send it to New York.  The painting arrived on the day of Christman Eve.  I was very anxious to see it.  I calmed myself, sat down and carefully opened the package.  As I finally came to the last layer of protection, I could see the work.  I was so stunned by the beauty and intricacy of the painting I was literally trembling.  After years of seeing Eggert's work on the internet, I could only imagine the level of detail and sheer beauty he was capable of.  A superlative effort. 

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These are the first flowers that bloom after the harsh Icelandic winter...
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http://www.kvikmyndir.com/eggertpeturssonis/

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A Peter Schmidt exhibition and Offering...

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Courtesy of Simon Hilton

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Peter would have been 80 today...

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May 17, 1931

Peter Schmidt was born in Berlin, Germany

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The endeavor called "PeterSchmidtWeb", was inspired by his

work and the many people who's lives he touched and inspired.

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Peter is pictured above at an exhibition in Reykjavik, Iceland, 1978

(Photo courtesy of the Reykjavik Museum of Photography)

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From Hansjorg Mayer's webslide...

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"Rot-a-prints", title page
Book, published by Editions Hansjorg Mayer, 1968
Image from http://www.hansjorgmayer.com/
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Robert Wyatt & 3 Tigers...

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A still from a promo video for "Diamond Head" at Phil Manzanera's website.
Looks like maybe 1974 or 75. http://www.manzanera.com/
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"Chair"...

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"Chair"

Peter Schmidt

1961

oil paint on canvas
(provenance unknown)
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Ephemera from "Remembered Images"...

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Invitation to the private viewing of "Remembered Images", 1987

(Images donated by Kevin Cann)

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A review of the retrospective exhibition from the Observer, Watford and West Herts Review, 1987

(Image donated by Kevin Cann)

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Brian Eno, Kevin Cann and Brian Eno...

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Photos from the opening of "Remembered Images", 1987

(Images donated by Kevin Cann)

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Two Tigers...

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"Taking Tiger Mountain", 1083 of 1500

Peter Schmidt

1974

Lithograph

(collection of Kevin Cann)

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"Taking Tiger Mountain", 557 of 1500

Peter Schmidt

1974

Lithograph

(collection of Kevin Cann)

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Kevin curated the exhibition "Remembered Images", a retrospective of Peter's work at the Watford Museum of Art in 1987.

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Pencil drawing of his studio...

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"Studio"

Peter Schmidt

1972

Pencil on paper

(Collection of the Schmidt Family)

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An invitation...

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"Invitation"

Peter Schmidt

1969

Mixed Media

(Collection of Marcus Campbell Art Books)
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"13 x 10 cm brown card box, franked for postage, addressed to Max Wykes-Joyce, containing an artist's multiple of a 6 cm metal spring, cased in plastic netting, pressed into a yellow adhesive blob, laid on scallop and gilt edged card, along with a folded sheet with a printed invitation to Electronic Soupmixes, a concert of recent tapes and live soundmixing at the Curwen Gallery, with rubber stamped exhibition dates. Box lightly worn, staples rusted, o.w. very good condition."
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Currently being offered for sale at Abebooks:

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http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=4038020663&cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want&cm_ite=viewbook

More details can be had from Marcus at +44 (0) 20 7261 0111 or at info@marcuscampbell.co.uk

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Due diligence by Rory Walsh...

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5 "Taking Tiger Mountain" prints...

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This typed description is part of Peter's portfolio.
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"Taking Tiger Mountain"

Peter Schmidt

1974

From an edition of 1500, each unique

Silk screen print

These five and one other are not signed or numbered,

it is not known if they are counted among the 1500.

(Collection of the Schmidt Family)

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There are 45 versions documented at Peter Schmidt Web
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Eggert Pétursson speaks...

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Eggert Pétursson is interviewed on his most recent exhibition of paintings.
http://dagskra.ruv.is/sjonvarpid/4544990/2010/12/08/2/
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Hope you enjoy it despite the mystery of the Icelandic language.
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"Is that 1962?"...

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"...I handed him a copy of the "Departures(from Cubism and Beyond)" DVD. I told him what it was and he seemed shocked. Looking at it closely he said "I did not even know there was any footage of Peter." Adding "Is that 1962? That's very early. Thank you, I would love to see it". He asked me my name and said that he had seen me at other events. I reminded him that I had approached him at the Royal Academy about doing something for the website and that he had said that he was too busy. "Maybe I will reverse that decision", he said. He thanked me again and then had his picture with Richard(Mills) and his son."

- Rory Walsh, on his encounter with Peter Schmidt's friend and collaborator Brian Eno, after a recent lecture by Eno at Hay-on-Wye. I'd like to acknowledge Rory's friendship and support, and most of all his determination.
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Looking backwards...

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"I've spoken to Anthea and we're rather mystified that Brian apparently told someone* that he had "tons of stuff". To Anthea (and my) knowledge, he has very little. He has the painting "Evening Star" (which unfortunately has some damage which needs to be repaired) and some lithographs of 'Taking Tiger Mountain'."

From my correspondance with Opal Ltd., Brian Eno's office...
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* Rory Walsh
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At the Kitchen in New York City...

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On Sunday, February 5, 1978, Fripp made his first official solo appearance in over three years, at the Kitchen in Soho: this was also the first time he used the name "Frippertronics" for his tape-delay system. The concert came about almost by accident: originally Fripp and Joanna Walton had intended to give an intimate performance for invited friends in Walton's apartment; evidently they feared it might get too noisy, and moved the event to the Kitchen.

The concert was written up in the Village Voice by John Piccarella, who describes the atmosphere of anticipation, long lines of people waiting to get in wrapped around the block in the cold. Fripp, perhaps wishing to defuse some of his own anxiety as well as to brace the audience for some very un-King-Crimsonish music, began by comparing his new music to intimate "salon" music; he reportedly "reserved the right to be boring and unintelligent."

The sound, if not the ineffable presence and ambiance, of this event has been preserved on a two-LP bootleg, Pleasures in Pieces. This curious artifact contains five Frippertronics pieces, starkly titled "The First," "The Second," "The Third," "The Fourth," and "The Fifth," as well as a text-music piece by Walton, Fripp, and others, which functioned as an interlude between two Frippertronic sets. Piccarella described Walton's piece as follows: "A taped series of quotations from linguistic philosophers was rendered both sensible and ridiculous by a series of silent physical performances. 'Oblique Strategies,' the set of directional cards written by Eno and Peter Schmidt, were circulated among several performers whose movements were, presumably, improvised according to the cards presented. One woman wrote on a large screen what appeared to be transcriptions, literal or otherwise, of the words on the cards ..."

From:
ROBERT FRIPP - FROM CRIMSON KING TO CRAFTY MASTER
by Eric Tamm
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"A Painters Use of Sound", Programme...

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"A Painters Use of Sound", Programme

Peter Schmidt

1967

Printed matter to accompany the show at ICA, 1968

(Collection of the Schmidt Family)

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Pencil Drawing...

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Pencil Drawing

Peter Schmidt

1972

Pencil on paper

(Provenance unknown)

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Gouaches...

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"Gouache 3"

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"Gouache 4"
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Peter Schmidt
1971
Gouache painting on board
From a series of 4
(Provenance Unknown)
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"Programmed Tiddly Winks 3"...

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"Programmed Tiddly Winks 3"

Peter Schmidt

1967

152 x 152 cm

Tiddly Winks on board

(Provenance Unknown)

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"Dissolution"...

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"Dissolution"

Peter Schmidt

1972

Line drawing

One of 64 "Hexagrams of the I Ching" drawings

(Provenance Unknown)

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"Frame Painting"...

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"Frame Painting"

Peter Schmidt

1973

Acrylic on canvas

(Provenance Unknown)

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A Curwen "Monoprint"...

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"Monoprint"

Peter Schmidt

From Curwen Gallery Exhibition,

53 x 38 cm, 1968

Silk Screen with hand applied inks

(Provenance unknown)

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"Monoprint" from Curwen Gallery Exhibit...

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"Monoprint"

Peter Schmidt

1968

Silkscreen and hand applied inks on board

38 x 53 cm.

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