Friday, August 13, 2010

Peter Schmidt - Summary of Work...

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"Self Portrait"
Peter Schmidt
Oil on canvas, 76 x 61 cm
1961
(Provenance unknown)
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Feast or famine.
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Having just about run out of materials to feed this personal beast, PeterSchmidtWeb, I have been stretching out "The Thoughts Behind the Thoughts" over the past couple of months. Recent eBay auctions, and some quotes I've been collecting have somewhat rounded things out. Very hungry, bordering on bored.
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I remembered when I first met Peter's family in Southwark in 2007, I was shown a couple of scrapbooks. At the time I was only aware of about 15 of his works. The books were certainly of interest, though my journey to London was to see paintings. I don't even think the website was more than an idea.
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Last week I spoke with Simon, and enquired about the scrapbooks. My recollections of the bits and pieces I could remember, told me there was a treasure trove of information, that would keep the beast at bay for some time. He offered to send them over to me in New York for digestion.
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The books arrived today. I relaxed, posted today's "...Thoughts", made a cup of coffee and opened the package. The two "Summary of Work" portfolios are indeed chock full of ephemera, which I, your humble curator, find truly elucidating. Assembled in 1975, and reaching back as far as the late 1940's. These books will help to fill in many of the blank spaces which have existed in Peter's oeuvre, for me, for some time. They are rich with details, and images of unseen works. It will take weeks to scan and months to post. These books will double the size of the collection. A feast for this beast.
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