 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Peter Almássy Biography Born in Baden, meant to draw and paint, the young Peter Almássy enrols in the Academy on Schillerplatz. He is studying nude painting with Prof. Herbert Böckl. Graphic design is supposed to provide the financial security net. After having already completed four semesters, his father is killed in an accident. In addition to the personal tragedy, there are economic problems. The son must now do "something sensible," according to his mother. So, PeterAlmássy joins the Casino Austria AG. There he is not only earning his living, but puts energy and fantasy to work to become a successful leading manager. Aside from various placements in Austria he also spends six years in Greece, a period of happiness for him who experiences the southern light so intensively. He has never ceased to be fascinated by art and painting without ever neglecting his career. He understands how to budget the precious commodity time very consciously - which is an art in itself. Arnold Schönberg is supposed to have said: art derives from ability and from compulsion. Peter Almássy needs to draw and paint. He acquires techniques and cultivates them. There is not enough free time for the complicated painting in oil, therefore he resorts to tempera painting, inspired by Max Weiler whom he admires as uncompromising artistic personality. He develops mixed techniques, is very interested in the theory of colour, loves colours with their shades, substances and smells. He studies them and carefully prepares them. Peter Almássy is not a colourful painter. He perceives colours which are too strong as aggression, a trait which he does not like. Being extroverted, optimistic, and a friend of the light, he also does not paint in dark and gloomy colours. Dainty colours dominate; a pale blue, shy pink, ochre, greys in the most delicate nuances. He discovers colourful shadows. When time allows it, there are voyages towards the light. Next to Greece there is Cyprus, and then California to see the son. The big experience will always be the desert: the Sahara, the South of Algeria with the incredible formations of the Hoggar, the Libyan desert of Egypt, Yemen. Uncountable degrees of light and shade, forms and lines. The eye mediates the existential experience of the infinity in time and space. Similarly, on the other side, he is overwhelmed by the expanse of the Pacific Ocean. He does not try to render the impressions collected by the retina. That is left to photography. He observes nature and experiences it. Impressions remain, are stored in the inner eye and are later transformed into art in the studio. Impressions, moods, resurface from the memory and are transferred into the work in progress. The "adventure" painting is planned in the head, sometimes prepared in sketches - never is he sure if the outcome is a success. It might succeed, it might involve a long process. The artist outlines and paints until the work is finished. Only then it will be signed and not touched anymore. He is interested in structures like stones, sand grasses, a piece of bark. A plate in the Cycladic museum becomes the inspiration for a three-dimensional painting. A military vehicle, stranded in the desert during the war and since then left to wind and sand; nobody being aware of the human tragedies taking place around this vehicle during the madness of the war. A piece of tarpaulin, a rag, is being brought in a picture to Austria: "1944 abandoned." Abandoned for eternity. Everything is subtly hinted. Peter Almássy does not want to be the forceful story-teller. He is lyricist. The observer should discover and "walk through" his paintings using his own fantasy. He should complete it for himself, should interpret it and conquer it. "The torso is more beautiful than the perfect statue" he says. For Peter Almássy, his work is "a journey around the world seen with the eyes of a painter." A thoughtful painter with deep internal tension reflected in his personal aesthetics. Peter Almássy who lives in his beloved atelier home in the city of his birth, Baden, now has the room and time for harvesting and sowing anew. We have seen good work by him and can expect good work from him in the future.
|
 |
 |
 |
 |