Peter Graf
In addition to portraits and still lifes featuring everyday objects such as a meat grinder, a broiler, a lemon or tablets, Peter Graf loves allegory, often incorporating artistic references ranging from Parmigianino and Caspar David Friedrich to Manet and Picasso. Compositions developed to the point of abstraction, especially landscapes, testify to an artist whose pictorial creations never cease to surprise and who clearly takes great pleasure in painting.
curriculum vitae
| 1937 | born in Crimmitschau near Zwickau |
| 1949/1950 | participation in drawing courses at the Volkshochschule Zwickau under Karl Michel |
| 1952 | relocation to Dresden, classes taught by Heinz Drache |
| friendship with Winfried Dierske, Peter Herrmann, Ralf Winkler (A.R. Penck) and Peter Makolies | |
| 1953 | since then student of Jürgen Böttcher (Strawalde) in evening classes at the Volkshochschule |
| 1956 | student at the Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weißensee under Toni Mau |
| 1957 | relegation from the Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weißensee, return to Dresden |
| 1957-1985 | working as a transport worker, truck driver, warehouse employee and forklift driver – painting after work |
| 1961 | since then solo and group exhibitions |
| 1971 | co-founder of the artist group »Luecke« |
| 1975 | member of the Association of Visual Artists of the GDR |
| 1985 | since then freelance work in Dresden |
| 1991 | marriage to the painter Karen Graf |
| 1999 | Bautzen Art Award |
| 2000 | Egmont-Schaefer-Award for drawings |
| 2001 | Hans-Theo-Richter-Prize of the Saechsische Akademie der Kuenste |
| 2007 | Art Award of Radebeul |
| lives and works in Radebeul |
Peter Graf's poetic paintings thrive on their dreamlike, surreal atmosphere, their alienation and tongue-in-cheek subtext, but also on their longing and melancholy. It is a quiet, cultivated style of painting that masterfully combines muted tones of violet, blue, turquoise, green and brown with bright counterpoints.
Peter Graf. Heilbutt, kalt geräuchert, Faltblatt zur Ausstellung, Dresden: Galerie Himmel 2016, S. [3-4]
Peter Graf is a meticulous painter obsessed with his art, who particularly cultivates oil painting. Without preparatory drawings or sketches, he simply starts painting and gradually develops the picture until it is complete, doubting, struggling, changing, destroying and starting again.
Gegen den Zynismus der Zeit, in: SAX, Ausgabe Oktober 2024, S. 34
further exhibitions
| 1961 | Akademie der Kuenste, Berlin: »Junge Künstler« |
| 1965 | Puschkinhaus, Dresden (with Peter Herrmann, Peter Makolies and Ralf Winkler/A.R. Penck) |
| 1967 | Kabinett für Lehrweiterbildung, Berlin |
| 1969 | Kunstausstellung Kuehl, Dresden |
| 1971 | Hechtstr. 25, Dresden: »Lücke Frequentor« (participation) |
| 1973 | Kunstkaten Heringsdorf |
| Kreiskulturhaus Erich Weinert, Berlin-Pankow (with Eberhard Goeschel and Peter Herrmann) | |
| Glockenspielpavillon, Zwinger, Dresden | |
| 1974 | Chemnitz Theater |
| EP Galerie Jürgen Schweinebraden, Berlin | |
| Winckelmann-Museum, Stendal (with Sabina Grzimek) | |
| 1975 | Galerie Nord, Dresden |
| 1976 | Gemaeldegalerie Neue Meister, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden |
| Nationalgalerie, Berlin | |
| 1977 | Leonhardi-Museum, Dresden |
| Ernst-Museum, Budapest (with Volker Henze and Ralf Winkler/A.R. Penck) | |
| 1979 | Leonhardi-Museum, Dresden |
| Damastmuseum Großschoenau (with Peter Herrmann und Christine Littwin) | |
| 10. Kunstausstellung des Bezirkes, Dresden (participation) | |
| Galerie am Savignyplatz, West-Berlin (with Sieghard Pohl and Roger Loewig) | |
| 1982 | Galerie Mitte, Dresden (with Gunter Herrmann and Peter Kaiser) |
| Leonhardi-Museum, Dresden | |
| 1983 | Ernst-Museum, Budapest |
| 1985 | Galerie Oben, Chemnitz (with Peter Makolies) |
| 1985/1986 | Ulm Art Association |
| 1986 | Galerie Reitz, Riehen, Switzerland |
| Community center »Alte Sparkasse«, Singen | |
| Galerie Doebele, Ravensburg | |
| Art 17/86 Basel, Switzerland | |
| Staedtisches Museum, Gelsenkirchen | |
| Galerie Kunst der Zeit, Dresden | |
| 1987/1988 | X. Art Exhibition of the GDR, Dresden (participation) |
| 1988 | Galerie Comenius, Dresden |
| 1989 | 12. Kunstausstellung des Bezirkes, Dresden |
| 1990 | Refectoire des Jacobins, Toulouse |
| Musee d´Art Moderne, Paris | |
| Festpielgalerie, Berlin | |
| 1991 | Galerie Oevermann, Frankfurt am Main |
| 1991/1992 | Kunsthalle Nuernberg |
| 1992 | Lindenau-Museum, Altenburg |
| Staedtische Galerie Raehnitzgasse, Dresden | |
| 1993 | Konstanz, Switzerland |
| 1995 | Galerie am Blauen Wunder, Dresden |
| 1996 | Palazzo dei Priori, Volterra, Italian |
| 1997 | Schloss Ritzebuettel, Cuxhaven |
| 2000 | Bautzen City Museum |
| Galerie Horschik, Dresden | |
| Galerie im Turm, Berlin | |
| Leonhardi-Museum, Dresden | |
| Zittau Art Gallery | |
| 2003 | Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin: »Berlin-Moscow / Moscow-Berlin« |
| 2004 | Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow: »Berlin-Moskau / Moskau-Berlin« |
| 2007/2008 | Neue Saechsische Galerie, Chemnitz: “Peter Graf – Retrospective” |
| 2010 | Galerie Neue Meister, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden: “15 Hauptwerke und Zeichnungen nach 1945” |
| 2012 | Staedtische Sammlungen Freital, Schloss Burgk, Freital: »Peter Graf – Guten Abend, Indigo« (catalogue) |
| 2014 | Galerie Klinger, Liegau-Augustusbad (with Dieter Beirich), |
| 2016 | GALERIE HIMMEL, Dresden: »Heilbutt, kalt geräuchert« |
| Galerie Neue Meister, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden: »Fünf von vielen. Peter Graf, Peter Herrmann, Peter Makolies, A.R. Penck, Strawalde – Junge Dresdner Kunst vor 50 Jahren« | |
| 2020 | Staedtische Sammlungen Freital, Schloss Burgk, Freital: (participation) |
| 2021 | GALERIE HIMMEL, Dresden: »Strawalde und sein Kreis« (participation) |
| 2022 | Stadtgalerie Radebeul: »Stillos« |
| Galerie Kunstgehaeuse, Dresden | |
| 2024 | Usedomer Kunstverein e.V., Kunstpavillion, Ostseebad Heringsdorf: »70 Jahre für die Kunst – Die Maler Jürgen Böttcher (Strawalde), Peter Herrmann, Peter Graf und Ralf Winkler (A.R. Penck) sowie der Bildhauer Peter Makolies« |
| GALERIE HIMMEL, Dresden: »Poesie des Alltags« (with Karen Graf) |
