PETER HOLBROOK  1940-2016

Upon graduation from Dartmouth in 1961, Peter received a fellowship to study art in Paris for a year. After a month he realized he could learn more about himself, art and life by hitchhiking throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He did this for a year until his funds ran out.

He returned to the US and received a Max Beckmann Fellowship, which enabled him to study art at the Brooklyn Museum Art School. His teacher, Ruben Tam was a great influence on him. Tam taught his students not to be in a hurry about making up their minds about their own style and not to be too impressed with what was current. In 1962 New York was a hub for Pop Art. Tam told his students: “You don't have to love it or hate it: just absorb it and keep an open mind. Focus on content, and style will evolve on its own.”

In 1963 Peter moved to Chicago and became immersed in its art scene. He taught art at the University of Illinois, Chicago Circle Campus while pursuing his art career from a bare bones industrial loft in the heart of the city.  His studio was a hub for artists and students who frequently dropped by. It was always a challenge to find that quiet solitude to paint. By 1970, Peter had had enough of city life. He headed west to California.

With $10,000 in his bank account, Peter was looking for land. He ended up in Humboldt County. He chose the property in Briceland because the country road ran out to the ocean and it ended there. With no experience at building a house, he volunteered to help his neighbors build  theirs. This gave him a hands-on learning experience that proved valuable when he started to build  his own home. Needing to supplement his income, Peter took a teaching job at California State University, East Bay in Hayward. On the weekends, he returned to Briceland to build his house. Once the house was finished, he was finally able to return to painting. Living in a lush area of such diversity gave Peter the opportunity to incorporate what he saw every day into a new direction for his artwork. In 1978, after visiting the Grand Canyon, Peter became fascinated with the colors, shapes and textures of the geology and started to incorporate the South West into his body of work. For Peter, the land offered up a symphony he spent his lifetime translating into paint. See Peter’s website for more paintings: https://www.peterholbrook.net

All paintings are framed with a simple redwood frame adding one inch to the dimensions.

Born in Manhattan, Peter grew up in the Westchester County section of New York. His father was a Marine who was stationed in the South Pacific during World War II. Many of Peter’s early drawings were of fighter planes. Peter was a smart child and ended up skipping a grade in grammar school. He attended Deerfield Academy, and then entered Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH in 1957. It was his father’s alma mater. Not really knowing what direction he would choose, he found himself drawn to the art department. This had a lot to do with the independence being an art student offered. Many  hours were spent in the studio or out in nature. With his independent nature it was a good fit. In his senior year Peter had his first one man show at the Carpenter Gallery on campus. The show sold out and Peter came to realize that “I might be able to do this as a living and be successful.”