Gabor Peterdi

At about the age of 24, Peterdi emigrated to the United States in 1939, at the time of the beginning of World War II in Europe. He first settled in New York, but joined the Army, serving with the United States in Europe during the war.^[3]

He established and directed the Graphic Workshop at the Brooklyn Museum Art School.^[4] Among his students after World War II was Edmond Casarella, who developed an innovative technique for layering cardboard as a medium to be carved like woodcuts.

Peterdi taught at Hunter College (1952–60) and at the Yale School of Art (1960–87).^[3][5] He was a major influence on younger American printmakers, including Robert Bero and Danny Pierce. Chuck Close served as his assistant while working on his MFA at Yale from 1962 to 1964.^[6] He was associated with the New York branch of Atelier 17.^[7]

In April 1963, Peterdi traveled to Alaska, lecturing briefly at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks and visiting Anchorage, Nome, Kotzebue, and Point Hope with former student Danny Pierce. Over the following two years, he worked on paintings and prints related to his Arctic experience.^[8] In 1964 he was the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship.^[9] Through this period when New York was the center of Abstract Expressionism, Peterdi maintained his interest in and exploration of the natural world in his work.^[3]

Peterdi died on August 13, 2001, in Stamford, Connecticut.^[2]

Peterdi's work is held by the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco,^[10] the Cleveland Museum of Art,^[11] the National Gallery of Art,^[12] the Metropolitan Museum of Art,^[13] and the Smithsonian American Art Museum,^[14] among other institutions.^[15]

• images of Peterdi's work at the Smithsonian American Art Museum