Peter Schmidt (artist)

Peter Schmidt (17 May 1931 – 22 January 1980)[1] was a Berlin-born British artist, painter, theoretician of color and composition, pioneering multimedia exhibitor and an influential teacher at Watford College of Art.

He worked with Hansjörg Mayer, Brian Eno, Mark Boyle, Dieter Roth and had associations with Russell Mills, David Toop and Tom Phillips.

Peter Schmidt was born 17 May 1931 in Berlin, moved to England with his Jewish mother in 1938, and began painting in 1947.

The last exhibition Schmidt planned, called 'More Than Nothing' at Paul Ide Gallery in Brussels, was of collaborative works with Brian Eno.

Among the works shown was the first generative light box, a watercolour painting of Eno called "Portrait of Eno with Allusions",[2] several Tiger Mountain prints, the French edition of the oracle card set called Oblique Strategies, the four "Mandala Castles" and etchings created especially for this event.

Schmidt was on holiday on La Gomera in the Canary Islands when he died suddenly of a heart attack on 22 January 1980, just days before the Brussels exhibition's opening.

Schmidt met Brian Eno as a visiting lecturer at Ipswich art school in the late 1960s and later became a friend and collaborator.

Schmidt created 1500 different silk screen portraits of Eno, four of which are used on the cover of the LP Taking Tiger Mountain.

Schmidt created the water colour painting, "Portrait of Eno with Allusions"[8] originally considered for the cover of the "Before and After Science" LP.