Biografie von Carl William PETERS (1897-1980)

Birth place: Rochester, NY

Addresses: Fairport, NY/Rockport, MA (summers, from 1925)

Profession: Painter, teacher

Studied: Rochester Inst. Tech., 1914; ASL, 1919; ASL Summer School, Woodstock, NY with Charles Rosen, Harry Leith-Ross, 1921; John F. Carlson in Woodstock, 1922

Exhibited: NAD, 1926-45 (first, second & third Hallgarten Prizes, 1926, 1928 & 1932); Univ. Rochester, 1924 (prize); Rochester AC, frequently (medal, 1925; prizes, 1927-28); Buffalo SA, 1927 (prize); PAFA Ann., 1927-28, 1933; Corcoran Gal biennials, 1930-35 (3 times); AIC; AWCS; Milwaukee AI; North Shore AA (prize, 1931); Rockport AA (frequently, prizes: 1951-52, 1954-55, 1960-61; gold medal,1971); Springfield Mus. Art; Rochester Mem. Art Gal, 1932 (prize); Univ. Rochester, 1924 (Fairchild gift); Albright Art Gal.; Syracuse Mus. FA, 1930 (solo); Fort Worth Mus. Art

Member: AWCS; Buffalo SA; Springfield AA; AFA; Rockport AA; Woodstock AA; Rochester Art Cl.; Academic Artists; Genesee Group (the Rationalists); NSAA 1929-52.

Work: NMAA and other public collections. Commissions: "Evolution of Contemporary Commerce in Rochester" (mural), Genessee Valley Trust headquarters, Rochester, 1930; "From Painting Man to Modern Lines" (mural), Madison H.S., Rochester (mural), 1937; "Settling of Genessee Valley" (mural), West H.S., Rochester, U.S. Govt., 1938; Charlotte H.S. (mural),1940; Fairport Public Library, Rochester (mural); "Tribute to Devotion" (mural), Rochester Acad. of Medicine, 1941.

Comments: Impressionist landscape painter who focused on New York's Genesee Valley and Massachusett"s Cape Ann area (in particular Rockport, 1925-on). He was a muralist during the WPA era for Rochester- area buildings. In the 1940s, he joined an association of Rochester artists called the Genesee Group (or Rationalists) who believed that art should advance not by revolution but more slowly, through evolution. Teaching: life class, Univ. Rochester; Rochester Memorial A. Gal.

Sources: WW73; WW47; Artists of the Rockport Art Association (1956); Christian Title, Carl W. Peters, 1897-1980, exh. cat. (Los Angeles: De Ville Gal, 1986); Falk, Exh. Record Series; add'l info. courtesy Spaniermann Gal, NYC; North Shore AA; Woodstock AA.