Peter Pálffy

Peter Pálffy (born September 10, 1899 in Harmannsdorf near Korneuburg , † October 27, 1987 in Vienna ) was an Austrian artist, painter and graphic artist.

Life

Count Peter Pálffy was born in 1899 at Seebarn Castle near Korneuburg, Lower Austria, owned by his grandfather, Count Hans Wilczek . As a descendant of the important Hungarian aristocratic and magnate family Pálffy , mother Lucia and father Joseph.

He spent his early youth in the manor in Smolenice , Slovakia, where he also received private lessons. In 1913 he attended a grammar school in Bratislava . In 1916 he had to attend the military academy in Wiener Neustadt . In 1917 he graduated from the Ludovica Academy in Budapest as a military academician .

In the summer of 1918 he was retired and started his service as a lieutenant in the 5th Hussar Regiment in Komorn . Peter Pálffy takes part in the last battles of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy . After the collapse of the monarchy, he went back to Smolenice and, at his father's request, trained in the management of agricultural goods on an estate near Galant, Hungary. When his father died in 1920 he decided to embark on an artistic career.

artistic education

Peter Pálffy showed his talent for drawing in his childhood and youth. This was supported by his family and the tutors. Numerous family friends including scientists, poets and painters Hans Fuchs, Julius Payer , Franz Lehnbach and many others had a great influence on his artistic development. In 1921 he went to Munich , where in April he passed the entrance examination with Prof. Angelo Jank at the Academy of Fine Arts . He started with oil painting and worked in the graphic field. In 1922 Peter Pálffy moved to Berlin , where he attended the University of Fine Arts with Prof. Erich Wolfsfeld until 1923. He also had his first own studio in Berlin . In 1924 he traveled to Italy to see the most important art sites and museums as a source of inspiration.

Paris 1924-1933

At the end of 1924 he moved to Paris , where he stayed until 1933. From there he also visited many travel destinations around the world. Paris was the most important stage in his artistic development. He became friends with Francis Picabia and with Louis Marcoussis he was a close friend. There he also got to know Austrian artistic personalities such as Adolf Loos and Georg Merkel . In 1928 he had his first exhibition in the Myrbor Gallery with the Polish sculptor August Zamoyski. The owner of the Marie Cuttoli gallery was a friend of Pablo Picasso .

Slovakia 1933-1945

In 1933 he had to leave Paris for family reasons and until 1945 spent most of his time on his family's estates and castles in Slovakia. He found his home for his artistic work at the Cervený Kamen Castle . He painted a lot in oils and also created watercolors and drawings. He also dealt with monumental and wall painting " al fresco " and "al secco" and implemented it in the pharmacy of the Bibersburg and on the outer walls of the manor house in Smolenice. He was in close contact with the Hungarian and Slovak avant-garde and the most important artists of his time from these countries. Through friendship and correspondence with artists such as Josef Dobrowsky , Georg Merkel and Alfred Wickenburg , he kept in constant contact with Austria . He becomes a member and vice-president of the Pressburg Art Association and the New Society of Visual Artists in Budapest. Unfortunately, due to the political situation, his planning of an art center and an artists' colony on one of the family castles in Wittencz with work and exhibition space and a museum could no longer be carried out. He showed his works to the public in many exhibitions, including in Vienna during the Secession , Ernst Museum in Budapest and various galleries and art associations. In 1945 Peter Pálffy and his family had to flee from the Red Army to Austria, the country of his birth. Almost all of his fortune and almost all of his artistic work was lost. The works left behind at Cervený Kamen Castle are part of the museum there.

Kitzbühel 1945–1962

He lived for some time with his cousin Theresa Kinsky, near Linz, a little later he moved to Kitzbühel . There he then volunteered as Lieutenant Colonel Assimilé of the French armed forces for the Red Cross. He stayed in Kitzbühel for 17 years until 1962. From the 1950s onwards, Peter Pálffy increasingly dealt with abstract painting and experimented with print graphics, lithography , silk screen printing and linocut . As a member of the Art Club , he showed his works in Vienna, Linz, Rome and Turin, among others. In 1955 he took part on “4. Austrian graphics competition ”in Innsbruck and reached 1st place. He also becomes a member of “Der Kreis”. He took part in numerous other exhibitions in Austria , Germany , Switzerland and also in New York .

Vienna 1962–1987

In 1962 he married Gerlinde Schuch and moved to Vienna in a studio apartment. Peter Pálffy devoted his time to his abstract works and took part in numerous exhibitions until he died in Vienna in 1987 at the age of 88.

Membership in art associations

“Salon des Artistes Independants”, Paris
“KUT”, Society of Fine Artists, Budapest
"PMH", Kunstverein Preßburg
“Professional Association of Fine Artists”, Innsbruck
“Association of Visual Artists”, Vienna
“ Art Club ”, Vienna
“International Artist Club”, Österreichhaus - Palais Pálffy, Vienna
“The Circle”, Vienna

Solo exhibitions

1928 Paris, Myrbor Gallery
1937 Pressburg, art association
1955 Innsbruck, art pavilion
1964 Vienna, international artist club in the Österreichhaus, Palais Pálffy
1968 Vienna, International Artist Club in the Österreichhaus, Palais Pálffy
1969 retrospective within the annual exhibition "Der Kreis"
1970 Vienna, Wittmann Gallery
1974 Vienna, Modern Art Gallery
1979 Vienna, “Investor's Club”, Creditanstalt
1987 Vienna, Galerie Hieke
1991 Vienna, Marschalek Gallery
1992 Bratislava, Medium Gallery
1992 Prague, europ. Cultural club
1992 Slovakia, Smolenice Castle
1995 New Gallery of the City of Linz, "Peter Pálffy, Retrospective 1920–1980"
2020 Vienna, Galerie Hieke, "Peter Pálffy"

Participation in exhibitions (selection)

1928 39th exhibition of the “Salon des Indépendents”, Grand Palais, Paris
1936 Vienna, spring exhibition of the Hagebund and autumn exhibition of the Secession, Vienna
1936 Pressburg, art association
1937 Budapest, Kut
1940 Tamas Gallery, Budapest
1941 Pressburg, Madách Gallery, Art Association
1943 Budapest, Ernst Museum, Èva Almásy-Teleki Gallery
1948 Vienna Art Club, graphic exhibition
1948Innsbruck, Association of Visual Artists
1949 Linz, New Gallery of the City of Linz "The Art Club"
1949 Turin, Palazzo Carignano
1949 Rome, Galleria Nazionale d´Arte Moderne
1952 Munich, Karin Hilscher Gallery
1952 Vienna, Secession, "International Graphics"
1953 Salzburg, artist house "Modern Art in Austria"
1954 Switzerland, Arbon Castle, "Masterpieces of Graphics and Drawing"
1955 New York, Galerie de Braux, "Austrian Painters"
1955 Innsbruck, Tyrolean Art Pavilion, "4th Austrian Graphic Competition"
1955 Bregenz, opening exhibition of the Bregenz Festival, Künstlerhaus
1955 Palais Thurn und Taxis, "Master Graphics in Austria"
1956 Vienna, Secession, "Cross Section 1956"
1957 Vienna, Galerie Wolfram, Palais Lobkowitz "Values of the small format"
1959 Salzburg, Residenz Gallery, "Contemporary Art"
1960 Vienna, Künstlerhaus, artist group "Der Kreis"
1961 Grenchen, Parktheater, “2. International Triennial for Colored Original Graphics "
1962 Aachen, Amendt art dealer
1963 Kitzbühel, museum cellar
1966 Vienna, Künstlerhaus "20 years of the artist group Der Kreis"
1969 Vienna, Künstlerhaus, "Siegfried Fischer and Peter Pálffy"
1969 Pressburg, art association
1971 Vienna, Secession, "The good picture for everyone"
1972 Vienna, Künstlerhaus, “Man and the City” as part of the Wiener Festwochen
1976 Vienna, Europa Club
1978 Vienna, Stubenbastei, "The Circle"
1978 Potzneusiedl Castle, Egermann Gallery
1979 Vienna, Museum of Applied Arts, "The Unknown Collection"
1981 Vienna, Historical Museum, "The district documentation of a Viennese artists' association 1946–1980"
1982 Vienna, Museum of the 20th Century, "The Art Club in Austria"
1988 Linz, New Gallery of the City of Linz, "New Acquisitions and Foundations"
2018 Vienna, Belvedere, "Klimt is not the end, a new beginning in Central Europe"

Works owned by museums

Slovak National Gallery Bratislava
Cervený Kamen Museum
Bratislava City Museum
Lentos Art Museum, Linz
Museum of Modern Art Ludwig Foundation Vienna - mumok

literature

"Art Club", exhibition catalog, Vienna 1981, pp. 140, 141
"Der Kreis" ,, exhibition catalog, Historical Museum of the City of Vienna 1981, p. 10
"Peter Pálffy", monograph, New Gallery of the City of Linz, 1995/96
"Troublemakers - the horror of the avant-garde from Makart to Nitsch", Lentos Linz, 2008, pp. 128, 129
“The Austrian painters born 1881–1900”, Volume 2, Heinrich Fuchs, p. K 34, 51
“Peter Pálffy”, exhibition catalog, Medium Gallery, Bratislava, 1992

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Pálffy, Peter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Austrian artist
DATE OF BIRTH	September 10, 1899
PLACE OF BIRTH	Harmannsdorf near Korneuburg
DATE OF DEATH	October 27, 1987
Place of death	Vienna