Richard Peterson

“The use of Alchemist® Amber Varnishes in my medium has enabled me to attain handling capabilities and a depth of color that heretofore was lacking in the materials I was using. This has deepened my spiritual connection with the past Masters through this marvelous vehicle.”

Richard Peterson

Biography

Richard Peterson has been involved in creating art since he was very young. He owes much of his early inspiration to visits to art museums and recalls being captivated by the works of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, especially the work of the Dutch painters. He marveled at the jewel-like quality of the paintings by many of these artists. Without any instruction and with no technical information to delve into, he struggled to replicate the qualities of the early pictures, and with some success.
It was in his teens that he began, by happenstance, to become involved with the conservation of old paintings. This led him onto a path of research that would open up for him the 'secrets' of the Old Masters. One of which was that there were no secrets, just a record of a great technique, solid procedures, and wonderful materials (pigments, oils and the like), all forgotten and ignored by the mid-nineteen sixties. Richard Peterson set out to change this situation - to learn about the various properties of the pigments both ancient and modern.
That Richard Peterson is not a household name is merely an attribute of creating works that are decidedly not commercial; instead, being created in a very limited number for a very discerning clientele all over the world. Fine galleries did buy his work and it did sell, if very selectively at galleries such as Morantin-Nouvion in Paris, Maxwell in San Francisco and Old World in Newport Beach, California. In 1975 Richard Peterson had a two-man exhibition with Norman Rockwell at the Hagenmaker Gallery in Beverly Hills, CA. In addition to frequent participation in salons in Paris and Europe, he was also the 'unofficial' house artist at the legendary Palace Hotel in St. Moritz, holding annual exhibitions attended by such personages as Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia, Prince Thun und Taxis, Valarian Rybar, Christina Onassis. The hotel was itself a collector of Mr. Petersons' paintings, both the owners, the Badrutts in their private collection, and in the private suites.
Richard's paintings repose in important collections worldwide, private museums in the Orient, royal collections, corporate collections, celebrities, and other walks of life both grand and humble, all of which treasure his work.

Baroque Floral (detail)
by Richard Peterson