PETER DREHER

Peter Dreher is a German realist painter born in Mannheim, Germany in 1935. At an early age, Dreher desired to be an artist and began drawing. Later he moved to painting as a freedom from the turmoil in his homeland and household during World War II. Dreher was formally trained as an artist at the Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste Karlsruhe.

                                            

Tag um Tag Guter Tag #1364, Peter Dreher, Oil on Canvas, 8 x 10 ”, 1997

Dreher's paintings have consistently been still lifes of common objects. Dreher's process is cathartic and spiritual because he strives to paint the unfamiliar in the familiar through realism. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Dreher paints to paint. Dreher's most epic piece, Tag um Tag guter Tag is a series of paintings of more than 4,000 paintings of the same simple water glass. He has painted the same glass every day since 1974. Through this series Dreher challenges himself to paint objectively and his viewers to see objectively. Dreher is heavily influenced by Zen Buddhism.

Tag um Tag Guter Tag II #1946, Peter Dreher, Oil on Canvas, 8 x 10 ”, 2006

I was not initially fascinated by Dreher's works. I thought they were good, but far from my style and interest. After researching Dreher and better understanding his ideology of painting and the themes of his work, I am fascinated by he and his art. I relate to his feelings on painting. Dreher describes an addiction to spread paint across a surface to explore something. I feel a similar tension between myself and the act of painting. The decision to paint does not always come as a choice. I need a strict process and schedule to add to my work to make it successful and to transform my urge into a sanctum.

Tag um Tag Guter Tag #2016, Peter Dreher, Oil on Canvas, 8 x 10 ”, 1997