PETER, Vladimir
Goldsmith, Sculptor
(Budapest, 28th June 1947 - )
1968-1973: College of Applied Arts, Budapest: Goldsmith Major, master: József Engelsz. 1973: 2nd Award at the International Silver Competition in Mexico City; 1978: 1st Award at the International Applied and Fine Arts Jewelry Biennial in Erfurt; 1st prize at the Goldsmith and Metallurgist Quadrennial of Miskolc; 1986: the Jury's Award at the Handwerksmesse, Jewelry Exhibition in Munich; 1987: Separate Award at the International Stove Exhibition in London; 1989: Munkácsy Award; 1996: Meritorious Artist Award; 1997: DLA (Doctor of Liberal Art). Peter has been a member of the Széchényi Literary and Art Academy since 1993 and has been teaching at the College of Applied Arts of Budapest since 1983, he has been a college lecturer since 1997. From 2001 onwards he has been the acting chairman of the college. Peter, in the 1970's was one of the founders of the grouping Hungarian applied artists whose works recalled the old traditions of handiwork, often spicing traditions with strong irony and humor, the members of group founded another group named Manuál csoport /Manual Group/ in 1975. Peter was one of the founders of the Manuál csoport /Manual Group/, being a goldsmith with the qualifications of a sculptor. He recalled the legacy of the different ages, peoples and cultures as Gulácsy did so of the Quattrocento: he produced 20th Century pieces at the sovereign level of his knowledge of the old traditions of the trade. He prepared his first large decorative sculpturing work during the course of the 1970's: 18 painted plastic sculptures at the Hungaria Café, the dreamlike stoutly jovial, gently gloomy figures of the centenary fun-fair. He revived Hungarian Jewelry Art with his unique, cult works. Peter stepped over the boundary of traditional "noble" materials in a daring manner: besides silver, precious and semi-precious stones he made use of potsherd, glass, bones, leather, textile, corneous, even wrought-iron, that is almost anything, he made noble these materials with the meticulous care he took in their incorporation into his works. He prepared jewelry inspired by the forms of ancient weapons and musical instruments, ring plastics magnificently formed from polished stones, decorated with the heads of animal figures, human faces, necklace decorations hung on leather straps, complicated textile braiding or strings of beads. He also made use of symbols prepared from stone, glass, and bone, furthermore tiny horse figures, carved from ivory and silver birds from rocks of water-washed smoothness. The majority of his jewelry is elaborated to the extremes, constituting absolute forms from where there are no further steps, items which yield delight to the senses, sight and spirit: "essences of thought and work". Peter produced the maximums possible with the given materials: silver is very silver, rock, stone and bone are strong, characteristically themselves, and became enriched under the work of his hands. Besides his jewelry he prepared bizarre goldsmith works teeming with grotesque flavor. For instance as his diploma work a bronze street-organ figure, an angel with buttoned shoes for the garden of the Anna Margit-Ámos Imre Museum, twinkling gold elephants balancing a twisted glass pillar as a trade-sign for a gallery, as well as a grimaced artist putto of himself, standing on his hands, on the back of a jovial water squirting oceanic wonder, as a fountain. He has been preparing small jewelry for the Wladis jewelry manufacture, founded by him, since 1994.