Gentleman in an interior
signed and dated '88 / R3T39' (lower left)
oil on board
34.5 x 45cm

Naturally reclusive and lacking in any ambition to succeed as a professional painter, Peter Samuelson was an artist in spite of himself. Described by those who knew him as an "artist to his fingertips", Samuelson was never able to repress the urge to create, even as he quietly avoided the art world. Born in Salisbury to a wealthy hotelier family, he was educated at Eton, where his talent for art was first recognised, and later trained at the New York School of Fine and Applied Arts in Paris. After early work as an illustrator in Holland and set designer in London, Samuelson settled into a quieter life helping his mother run a boarding house in Torquay.

Samuelson's reluctance to engage with galleries and dealers meant he rarely exhibited, often puckishly signing his works as 'Pierre' or in numeral and mirror-writing to confound collectors. He ceased painting around 1965, turning his attention to restoring Oriental rugs. However, in the 1980s, friends organized exhibitions of his work, including at Leighton House Museum and the Roy Miles Gallery, leading to a posthumous appreciation of his art.

Against the backdrop of 1950s and 60s hypermasculine Action Painting and overtly cynical Pop Art, Samuelson was quietly carving his own path, painting vivid, romantic portraits of his lodgers—works full of colour, nostalgia, and quiet observation. Though largely unseen during his lifetime, his paintings are now celebrated for their emotional depth and unique atmosphere.

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