Christian Peltenburg-Brechneff

Short Profile

Christian Peltenburg-Brechneff, born in the former Belgian Congo in 1950, has been successful an artist for more than 45 years. His life may appear like one of his grand paintings: a venturesome journey into the light! Christian Peltenburg is a renowned master of Modern Impressionism. When outdoors and fully exposed to the elements, he can capture a magical scenery with just a few strokes of the brush. He often paints or draws atmospheric, pristine, and exotic landscapes of almost sacred character: flickering deserts, mighty mountains, Antarctic waters. You can actually feel how the artist immerses himself into and merges with Nature. From a compositional point of view, his often large-sized pastels, ink drawings, and oil paintings are reduced to the bare essentials, which reveal an intensity and beauty only a mystic can see and express. Christian Peltenburg has searched for the light, and found it within himself. His works of art are to be found in numerous private and public collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Greek National Gallery, or the Orange County Museum in California. The artist has been represented by renowned galleries in Europe and the USA. He has been awarded several prizes and has published three books. He lives and works in New York, Basel, and Sifnos (Greece).

Statement

»The core of my work was – and still is – a certain inner landscape. However, Nature will will always remain the source of my inspiration, in the same way that New York gives me the energy I need to create.«
Christian Peltenburg-Brechneff

Biographical Sketch

1950: Born in the former Belgian Congo
1970: Gymnasium in Basel, Switzerland
1975: Master of Art, Royal College of Art, London
1975: Swiss Federal Government Scholarship
2007: Publication of the book: Homage: Encounters with The East (see below)
2013: Publication of the book: The Greek House (see below)
2017: Documentary movie on Christian Peltenburg by MAGEE Film, Zurich, Switzerland

Exhibitions

2018: Project Raum M54 , Basel, Schweiz
2017: Looking for the Light, WBB GALLERY, Zurich, Switzerland
2016: Planetarium Gallery, Eugenides Foundation, Athens, Greece
2015: WBB Collection, Zurich, Switzerland
2015: Ochsner & Barr Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland
2014: Daniel Blaise Thorens Fine Art Gallery, Basel, Switzerland
2013: Cooley Gallery, Old Lyme, Connecticut, USA
2013: Montgomery Gallery, San Francisco, USA
2012: Indar Pasricha Gallery, London, UK
2011: Galerie Curtins, St. Moritz, Switzerland
2011: Treillage Gallery, New York, USA
2011: Hollyhock Galleries, Los Angeles, USA
2010: Esther Hufschmid Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland
2010: Daniel Blaise Thorens Fine Art Gallery, Basel, Switzerland
2008: Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts, Old Lyme, Connecticut, USA
2007: Daniel Blaise Thorens Fine Art Gallery, Basel, Switzerland
2007: Project Raum M54 during ART BASEL
2007: Treillage Gallery, New York, USA
2007: Esther Hufschmid Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland
2007: Anderson Galleries, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, USA
2006: Treillage Gallery, New York, USA
2006: Galerie Curtins, St. Moritz, Switzerland
2006: Reygers Gallery, Munich, Germany
2006: Kleine Galerie, Regensburg, Germany
2006: Galerie Trittligasse, Zurich, Switzerland
2005: Alva Gallery, New London, Connecticut, USA
2005: Daniel Blaise Thorens Fine Art Gallery, Basel, Switzerland
2004: Galerie Trittligasse, Zurich, Switzerland
2003: Galerie Curtins, St. Moritz, Switzerland
2003: Treillage Gallery , New York, USA
2003: Daniel Blaise Thorens Fine Art Gallery, Basel, Switzerland
2002: Galerie Trittligasse, Zurich, Switzerland
2002: ART BASEL, Daniel Blaise Thorens Fine Art Gallery, Switzerland
2001: Salander-O’Reilly Galleries, New York, USA
2000: Art First, London, UK
2000: Daniel Blaise Thorens Fine Art Gallery, Basel, Switzerland
1999: Galerie Trittligasse, Zurich, Switzerland
1999: Treillage Gallery, New York, USA
1999: ART BASEL, Daniel Blaise Thorens Fine Art Gallery
1999: Reygers Gallery, Munich, Germany
1999: Kleine Galerie, Regensburg, Germany
1998: Kreonidis Art Galleries, Athens, Greece
1997: Daniel Blaise Thorens Fine Art Gallery, Basel, Switzerland
1997: Ausstellungsraum Klingental, Basel, Switzerland
1996: Galerie Ursula Wiedenkeller & Galerie Trittligasse, Zurich, Switzerland
1996: Kleine Galerie, Regensburg, Gemany
1996: Andre Zarre Gallery, New York, USA
1995: Daniel Blaise Thorens Fine Art Gallery, Basel, Switzerland
1994: ART BASEL, Daniel Blaise Thorens Fine Art Gallery, Switzerland
1994: Kreonidis Art Galleries, Athens, Greece
1993: Stubbs Books & Prints, New York, USA
1993: Daniel Blaise Thorens Fine Art Gallery, Basel, Switzerland
1992: Montgomery Gallery, San Francisco, USA
1992: Cooley Gallery, Old Lyme, Connecticut, USA
1992: David Anderson Gallery, Buffalo, USA
1992: Galerie Ursula Wiedenkeller, Zurich, Switzerland
1991: Daniel Blaise Thorens Fine Art Gallery, Basel, Switzerland
1991: Stubbs Books & Prints, New York, USA
1990: Galerie Ursula Wiedenkeller & Galerie Trittligasse, Zurich, Switzerland
1990: Nahan Contemporary, New York, USA
1989: Roger Ramsay Gallery, Chicago, USA
1989: FOTA Gallery, Alexandria, Virginia, USA
1988: Daniel Blaise Thorens Fine Art Gallery, Basel, Switzerland
1987: Vorpal Gallery, New York, USA
1986: Cumberland Gallery, Nashville, USA
1986: Daniel Blaise Thorens Fine Art Gallery, Basel, Switzerland
1985: Vorpal Gallery, New York, USA
1984: Daniel Blaise Thorens Fine Art Gallery, Basel, Switzerland
1984: Vorpal Gallery, San Franciso, USA
1982: Daniel Blaise Thorens Fine Art Gallery, Basel, Switzerland
1980: Ausstellungsraum Basler Künstler, Kaserne Basel, Switzerland
1978: Galerie Ursula Wiedenkeller, Zurich, Switzerland
1977: Galerie Riehentor, Basel, Switzerland
1977: Ausstellungsraum Basler Künstler, Kaserne Basel, Switzerland
1976: Galerie Ursula Wiedenkeller, Zurich, Switzerland
1972: Galerie Sibyll Kummer-Rothenhäusler, Zurich, Switzerland
1971: Flaten Hall Gallery, St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota, USA
1970: Stampa Gallery, Basel, Switzerland
1969: Galerie Sibyll Kummer-Rothenhäusler, Zurich, Switzerland

Publications

Christian Peltenburg-Brechneff: Homage – Encounters with The East, Glitterati Incorporated (National Book Network), New York, 2007
Christian Brechneff, Tim Lovejoy: The Greek House – The Story of a Painter’s Love Affair with the Island of Sifnos, Farrar Straus & Giroux, New York, 2013
Christian Peltenburg Brechneff, Donald Kuspit, Bunny Williams: Into the Garden, Glitterati Inc., NY, 2019