Peter Ruta: Catalog of Works

Peter Ruta is a leading American painter of landscapes and cityscapes. Born 1918 into a Leipzig family of writers, musicians and art publishers, Ruta was raised in Milan and on the Italian Riviera and emigrated to the United States in 1936. He began his studies at the Art Students League in 1937 with Jean Charlot, the artist who taught Italian fresco technique to the great Mexican muralists. Offered the position of division artist in the Second World War, Ruta chose combat duty with the infantry (Indiana National Guard) and was badly wounded in the retaking of Bataan in 1945. Returning to Italy post-war, he completed his studies on a Fulbright grant and painted for many years in the then poor fishing village of Positano on the Amalfi coast. The émigré neo Romantics he had met in New York City before the war, Italian baroque and Pompeian wall paintings, influenced his work. In New York City in the 1960s, he edited ARTS magazine and joined the Pop movement with paintings based on news photos. But by 1970 he had returned to his first love, landscape painting. He has painted in France, Italy, southern Mexico (1970s), New Mexico (1980s and1990s), New England and New York City, where he shared a collective studio on the 91st floor of the World Trade Center, North Tower in 2000 and 2001. An outdoor painter by temperament and conviction, he has been known to tie himself to a tree on a steep slope in New Mexico or work right through the bitter winter on a New York rooftop. He paints every day of the week, from midday till sundown, in a race against the failing light. Since 2002 he has worked on a series of vital, mysterious still life paintings , mountainous heaps of fruit and vegetables, indoor landscapes so to speak. Museums have celebrated Ruta's remarkable career with major retrospective shows at the Museum of the City of New York (2004) and the Stadtgeschichtliches Museum Leipzig (2008). A show in Italy is in the planning stages.

彼得·鲁塔（Peter Ruta）是美国顶尖的风景画与城市风景画画家。1918年出生于莱比锡一个作家、音乐家与艺术出版世家，鲁塔在米兰及意大利里维埃拉地区长大，并于1936年移居美国。1937年，他进入美国艺术学生联盟（Art Students League）深造，师从让·夏洛（Jean Charlot）——这位艺术家曾向墨西哥一众杰出壁画家传授意大利湿壁画技法。二战期间，军方曾邀请他担任军部画师，但鲁塔选择加入印第安纳国民警卫队步兵部队奔赴前线，并于1945年在巴丹半岛反攻战役中身负重伤。战后返回意大利，他凭借富布赖特奖学金（Fulbright grant）完成学业，并在阿玛菲海岸当时仍较为贫困的渔村波西塔诺（Positano）潜心创作多年。战前在纽约结识的移民新浪漫主义艺术家、意大利巴洛克风格画作与庞贝古城壁画，均对其创作产生了深远影响。20世纪60年代的纽约，他担任《ARTS》杂志主编，并投身波普艺术运动，创作以新闻照片为灵感的绘画作品。但到1970年，他回归了最初挚爱的风景画创作。他曾辗转法国、意大利、墨西哥南部（20世纪70年代）、新墨西哥州（20世纪80至90年代）、新英格兰与纽约市采风创作；2000年至2001年间，他与他人共用位于世界贸易中心北塔楼91层的集体工作室。作为一名凭天性与信念坚守户外创作的画家，鲁塔曾在新墨西哥州的陡坡上将自己绑在树上写生，也曾在纽约屋顶顶着凛冽寒冬持续创作。他每日坚持作画，从正午直至日落，与渐暗的天光竞速。2002年起，他开始创作一系列充满活力又颇具神秘感的静物作品：如山峦般堆叠的果蔬，堪称别具一格的室内风景画。各大美术馆曾为鲁塔非凡的职业生涯举办大型回顾展：2004年于纽约市立博物馆（Museum of the City of New York），2008年于莱比锡城市历史博物馆（Stadtgeschichtliches Museum Leipzig）。目前意大利正筹备相关展览。