Peter Hoffer

Canadian artist Peter Hoffer is best known for his landscape paintings. His style has also been compared to the idealistic landscapes of the 19th-century landscape painter John Constable.

 

After a trip to Paris, Hoffer began to experiment with surface textures in the landscape. Thus, he began to sand and grind the layers of the painted surface. Subtly applied drops of paint seem to pay homage to the 20th century art movement abstract expressionism.

 

Intrigued by the early 18th century French Salon, where artists re-embellished their unsold works, Hoffer completes his paintings by applying a coat of Dammar varnish and a coat of epoxy to create a reflective dome surface. This gives depth to his landscapes.

 

Luminous skies set by the outline of trees, the drama of light and shadow. The viewer has to get closer, change their perspective and look longer to overcome reflections so that they can see the details glitter beneath the surface.

 

"I wanted to do the landscape in a manner in which it is personified. Where the tree becomes the individual, even playing on some clichés."

 

While admiring the beauty of the work, we are aware that a modern artist asks the viewer to consider the process and act of creation itself. Intriguing is an image that is both classic and modern.

 

Peter Hoffer's work is widely praised and collected. Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec and the German consulate in Toronto are in possession of his work. The famous Hôtel Le Reine Elizabeth in Montreal also has a work by Hoffer hanging in one of the public spaces.

 

Hoffer studied painting and sculpture at the Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto and the University of Guelph, where he obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1993. After a stay in New York City, he studied sculpture at Concordia University in Montreal, graduating in 1996 with a master's in fine art.