Peter Edward Saunders, seen here working in his studio, was born in South London on 6th December 1940.
He died there on 19th November 2011.

Peter Saunders’ work presented insights on a complex local history of the last 50 years in and around London.

His subjects, which he invariably worked on in series, included skateboarders at the South Bank, the Borough Market, the bleak landscape of Dungeness, Kent and its power station, Thames river and creek scenes at Deptford, the open spaces of Blackheath by day and by night, Brick Lane paper-sellers and the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. Soho life and the habitués of the Coach and Horses pub featured in a painting that was turned into a large poster for the ‘Painting on the Underground’ scheme in 1994, and seen throughout the tube system. He brought intense scrutiny to bear on familiar scenes that especially in his later work were illuminated in gloriously rich colour.

Peter’s great breakthrough came with his later works when he started to explore in rewarding depth the human figures in motion he saw around him: dancing at the Rivoli Ballroom in Brockley, and later at the tea-dancers at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. In the two large versions of ‘A Step in Time (2007-2008) he showed the Floral Hall as a magical, glowing, box of delights, light streaming through the glass construction, playing on the dancers and the floor, the world outside glimpsed in ghostly detail through the panes.

His last exhibition, ‘Dancing at the Rivoli Ballroom (Some Enchanted Evening) for Isle of Thanet Arts, 2004 was introduced by a comment in the catalogue by his mentor and colleague the painter Frank Auerbach: “You are as ever taking on brave and exciting subjects that others can only dream of.” At the end of his life, Peter felt he had finally achieved his essential, personal vision.

(A version of this narrative appeared as an obituary in The Guardian on 26th December, 2011.)

Education

1964  Private Scholarship to Greece

1963 – ’64 Slade School of Art (Post-graduate painting)

1961 – ’63 Slade School of Art

1957 – ’61 Camberwell School of Art

Solo Exhibitions

2012 An Exhibition of Drawings, Camberwell College of Arts, London

2004 Dancing at the Rivoli Ballroom, Gallery IOTA, Ramsgate

2003 Deptford X Festival, London

2002 Recent Drawings, Woodlands Art Gallery, London

2001 Deptford X Festival, London

2000 Deptford X Festival, London

         Gerry’s Club, London

1995 Philip Graham Contemporary Art, London

1990 Cadogan Contemporary, London

1985 Corpus Christi College, Oxford

1982 Air Gallery, London

Selected Group Exhibitions

2018 A History of Drawing, Camberwell Space, Camberwell College of Arts, London

2015 40 Years of Painting, Camberwell Students and Teachers 1945-1985, Belgrave, St Ives, St Ives Society of Artists, St Ives

2014 Life Lines, Worthing Museum and Art Gallery, Worthing

2007 Drawings, Camberwell College of Arts, London

2005 Works on Paper, the Gate Arts Centre, Cardiff

2004 The Art of Love, Arnfield Gallery, London

2000 Cheltenham Open Drawing Exhibition (touring); Karl Hofer Geselleschaft, the Westend

         Bahnhof, Berlin; EICH Gallery, the University of Lincolnshire and Humberside, Hull

         The River, St Alphege’s, London

         Picture Auction in Aid of Woodlands Art Gallery, London

1999 Woodlands Open, Woodlands Art Gallery, London

         Cheltenham Open Drawing Exhibition, Cheltenham and Gloucester College of Higher Education

         Contemplating the Inanimate, Rye Art Gallery, Rye

1998 Scrapnel, Art Now, London

1997 City Markets-The Artists’ View, London Arts Café, Alan Baxrer Gallery, London

         Summer Show, Cadogan Contemporary Gallery, London

         The Motor Show, Montpelier Sandleson Gallery, London

1996 The Motor Show (touring); Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, Coventry: Plymouth City Museum

         and Art Gallery; Stockport Art Gallery; Wrexham Art Centre; Turnpike Gallery, Leigh

 1995 Beatrice Royal Art Gallery, Eastleigh, Hampshire

         Making a Mark (selector), Mall Galleries, London

         The Discerning Eye, Mall Galleries, London

         New English Art Club (Jason Bowyer’s invitation), Mall Galleries, London

1994 Whitechapel Open, Whitechapel Art Gallery

         Beatrice Royal Art Gallery, Eastleigh, Hampshire

         Philip Graham Contemporary Art, London

         Recent Acquisitions, National Portrait Gallery, London

1993 The Discerning Eye (Glyn Williams selection), Mall Galleries, London

         Philip Graham Contemporary Art, London

         Making a Mark 93 (Jason Bowyer’s invitation), Mall Galleries, London

         Auction in Aid of Cancer Research, Sotheby’s, London

         Paintings of Dungeness, Rye Art Gallery, Rye

1992 Hunter/Observer Art Competition, Mall Galleries, London

         Whitechapel Open, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London

         Department of Transport Art Competition, Mall Galleries, London

         Art for a Fairer World, Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery, Glasgow; St David’s Hall, Cardiff

         The Smith’s Galleries, Covent Garden, London

         New English Art Club (Jason Bowyer’s invitation), Mall Galleries, London

1991 The Discerning Eye (Brian Sewell’s invitation), Mall Galleries, London

         South Bank Picture Show, Festival Hall, London

         The Laing Collection Art Competition, Millfield School, Somerset

         Cadogan Contemporaries Summer Show, London

         British Painters 91, Westminster Galleries, London

1990 Picture Fair in Aid of Southern African Student Scholarship, Institute of Education, London

1989 Royal Academy Summer Show, London

         British Painting 1949-89 (selected by Norbert Lynton for China Tour)

Prizes

1986 Spirit of London, 2nd prize

1982 World of Newspapers, 1st prize

1981 Spirit of London, 3rd prize

1980 Spirit of London, 1st prize

         Lena Gamade Memorial, shared 1st prize

1963 Slade School Painting prize

Collections

The Arts Council of England

National Portrait Gallery

The London Transport Museum

The Museum of London

The Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery

The National Trust

Camberwell College of Arts

Kettner’s Restaurant

Private Collection in USA, Europe and Japan

Commissions

1993  Last Order, Last Trains, ‘Art on the Underground’, Poster for London Underground Ltd

1964  Frieze for a Private House

1963 – ’64 Mural for the National Trust

Reviews, Articles and Publications

Jan 2018 A History of Drawing (catalogue), Camberwell Space, Camberwell College of Arts, London

Nov 2015 40 Years of Painting, Camberwell Students and Teachers 1945-1985 (catalogue) , Belgrave, St Ives, St Ives Society of Artists, St Ives

Mar 2014 Life Lines (catalogue), Worthing Museum and Art Gallery, Worthing

Oct  2004 Visual Arts Autumn delights at Gallery IOTA, Christina McQuaid, Thanet’s Creative

                 Community, 07 Autumn 04

                 Dancing at the Rivoli Ballroom (catalogue) Gallery IOTA, Ramsgate

Jun  2000 The Last Lamplighter-front and back cover, 14 illustrations, London Magazine Editions

Jun  1999 Painting the City Now, Prof. Richard Cork, Museum of London

May  1996 London in Paint, Mireille Galinou, Thames & Hudson

                 The Motor Show (catalogue)

Jun  1995 The Times, Arts Review, Dave Lee

Apr  1995 Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts

Jan  1994 Some Soho People-6 illustrations, London Magazine

May  1993 Guardian Weekend

May  1988  Camberwell Artists of the 40s and 50s (catalogue)

Oct  1985 The Oxford Times

                 Cherwell, Fiona Larkin

                 Oxford Star, Shirley Davies

Dec  1984 Evening Standard, Brian Sewell

Teaching

1982 –’96  London Metropolitan University, Sir John Cass Faculty of Arts

                  Newcastle-upon-Tyne University

1964 – ’81 Norwich Art School, Oxford Polytechnic, Adult Education Institutes