Kurt Peiser (1887 – 1962) was a talented painter, draughtsman, etcher and lithographer born and bred in Antwerp. Even though Peiser lived in Brussels most of his life, Antwerp and more specifically the Antwerp harbour quarter and its inhabitants remained a recurring theme in his oeuvre.
The hard labour of people and animals on Antwerp’s southern docks, but also the joy and sorrow of the seamen and dock workers during and after their daily worries, are a prominent theme in the work of the socially committed Peiser. His work is a silent indictment with which he wished to expose the causes of prostitution and alcoholism. For this reason we are able to call Kurt Peiser an ‘artist of the people’.
With forty-odd outstanding etchings, the exhibition in Museum De Reede (MDR) gives a lively and accurate portrayal of the Antwerp harbour area some 100 years ago.
By way of a double exhibition you are able to admire paintings and pastels by Kurt Peiser in De Dekenij Kunstenhuis, Ukkel, Brussels, where Peiser lived from 1929 until his death. The exhibition, titled Retrospective, runs from 31 August until 16 September.