Peter Heywood (artist)

Peter Heywood is a British artist.

Early life and career

Peter Heywood was born in 1944 in Yorkshire. He and his identical twin, Donald attended Ossett Grammar School, Ossett, in the 1950s, along with their older brother, Alan. Following his BSc degree, Peter Heywood taught maths and physics for thirty years. He was a popular and successful teacher, voted Britain's Best teacher in 1995 in a national newspaper search. His professional interest in science was combined with a passion for painting, to which he devoted much of his free time sometimes alongside his brother, Donald who trained as an artist, graduating from the Leicester College of art. From the late 1960s to early 1970s Peter Heywood's work had already been exhibited. Some of his painting were displayed in the Spring Exhibition in Paris, and at a number of galleries in the UK. Encouraged by a successful art one-man exhibition at The Aberbach Fine Gallery in Savile Row, London, he decided to leave teaching altogether and become a full-time artist. For the next few years he traveled widely and lived in South Africa where he created a series of major landscapes. Successful exhibitions followed in Johannesburg at The Cheri de Villiers Gallery and in Cape Town at The Everard Read Gallery and The Cape Gallery

In 2000 he moved to Venice and lived there for the following two years. Its striking art and architecture became an inspiration for Heywood's own creations in oil and acrylics. They were well received and exhibited at The Holly Snapp Gallery in Venice. The Century Gallery in Henley-on-Thames outside London was another location for exhibiting his work, along with the Paterson Gallery in Albermarle Street, London W1.

Later career

In 2002, Peter and his twin brother Donald, bought an apartment in Malta. where they could overlook the Port of Valetta a small inlet on the east coast, often referred to as the Grand Harbour. It was an ideal location for two artists, and Peter received plenty of inspiration for painting. His Maltese scenes were exhibited locally at a one-man exhibition at the Caraffa Stores, Vittoriosa, in a building constructed in 1689. Further exhibitions were held at the Casino Maltese, and in Portomaso, adjacent to St Julien's Bay. Through the sale of his paintings he also raised funds for several Maltese charities. Many private collections of Heywood's paintings now exist across the world.

From 2011 he began spending more time in America where he was to spend most of the next decade. He completed a series of striking paintings of New York's most famous historic landmarks, seen as dramatic reflections through neighbouring buildings. They were described as having 'many levels for the eye and the mind.' His first American exhibition took place two years after he moved there, at the Alan BarnesFine Art Gallery in Santa Fe, and he exhibited at the Q Street galley in Washington in Nov 2013. He has since had several more shows in the US, including at The Leila Heller Gallery in New York in August 2014, the Thorn Tree Art Project in New York City, November 2017 and at the 237 on Hudson street Gallery in 2019. At the Hudson exhibition, AT&T purchased a large canvas for their new New York headquarters, and following the success which followed the exhibition, Peter began a new series exploring the shape and movement of dance and dancers. Work went into a proposed show in 2020, where sale of the exhibits was to benefit the New York City Ballet. But because of Covid, the 2020 show did not take place.

In March 2024 Peter traveled to Noto, a very old village in Sicily, to set up and open the largest exhibition painting of his life: "From New York to Noto." It was by invitation of Noto's tour Mayor Dr. Corrado Figura and the opening night party was co-hosted with novelist Maria Giovanni Mirado. Featuring 57 paintings, it includes his acclaimed Reflections series, and his ballet and figure explorations. The exhibition displays, to effect, both the New York landmark buildings "in reflection" and a series of New York dancers in action. It runs until November 2024.

Style and influences

It is difficult to describe Peter Heywood's art in definitive terms for his interest and styles are wide-ranging. He produced 'representational' paintings of creation and landscape in his early career, not least Yorkshire scenes including his gentle study of sheep and stone walls in the Pennines. His innovative on reflected buildings in New York are powerful visual explorations of light passing through high sheet of glass achieved by subtle layering and toning of colour which calls us to reconsider and reflect on what we see. He has always enjoyed working in abstract forms. Some have claimed he has been influenced by such American abstract expressionists as Rothko, DeKooning, Klein, Pollock and the Australian artist Fred Williamson. However, he is probably best known for his considerable output of figurative work portraying a sensitive and detailed study of human form and movement. The exhuberance of this work pays great respect to the discipline of the dancers in expressing their own joy in work. which is sensitive and detailed whilst exhuberant and joyful.