Born in 1939, Peter Poskas II has taken the sentiment “bloom where you are planted” to heart, spending most of his life painting scenes around his rural home in eastern Connecticut. As young as 5 years old, his son, Peter Poskas III, would spend the day painting in silence alongside his father, a self-proclaimed introvert.
“He thought all people did was draw and paint all day, so that’s what he did,” says the elder Poskas. “He was so adept at an early age that I thought I had a child prodigy on my hands and would have to get out of his way soon.”
Peter Poskas II, McDonald House, oil on panel, 20¾ x 30". Courtesy the artist.
The tides of life carried the younger Poskas away from painting until his junior year of college when he spent a semester at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, now part of Tufts University. In the years that followed, Poskas III built his own reputation on tightly-rendered portraits and still lifes and, more recently, landscapes of the same region his father portrays.
For the first time, the artists’ work is being shown side by side in Poskas: Father and Son,an exhibition of roughly 70 works spanning both of their careers at the Mattatuck Museum September 8, 2024 through January 5, 2025.
Peter Poskas III, Pear Branch, Blossoming, oil on panel. Courtesy the artist.
“Not only is this a new perspective on two artists who have received critical acclaim and are beloved in their home state of Connecticut, it is also a heartwarming story of the love and support shared between father and son,” says chief curator Keffie Feldman. “When their artwork is viewed together, it is possible to trace the influence and impact of their relationship on their artistic output. Even when representing different subjects, both artists’ work is characterized by close study of their subjects and an articulation of the subtleties of atmosphere and light. Both artists depict their subjects in a manner simultaneously studied and controlled, yet joyful and free.”
Poskas III painted in a technically exacting style until suffering a traumatic brain injury in a life-altering car accident in 2013. Since then he has turned his attention to looser, impressionistic renderings of the land, buildings, flora and fauna surrounding his Woodbury, Connecticut, farm. His father, who lives nearby, has been by his son’s side every step of his challenging journey.
Peter Poskas III, Waterbury Rising, oil on panel, 39 x 48". Courtesy the artist.
“He showed me real courage,” says Poskas senior. “Not only was he brain damaged, he was also physically impaired, and yet he reinvented himself—from a still life painter to creating more intimate woodland scenes that are very expressive.”
Poskas II’s intent as an artist is to “paint light, season and place,” often returning to the same subject to capture it at a different time of day or year, or from another angle. He painted Pine Hill,a brooding depiction of a Waterbury landmark, in 1974 when the artist, originally a watercolorist, was first experimenting with oils and hadn’t yet mastered his use of color.
Peter Poskas III, Self Portrait, 2007, oil on panel, 14½ x 14½". Collection of Peter Poskas II.
Completed only five years ago, McDonald House is exemplary of the strides Poskas II has taken since picking up the medium. He was first captivated by the structural anomaly 40 years ago, but while sitting in his car doing a sketch of the house, an old woman appeared in the window, gesturing at him to scram. Decades later, when it became uninhabited, he returned to complete the studies he needed for a larger studio piece. “It’s a renegade,” he says of the house. “Other places around the lake could be in Architectural Digest. It was intriguing to me, the various textures, the windows. It just spoke to me deeply. It’s eccentric as can be, kind of like me, I guess.”
Peter Poskas III, Still Life with Kazak, oil on panel, 37¾ x 37¾". Courtesy the artist.
The exhibition will feature works by Peter Poskas III from before and after his accident, providing an intimate look at how an artist’s style changes over time and can dramatically transform after undergoing significant trauma.
“Yes, I came close to death, experienced a complete loss of self, and I continue to grapple with both physical and cognitive disabilities,” says Poskas III. “The accident has changed who I am. That change affects how I paint. Yet—I’m back! I’m a different person and painter now, but I continue to strive to make the best work that I can. I can’t access pre-accident [Peter] anymore. That’s terrifying but it’s also liberating. I’m coming at everything anew with a new sensibility, with fresh, unencumbered eyes, with new and different priorities…Now, in post-accident times, I want to invite the viewer to join me in the creative process. Without that collaboration, the work remains incomplete.”
Peter Poskas III, On the Phone, ca. 2000, oil on panel, 20¾ x 22". Collection of Peter Poskas II.
Feldman adds, "In our world of constant distraction, [both Poskas] are radical in their return to quiet and sustained observation and representative work…The care and sensitivity with which they represent the landscape, buildings, plants and animals of their home state compels us to look closely, slow down and appreciate the beauty in our backyards." —
Poskas: Father and Son
September 8, 2024-January 5, 2025
Mattatuck Museum
144 W. Main Street, Waterbury, CT 06702
(203) 753-0381, www.mattmuseum.org
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