Peter Robert Keil

Peter Robert Keil (born 6 August 1942 in Züllichau, Brandenburg) is a German painter and sculptor.

Life Peter Robert Keil was born to an artist blacksmith father whom he lost very early in his childhood during World War II. During the end phase of the war, Keil's mother, also an artistically talented woman, took her son and struggled her way to West Berlin where they settled. This is where Peter Robert Keil grew up in the working-class neighbourhood of Berlin-Wedding and where he discovered his interest in painting—particularly in expressionistic artists and in Pablo Picasso's work. From 1954 on, the East Berlin-based painter Otto Nagel became his mentor and taught him first craft skills and painting techniques. In 1954, he began his traineeship as an artist metalworker and between 1959 and 1961, he studied at the University of Arts in Berlin. When the Berlin Wall was built, he lost contact with his mentor Otto Nagel and from the early 60s on, Keil started to spend more and more time abroad. During his studies at the University of Arts in Berlin, he came in contact with numerous other artists who later became influential artists of their generation, like for example Georg Baselitz, Eugen Schönebeck, Markus Lüpertz and Joachim Schmettau. During his time in Mallorca, he also met with Joan Miró in his studio several times. Since then, the use of intensive to lurid colours and the absence of realistic representation have become characteristic of his painting style. In his paintings, the colour is applied with quick brushstrokes and occasionally with impasto techniques and the images are additionally abstracted by the use of Graffiti elements. Keil prefers to paint human figures, portraits, big city scenes, landscapes and still life images of flowers. His emotional way of painting is mainly driven by a desire for freedom from social constraints and conventions. In the past 50 years, he has created numerous large- and small scale paintings in oil and mixed media on canvas but also some sculptures in wood and steel and a great number of majolicas.

Exhibitions 1962: First solo exhibition at the Art Gallery, London 1964: Galerie Rotebro, Sweden 1965: Great Berlin Art Exhibition 1966: Great Berlin Art Exhibition 1980: Dr. Friedmann Gallery, Israel 1985: Wewerka Gallery, Berlin 1986–1990: Free Art Exhibition, Berlin, Exhibition Hall, Berlin 1993: Carousel Gallery, Dania, Florida, USA 1998: Aventura Art Gallery, Aventura, Florida, USA 1999: Höckner Gallery, Salzburg, Austria 2000: Exhibitions Paris, Amsterdam, London 2001–2005: Intercontinental Hotel Berlin 2002: International Art Fair, Frankfurt 2003: The Sixties Peter Robert Keil, Kunstsinn Gallery, Nuremberg 2005: Boxsler Gallery, Lichtenfels 2006: Public Library, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA 2007: Villa Meixner, collection of the KulturForum Europa, Brühl/Baden 2007: Kessler Corporation, Orlando Florida, Savannah, Georgia, USA 2008: The Hurn Museum, Savannah, USA 2010: Keil-Collection Heidelberg, Long Night of the Museums, Heidelberg 2010: Edna Hibel Fine Art Gallery, West Palm Beach, Florida 2011: Keil-Collection Heidelberg, Long Night of the Museums, Heidelberg 2011: Edinburgh International Art Festival. Scotland. Presented by Colin Fleming (Rivertown Gallery). 2012: Retrospective "Leben im Farbrausch" (A Life in Colours), Castle Schwetzingen, Orangery 2012: "Teufelswerk" (Devil's Work), State Majolica Manufacture Karlsruhe 2013: Aufbruch – Jüngste Werke aus der Heidelberger Phase (A new era – Most recent works from the Heidelberg phase), Alte Feuerwache Heidelberg 2014: Recent works, Berlin, Temporäre Galerie Potsdamer Straße 2014: New Keil works, Keil Collection Heidelberg, Heidelberg 2014 / 2015: Peter Robert Keil in the Heidelberg city hall, City Hall Heidelberg 2015: "Verleden, heden, toekomst", Waaggebouw Arnheim 2015: Peter Robert Keil in the Roman Cellar, Roman Cellar Heidelberg 2015: Peter Robert Keil in Alten Hallenbad, Altes Hallenbad Heidelberg 2015: "P.R. Keil – der neueste Brand", Staatliche Majolika Manufaktur Karlsruhe 2015: Exhibition in the Museumszimmer at Wolfsbrunnen, Wolfsbrunnen Heidelberg 2016: art Karlsruhe 2016, Karlsruhe 2016: ART.FAIR, Köln 2016: Affordable Art Fair 2016, Hamburg 2016: Peter Robert Keil in the Galerie P13, Heidelberg 2017: art Karlsruhe 2017 - one artist show, Karlsruhe 2017: Solo exhibition, New Jersey, USA 2017: Roter Kunstsalon, Museum Villa Rot, Burgrieden 2017: Affordable Art Fair 2017, Hamburg 2017: Exhibition at the Studio in Banyalbufar, Mallorca 2017: Solo show "Leben im Farbrausch 2", Castle Heidelberg 2018: art Karlsruhe 2018 - one artist show, Karlsruhe 2018 Affordable Art Fair Hamburg / Affordable Art Fair Brüssel 2019 art Karlsruhe, Galerie P 13 2019 Affordable Art Fair Hamburg / Affordable Art Fair Brüssel 2021 Artist-in-residence im Xylon Museum Schwetzingen 2022 Artist-in-residence Xylon Museum Schwetzingen 2022 Exhibition at the Studio in Xylon Museum Schwetzingen 2022 "ICoulor - a painter says I" - Exhibition in the Heidelberg Castle.

Literature Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon, Volume 79, De Gruyter Verlag, Berlin 2012 Art Profil – Zeitschrift für aktuelle Kunst, Volume 2, 13. Jahrgang 2007 Art Profil – Zeitschrift für aktuelle Kunst, Volume-No. 90-2011 Art Profil – Zeitschrift für aktuelle Kunst, Volume-No. 93-2012 Art Profil – Zeitschrift für aktuelle Kunst, Volume-No. 96-2013 Art Profil – Zeitschrift für aktuelle Kunst Heft Nr. 105-2014 20. Jahrgang Edition Majolika – Schriftenreihe der Majolika-Stiftung für Kunst- und Kulturförderung Karlsruhe, Band 3 Dietmar Eisold (pub.): Lexikon Künstler der DDR Verlag neues Leben Berlin, 2010, Aufbruch - Die Keil Collection Heidelberg. Illustrierte Chronik Herbst 2012-2015, Heidelberg 2017, ISBN 978-1-36-421381-7 Lust und Leidenschaft/Tod und Teufel. Ein Ausstellungskonzept, Edition Art Flow Berlin, 2011, Hartmut Pätzke: Register „Ausgebürgert“, in: Hannelore Offner and Klaus Schroeder: Eingegrenzt – Ausgegrenzt. Bildende Kunst und Parteiherrschaft in der DDR 1961–1989, Akademie Verlag GmbH Berlin, 2000, Valerie Sottile, Audrey E. Dillon und Michael Sottile: Peter Keil: Neo-Expressionist Artist, in: The Dial. A Philosophic Art Journal, Volume LXXXV, Number 2, Winter 2008 Peter Robert Keil Fünfundsiebzig, Herausgeber: Keil Collection Heidelberg, Heidelberg 2017, ISBN 978-3-00-057568-6 Peter Robert Keil Achtzig, Herausgeber: Keil Collection Heidelberg, Heidelberg 2022, ISBN 978-3-00-057568-6 Werksverzeichnis. Catalogue Raisonné - Peter Robert Keil. Verzeichnis zertifizierter Gemälde, September 2017, Ed., Keil Collection Heidelberg.