Review: Peter Sudar at the Mihai Nicodim Gallery

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The paintings in Hungarian artist Peter Sudar’s U.S. solo debut at the Mihai Nicodim Gallery are modest in scale, somber in palette and so unassuming as to risk a quick dismissal by the hurried or impatient viewer. Linger even a moment, however, and they absorb you entirely.

There are eight paintings in the show; all are portraits, most self-portraits, with the artist arrayed in various guises. Sudar’s technique evokes that of such 19th century realists as Courbet, Eakins and Whistler. The visual tone is dim and shadowy, with loose, moody brush strokes belied by a startling precision of expression and gesture.

The historical quality is clearly conscious, and Sudar toys with its implications. Some of the paintings contain elements suggestive of another era: a military uniform; a tin cup and flannel cap; a depiction of the artist’s father in a pose reminiscent of a famous photograph of Stalin. Others add a contemporary twist: a blue sports helmet, the slender white stripes of an Adidas jacket.

The real pleasure, however, is a quality that transcends the specifics of any particular era: the poetic sensitivity of the painting itself.

--Holly Myers

Above: The artist’s self-portrait ‘Peter in Front of Dark Object’ (2005) Credit: Mihai Nicodim Gallery