Antoine Pentsch (1925-2012, Budapest, Hungary)

Pentsch’s artistry is not confined to one medium.  As a poet, an author, an engraver, and an illustrator, the artist’s talents combine the literary and fine art worlds. 

Pentsch’s works are strongly focused on line, usually etched and printed with black or grey ink on white paper. His lines lead us from the borders of his paper into his compositions, moving swiftly back and forth, up and down, and eliminating the blankness of his background.

In an anecdote, the artist relates to his feline companion: his cat, almost blind, can sense only the movement of objects. This movement is what Pentsch attempts to capture in his artwork. Though we as viewers cannot sense any objective subject, any physical being captured in his artwork, we can see the artist’s own motions in creating his work.  His pieces are thus both abstract and representational: although it is unclear what he is imaging, the image he creates remains a manifestation of his own creative movements and processes.

Pentsch was born in Budapest, immigrated to Paris with his family at age 5, and lived in Montreal from 1970 until passing away in 2012.  The artist taught at the University of Quebec in Montreal until 1992, and additionally taught a guest course in printmaking at Mary Baldwin University in Virginia.

SF