PETER FOLDES Hungarian-British, 1924–1977 Rising Sun, 1958 Oil on canvas. Signed and dated lower right hand corner. Framed. 55 x 38.5 inches (excluding frame) $600-800
ARTIST PROFILE: Peter Foldes (1924–1977) was a visionary Hungarian-British painter and filmmaker recognized as a founding pioneer of computer-generated animation. Born in Budapest, he moved to London in 1946 to study at the Slade School of Fine Art, where he initially gained acclaim for his surrealist and post-cubist paintings. Foldes achieved international notoriety in 1956 with his animated short A Short Vision, a haunting depiction of nuclear apocalypse that became a cultural touchstone of the Cold War era. In the late 1960s, he transitioned from traditional cel animation to experimental technology, collaborating with the National Research Council of Canada to develop the first computer-assisted "key-frame" animation. This breakthrough led to his 1974 masterpiece, Hunger (La Faim), which made history as the first computer-animated film to receive an Academy Award nomination. Throughout his career, Foldes maintained a distinct aesthetic that blended traditional fine art draftsmanship with avant-garde digital experimentation, leaving a lasting legacy on both the fine art and cinematic worlds.
