Peter Hutchinson (1930-2025) was an historical figure of the art world, one of the leading personalities of the
Land Art. Hutchinson work is characterized by a singular interest for the living and
ecological issues that has him considered as a precursor. With a botanist background and destined for agricultural studies, Hutchinson came pretty late in the art world where he befriended
Robert Smithson, Nancy Holt,
Sol LeWitt,
Vito Acconci, Denis Oppenheim. Discreet, even marginal, he still took part in important exhibitions such as "Ocean Project" at the MoMA with Denis Oppenheim or "Ecological Art" in John Gibson gallery in New York.
Since 1973, Hutchinson was often identified to Narrative Art, developed by John Gibson, a movement in which one of the most famous figures in France is
Jean Le Gac. In the meantime, he kept up with an activity of sculptor, creating multi-dimensional object evoking
landscapes or
science fiction, a genre which with Robert Smithson he enjoyed and remained a real source of inspiration. At last his interest for botanic and organic was constant since his underwater experimentations or his decompositions and molds, of which the work on the
Paricutin volcano in 1971 is the most famous episode, up to his numerous
collages often inspired by pictures taken in his Provincetown garden.
