Peter Foldes Artwork valuations, appraisals and auction estimates

Peter Foldes (1924 - 1978) was a Hungarian-British director and animator. He studied art and drawing at the István Örkényi Strasser school. Read the full biography

Peter Foldes (1924 - 1978) was a Hungarian-British director and animator. He studied art and drawing at the István Örkényi Strasser school. In 1942 he continued his studies at the Academy of Figurative Arts in Budapest where he became assistant to the well-known Hungarian painter István Szőnyi. In 1946 he left Hungary and, passing through Paris, settled in London. He studied art history at the University of London and the Courtauld Institute of art, as well as at the Slade Art School. In this period he painted post-cubist paintings with surrealist and abstract elements. His first solo exhibition was held in 1948 at the Gimpel Fils Gallery. At the same time his attention began to turn towards animated films and once he abandoned the Halas and Batchelor studio, he began producing animated films on his own. His first work entitled Animated Genesis attracted the attention of the well-known Hungarian producer Alexander Korda who made a short film on 35 mm and sent it to the 1952 Cannes Film Festival where it won the prize for best color technique. The following year he received the British Film Academy's special prize. Földes is the author of around sixty animated films. His other masterpiece films are A Short Vision (1956), Faster (1965), Faces of Women (1968), I. Voi. Loro./I. You. They. (1972), Hunger (1974), Dream (1977) and Consider (1977). He also worked on the computer graphics for the 1973 BBC-TV miniseries The Ascent of Man (1973).