Born in 1943 in Postelberg (Czech Republic), Peter Knauer lives and works in Oldenburg (Germany). After a long artistic practice developed over several decades, between 2010 and 2012 he deepened his study of geometric-abstract painting at the Akademie Steinfeld (Germany) under Prof. Qi Yang, later continuing in his master class at the Institute for Visual Arts and Art Therapy in Bochum (Germany). He also attended advanced training programmes for graduated artists as a guest student. Since 2014, he has been a member of the Bund Bildender Künstlerinnen und Künstler (BBK), Oldenburg section, where he served on the board from 2016 to 2018.

Knauer’s research is rooted in geometric Constructivism. His visual language unfolds through essential lines, planes and forms inspired by both urban environments and natural landscapes. The artist reduces the image to pure structures, where light and shadow establish a subtle and dynamic dialogue. His characteristic transparent colour gradations are obtained through acrylics and various adhesive tapes applied using collage and décollage procedures: successive layers are added, removed and reworked to create complex surfaces, glazes, ruptures and shifting densities. This method combines precision and clarity with a deliberate material ageing that resonates between past and present.

The centrality of light, captured in its multiple manifestations, guides Knauer’s entire poetic vision. The pursuit of harmony, balance and compositional clarity forms the connective thread of his work. As Jürgen Weichardt observed, “his paintings suggest possibilities without defining them, allowing the completion to take place in the viewer’s mind”.

Since 2010 Knauer has exhibited in Germany and abroad. Among his most significant participations are the International Painting Biennials in Hamburg (Germany, 2023 and 2024), the exhibition Squares and Triangles at the Fitzrovia Gallery in London (United Kingdom, 2022), Northern Attitudes at the Kingston Museum in Kingston upon Thames (United Kingdom, 2014), and the 2025 exhibition at the Galerie Altes Rathaus in Worpswede (Germany). His works have also been presented in institutions such as the Landesmuseum für Kunst & Kulturgeschichte in Oldenburg (Germany) and the Ministry for Economic Affairs of the State of Brandenburg in Potsdam (Germany). Suspended between constructive rigor and poetic openness, his oeuvre contributes to contemporary debates on the environment, energy and social dynamics.