GISH

A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man

Hallgarten Hall is a small brick structure tucked unobtrusively behind Topliff and New Hampshire Halls. While the observant passerby might notice it, not even the most curious would venture inside. It would be hard to find a better place for Peter A. Gish (Greenwich, Conn.) to have his art studio.

"I'm a very private person," Gish confided. "I don't like drawing attention to myself. It goes against my nature." An invitation into Gish's studio, however, is a rare opportunity.

The second-floor room is conspicuously neat, its only furnishings a table, some high stools and a few easels. The walls are covered with sketches, drawings and paintings in various stages of completion, some in pencil, some charcoal, others pastel. The work is dominated by a few large pieces that are the start of an independent project entitled "Qualities of Winter Light." The drawings all have a dark background which, in some cases, causes what little light there is to emit a barely perceptible glow.

"I spent last year studying light, the physics of it," Gish says. He is not bragging, merely stating a fact. He picks up a red glove and begins a rather scientific explanation. Seeing he has lost his listener at the first "angstrom" he translates, "Energy causes the red light to be reflected while the rest of the colors in the spectrum are absorbed."

Describing himself as a realist, Gish explained, "My own approach is thinking art. Part of it has to stand up to other people. You have to relate it to everyday experiences but at the same time reflect something that might not be obvious. . . . Real art has to take a lot of effort and a lot of thought.

"You like that," Gish points to a drawing I had complimented him on, "because it reminds you of something. ... It feels like you're wearing a rain coat. If I had a bright sunny landscape, you might think of Bermuda shorts, gin and tonics, perhaps even laying in your parents' lawn chairs."

While Gish is a very talented artist he has won both the Marcus Heiman Achievement Award and the Louis Sudler National Prize in the Arts, art is only a part of what he has done. He has carried a four-course load in five of his terms a program of such rigor that it required permission from President McLaughlin so he could complete full majors in both religion and visual studies and still take the electives he wanted. In the process he has earned a 3.65 grade point average and still found time to go on a language program to France, and, outside his course work, to write a thesis on a 20th century protestant theologian for the Edward M. Chase Prize. Tall and athletic, he has rowed crew and recently captained Dartmouth's karate team.

"I guess I'm hardcore. I work hard; very hard. But I don't want to sound like a martyr. I don't work hard because I have to, I work hard because I want to," Gish explains.

Professor Matthew Wysocki, chairman of the visual studies department and Gish's mentor and advisor for his honors project, attributes his student's success to his ability. "The thing that I like most about him is his ability to Work independently. He is highly motivated, highly talented, and very well disciplined.. He's juggling a lot, but he does it with excellence."

Dean of the Faculty and Professor of Religion Hans Penner agrees. "He's kind of a model for me of what a young scholar should be. But that's not to say he's in the library 24 hours a day. . . . Just about everything he attempts comes out high quality. He's a very talented man."

Gish said that although he will continue with his art "Churchill painted all his life" his future plans include "law school a few years down the road and a background in corporate finance. ... If you grow up with a father who is a painter (Peter Michael Gish '49), you either grow up to be a painter yourself or you decide to do something else. I guess I fall into the latter category."

"My own approachis thinking art. Partof it has to stand upto other people."