In February 1964, paintings by a variety of European artists were exhibited in an art show at the Christina Gallery in Göteborg, Sweden. Included in the exhibit were four paintings by an unfamiliar artist, purportedly a Frenchman named Pierre Brassau.
The art critics, journalists, and students in attendance were especially impressed with Brassau’s work. One attendee, art critic Rolf Anderberg, said most of the artists’ paintings were “ponderous”, but he had high praise for Brassau and his work:
"Pierre Brassau paints with powerful strokes, but also with clear determination. His brush strokes twist with furious fastidiousness. Pierre is an artist who performs with the delicacy of a ballet dancer."
However, there was one critic who didn’t care for Brassau’s work, stating, "Only an ape could have done this." As it turned out, there was literal truth in that assessment.
Unbeknownst to the art show guests, Pierre Brassau was, in fact, an ape–specifically, a four-year-old West African chimpanzee whose real name was Peter.
The "Pierre Brassau" deception was the creation of a Swedish tabloid journalist named Åke "Dacke" Axelsson. He wanted to test whether experts could tell the difference between modern art and a random mess. In that effort, Axelsson provided brushes, oil paints, and canvases to Peter via the chimp’s keeper at a local zoo.
Peter went ape-shit crazy with the paint: He painted all over the floor and painted his keeper; he enjoyed eating the paint, with cobalt blue being his favorite; and he smeared paint on the canvases he was provided.
After the chimp had done a number of paintings, Axelson selected four of the ones he considered the best and arranged to have them exhibited at the Göteborg art show. The fake Pierre Brassau identity was an integral part of the ruse.
Axelson later revealed the real identity of Pierre Brassau. That made no difference to Rolf Anderberg, the critic who had extolled his work. He maintained that Pierre/Peter’s work was "still the best painting in the exhibition."
In 1969, Peter was transferred from Sweden’s Borås Zoo to the Chester Zoo in England, where he spent the rest of his life. I don’t know whether he continued painting or not, but it would have been a shame if he didn’t as he seemed to have a real talent for it.
