Painter and printmaker, Peterdi was active in the art scene of New York City when Abstract Expressionism was at its peak. Though other Abstract Expressionists strove to be non-representational, Peterdi chose to create works that retained ties to nature. Peterdi was born in Budapest. He won the Prix de Rome at the age of fifteen. He studied painting in Italy for a year and then went to Paris to study engraving with William Stanley Hayter. In 1939 Peterdi immigrated to New York. After serving in WWII, and worked with Hayter. He went on to teach at the Brooklyn Museum School of Art, Hunter College and Yale School of Art.