EVREUX, FRANCE.- Professor Peter Erik Lasko, 79, who was the director of the Courtald Institute of Art in London from 1974 to 1985, died. He was born in Berlin on March 5, 1924. From 1950 to 1965 he was Assistant Keeper at the British Museum. Between 1965 and 1973 he was Professor of Visual Arts, University of East Anglia. From 1974 to 1985 he was Professor of the History of Art, Courtauld Institute, London University and Director. In 1981 he was named CBE.
Peter Lasko was mainly known for his knowledge in medieval art. Just before he died, he finished writing a book on German Expressionism and Modernism.
A friend of Peter Lasko’s father was s senior officer of the SS, and because the Lasko’s were Jewish, the friend advised them to leave Germany. So the Lasko family went to live to London. Peter Lasko first wanted to become painter, so he studied at Hammersmith and St Martin’s Schools of Art. Peter Lasko saw that he would not succeed at painting so he went to study after the Second World War at Birkbeck College. He studied art history. In 1964 he was admitted to the Courtauld Institute and three years later he graduated.