Alcune preziose pubblicazioni consentono di comporre il ritratto di Peter Brötzmann anche sotto la luce di infervorato pensatore oltre che di musicista, di appassionato viaggiatore del mondo e di tenace artista nei campi della pittura, della grafica e dell'assemblage: tre titoli sono in capo a Wolke a Hofheim am Taunus (Graphic Works 1959-2016, Along the Way 2010-2020, We thought we could change the world), uno a Posth Verlag (Gespräche), qualcosa c'è anche per Corbett vs. Dempsey (Paintings & Objects). Fu proprio John Corbett a curare vent'anni fa la prima esposizione di opere di Brötzmann in Nord America, e ad ospitarlo poi ripetutamente nella sua galleria a Chicago. Così la sua dedica: "It has been a profound honor to work with Peter’s artwork and his music. He was a close personal friend of the gallery and we will dearly miss his honesty and his sensitivity. There will never be another person remotely like Peter Brötzmann. We feel confident saying this at least."
Artist and musician Peter Brötzmann is best known as one of the preeminent figures in contemporary improvised music. He was trained as a visual artist in his hometown of Wuppertal, Germany, in the late 1950s, and his early musical career as a saxophonist and clarinetist was paralleled by his first art exhibitions in Holland and Germany. Brötzmann assisted Nam June Paik on Exposition of Music-Electronic Television, Paik's first installation at Galerie Parnass in 1963, and he participated in Fluxus events in the mid 1960s. Since that time, along with large-scale oil paintings and delicately lyrical watercolors, Brötzmann has amassed an oeuvre of small constructions, often using found or fabricated wooden boxes as both support and frame, sometimes integrating metal elements including cans, can lids and rusted industrial detritus. In recent years, retrospectives of Brötzmann's artwork have been mounted in Sweden and Germany.