Peter Freudenthal (born 1938 in Norrköping) grew up in a multicultural environment where Jewish tradition met European cultural currents, and where art and culture had a natural place. He studied, among other subjects, art, art history, archaeology, and ethnography, which allowed him to travel and work in various cultures that later influenced his artistic practice.

In 1962, Freudenthal worked as an archaeologist in Wadi Halfa in northern Sudan. The experiences from there inspired his first abstract paintings, Serra I-III, with clear impressions of Sudanese architecture. During the 1950s, he primarily painted figuratively - landscapes, houses, and portraits - but these works were never shown publicly.

A pivotal encounter was with the artist Olle Bærtling, whose concrete art and idea of the open form influenced Freudenthal to develop a more abstract and geometric expression. Unlike Bærtling, however, he preferred to work with squares and rectangles, as well as a distinct sense of three-dimensionality. At the same time, he remained committed to motifs and themes drawn from Jewish culture, despite advice to set them aside.