Female Nude on Yellow Drape, 1965, oil on canvas, 54 x 72When I was in nyc three weeks ago I was happy to see a small retrospective exhibition of the work of Philip Pearlstein, along with that of Al Held. Pearlstein was my teacher during both my undergraduate and graduate study at Brooklyn College; he was more than a teacher, he was a mentor and a quiet inspiration. His tastes in art were broad so he pointed us towards very different kinds of work; this open attitude has guided me throughout my art life. There were two things he said to me as a student that were very important to my development, and which I repeated to many of my own students: No matter what you choose to do, go deeply into it and push the idea as far as you can; you can be a humble person, but you should not be a humble artist. I took both of these statements to mean that I should be ambitious in my goals as an artist.
Pearlstein's nudes of the 1960s were seen as shocking at the time; he painted the model in the unadorned studio, with no romanticism, just a powerful presentation of a body in space, flesh as form and shape, presented as solid fact. The figure was over life size and aggressively pushed against the picture plane which separates the viewer from the image. The movement of limbs recalled the abstract painting of a painter of lines in space, Franz Kline. At times, the head of a figure was cut off at the top of the canvas if the composition demanded it, which was very difficult for viewers who believed that the portrayal of a human figure must be humanistic and inviolate. These are stunning and radical pictures.
Female Model on Ladder, 1976, oil on canvas, 72 x 96 inchesIn the model on ladder painting, it seems essential that the small form that is the head not be part of the composition; the movement of the body, following the backward movement of the ladder, yet twisting away from it, is emphasized by the forward shoulder at the top edge of the painting. The hand with its large ring jumps across space, jolting our sense of what is whole and complete. The flat green floor is probably the most beautifully painted floor I've ever seen; with its shadows cast from multiple sources, in subtle shifts of hue and value, it is a tour de force of painting.
Model with Chrome Chair and Dotted Felt Rug, 2009, oil on canvas, 48 x 36 inchesPearlstein became an avid collector of art and of varied antique objects; these collections began to appear in his paintings, adding elements of pattern, of disjunctive space, sometimes of humor, as object interacted with model. A rigorous eye and practiced hand have remained constants in this body of remarkable work as it has changed and developed over many years, creating paintings of great complexity with a unique and personal view of reality.
Pearlstein's nudes are quite shocking indeed! As you mentioned, there does not appear to be any attempt to "romanticize" the body image. It is as realistic as it gets. The skin folds on the obese model in the first painting seem to be extended in the plump folds of the yellow drape. In the second painting, the emaciated body of the model is reflected in the bare floor, and the artist's decision to not include the model's face or head really seems to place emphasis on the "bareness" of the body itself. In the last painting, the relaxed body lies limply in the same manner as the fabric she is laying on. Even the folds in the cloth seem to extend the shape of her body. Personally, I am fascinated by the way that Pearlstein has incorporated the entire multiplicity of form into one complete Gestalt. Incredible!
ReplyDeleteSuch an interesting comment, J.R. I'm so accustomed to the vision in these paintings that they no longer startle me; how fascinating that to a new eye, they still have to power to shock.
ReplyDeleteI also like how you see that Pearlstein is using the model as one part of the still life setup.
Ah, physical form as "still life"...remembering how still i had to be as a model those very many years ago. Yes, the green floor is remarkable. Glad you drew my attention to it, and the felted rug is exquisite! Another wonderful complex sharing, which you can do so well! Thank you, Altoon.
ReplyDeleteShocking to new eyes, yes. But intriguingly so. Your prose helps me really see and understand more than I would have looking at it alone. Also, I certainly can see his influence in your work. Wonderful. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteWhat has always fascinated me about his work is the deliberate lack of narrative - while using nudes, no less.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to have brought Pearlstein's work to the attention of some who didn't know it; it also illuminates my own origins as an artist, as leilani notes. I do think, rappel, that eschewing narrative is the most radical aspect of the paintings; after all, the figure in history painting was the highest category of painting in the academy. What a change from the Death of Marat!
ReplyDeleteStarting in the sixties Philip was doing for painting what Robbe-Grillet was doing for fiction. Radical change of emphasis and perspective. Referencing thoughts laid out in "For a New Novel" by Robbe-Grillet (1963); "...the world is neither significant nor absurd. It 'is', quite simply. That, in any case, is the most remarkable thing about it."
ReplyDeleteI remember when Pearlstein was you teacher & you introduced me to his nudes. As a teenage girl I found them most unsettling. 40 years later his style is still very much "Pearlstein", but now I find his nudes intriguing.
ReplyDeleteJ.R. Maybe we shouoldn't call the nude in the first painting obese. That's another topic that time has taught me to view with a bit more leniency. Cheryl
thanks for the Robbe-Grillet quote, rappel; it seems brutal, but I find it beautiful (a statement for a stickie note on the desktop). And how great to know that Pearlstein's paintings were an embodiment of a new way of seeing the world. Would this be similar to an updating of empiricism?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the insights. We're so used to Pearlstein's nudes that it's hard to remember our initial reaction. And I have to admit that now, I am as interested in the objects as in the bodies. Pearlstein is one of the artists featured in the book "In Artists' Homes" which looks at the objects they collect and the interaction with their artwork.
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