On Nov. 10th, 2012, at the Seligmann Center, for the Arts Philip Pearlstein spoke to an audience of artists and art appreciators of this life and work.
Mr. Pearlstein talked of his early days, how was first really encouraged with his art when he won a scholastic scholarship in HS. Then he was in the military in Europe and wanted to pursue a career in illustration. It sounded to me like the young Pearlstein was active in an amazing NYC art movement; he was part of a co-op on 10th Street, The Tananger(? Not sure on spelling).
His art really started to develop into his voice during the time Philip taught at Pratt . He was part of a figure drawing group that met on Sunday nights. He worked in umber Washes in Watercolor to nail the figure quickly, like my music sheets. He was teaching figure drawing and wanted to show his students an idea of what one could do with a the figure in a developed way, so he began hiring his own models and working on large canvases. He also met on a Friday night with other artist to talk about art. Robert Motherwell led artist discussions at NYU that anyone could attend. Sometimes, he said 50 or 60 people were there. It seemed to me the discussions with his peers were invaluable to his development. What also seemed to be invaluable was his teaching. He pushed himself for his students, and then also learned from them.
This drawing was done during a talk that Philip was giving at the Seligmann Center for the Arts on Nov.10th, 2012. Philip is 88 years old. Drawing by Janet Howard-Fatta
I’ve often looked at his work and looked for meaning and I have learned that that was his intent. He created a sense of wonder and mystery with his composition with objects and poses of the human body, breaking up the picture plane. His complex sense of composition was influenced by his early days as an abstract expressionist. When asked if the camera was competitor, he commented that the camera is limited with the field of vision, unlike his paintings, where he can have the picture plane in focus throughout the painting.
When asked about his process, I learned that he currently works on 4 paintings at a time. 3 days a week, each day a different model in session. One of the most interesting things to me is that he starts with a watercolor sketch . He does not work from the sketch, but chooses the most challenging of the sketches to do a painting from life of.
I am inspired to continue working with the figure drawing group, teaching and attending the artist salons that meet at the Seligmann on Thursday nights once a month.
Thank you to Susan Hope Fogel for Producing this event, Michelle Feder our fantastic Q and A facilitator. Thank you to he Center for the Arts for this opportunity.
Open Life drawing meets every Wednesday at the Seligmann 10AM-12PM. For more info visit , https://jhowardstudios.com/category/warwickdrawinggroup/