I was so excited when my friend Anita called and invited me to a very special event celebrating Philip Pearlstein’s 90th birthday. Anita is a long-time friend of Dorothy, Philip’s wife, and was kind enough to call and ask if she could bring an extra guest to the opening of his new show at the Betty Cunningham Gallery in Chelsea. Philip Pearlstein is a force to be reckoned with in the art world as a painter with works in over 70 museums around the world and a professor at Brooklyn College for 25 years. He is a renowned realistic figure painter who helped breathe life back in the Modern Realism movement – for which I am eternally grateful given my love of realism.
I first met Philip over 40 years ago when I was a college student on break from the University of Michigan. After seeing an ad featuring this giant nude cropped at unusual angles, I decided to go to the opening at the Donald Morris Gallery, in Royal Oak, Michigan. I was bowled over by a few rooms packed full of large, still in-your-face images of realistic nudes, and told him so. The 1970s paintings were quiet and almost monochromatic, but forceful and energized by patterned rugs and fabric furniture, and unexpected reflections. Even back then, I recognized that these images were impactful and iconic. Little did I know he would keep painting nudes for the rest of his career. When we met this time, I had something a bit personal to talk about.
When Philip got up to thank everyone for coming and give some brief comments, I saw a woman wearing a hat walk right up to him and start taking photos with her phone. At first, I couldn’t believe how bold she was. Then it turns out she was the next speaker. That’s Audrey Flack, a good friend of Philip’s and pioneer of photorealist painting, whose work is owned by major museums such as the Met Museum, MOMA and Guggenheim. The room was packed full of famous people in the art world , if only I had known who they were…
While I was speaking with Philip’s actress/playwright daughter, she told me her father still paints every day for at least 4 to 5 hours. This fit with what I was seeing – a vibrant man, with a twinkle in his eye and a dry sense of humor too, who looks absolutely amazing at 90!
I will always treasure the catalog that was given out which paid tribute to Philip’s entire body of work, as did the cupcakes from Eleni’s Bakery with photos of his paintings on top.
The show included large format watercolor and oils which gave some insight into how Philip works. When I asked him whether he painted the watercolors first, Philip said he did because he wanted to see if they were worth the time to invest in an oil painting. Here’s a watercolor that he apparently thought had potential. You can see for yourself how a larger, more complex watercolor rectangular composition with two figures evolved it into a more focused, square oil painting with a single figure.
As you can see, Philip Pearlstein is still going strong at 90 and is officially my new role model! Move over Wayne Thiebaud….for now, anyway. If you’re a Pearlstein fan, I think this is a show you can’t miss. Happy BIrthday, Philip!
