{"id":1085,"date":"2013-02-22T12:41:07","date_gmt":"2013-02-22T17:41:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/?p=1085"},"modified":"2013-03-28T21:48:40","modified_gmt":"2013-03-29T01:48:40","slug":"thumbs-up-neel-thumbs-up-also-pearlstein","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2013\/02\/thumbs-up-neel-thumbs-up-also-pearlstein\/","title":{"rendered":"Thumbs-up: Neel, Thumbs-up (also): Pearlstein"},"content":{"rendered":"

By happenstance or cunning plan, The Cleveland Museum of Art<\/a> has two large paintings hanging next to each other by artists of whom I am fond– Alice Neel<\/a> and Philip Pearlstein<\/a>. Juxtaposed this way, the relative merits of each can be studied.<\/p>\n

Except for a long detour in the Picasso Amusement Park, a straight line can be drawn from Alice Neel\u2019s career back to the Post-impressionists. Like many artists who came of age during the first part of the 20th century, such as Pollock<\/a>, Neel, who was born in 1900, struggled to escape Picasso\u2019s shadow.<\/p>\n

Neel does not care for the technical niceties of craft, but focuses her energy on seeing. Seeing\u2014engaging nature\u2014has been at the core of Western Art from the beginning, of course. Artists thus focused often produce efficient. shorthand passages of\u00a0immense\u00a0charm, such as the sitters\u2019 shirtfronts in the accompanying illustration. And opening the window on the big, old world helped her escape from Picasso’s long shadow.<\/p>\n

Neel\u2019s paintings are also remarkable for large passages that are not successful. It\u2019s as if, like a dutiful student, she insists on persevering with misfired effects, such as the blonde hair in this painting. \u00a0What prevents these stiff-necked passages from spoiling the work is her directness. \u00a0She plunges in and happily proceeds, brushing aside misfirings and we end up brushing them aside too.<\/p>\n

More problematic is Neel\u2019s celebrity fixation, which remains jarring.<\/p>\n

Finally, Neel, like Cezanne, had a very productive old age. \u00a0This painting was done in 1970 when she was 70. \u00a0(Amusingly, the museum mislabels it as an early example of her portrait style.)<\/p>\n

\"Alice<\/a>
Alice Neel’s Jackie Curtis and Rita Redd<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I’ve\u00a0admired Peralstein for many years: he was an inspiration when I was young, and a revelation when I studied with him. Happily, he is still going strong now in his 80’s.<\/p>\n

We can see that both artists have obvious similarities: interacting with nature is important for each, and both focus on the human form.\u00a0 In these paintings the simple subjects are seen straight on. Neel is not interested in articulating even this shallow space, while Pearlstein most emphatically is.<\/p>\n

Pearlstein’s figure is a monument of finely articulated forms. Great care is taken to establish the relationships of the parts of the figure to itself, such as the elbow on the knee, and the figure to the other elements–wall, floor, and chair. The sitter’s left arm is especially beautiful. The negative space it forms with the body and as it stabs the picture’s edge demonstrates the artist’s exquisite design sense.<\/p>\n

The chair is an interesting object in itself and cuts the picture plane with its diagonal thrust. Thrusts and cuts–Pearlstein is interested in creating tensions and challenging the viewer’s expectations. The body is carefully articulated, yet by cutting the head and feet with the frame, familiar psychological space is lost, replaced by a more formal one (albeit tinged with anxiety). The figure and chair thrust into space, only to be flattened by the frame.<\/p>\n

These issues hold no attraction for Neel; Pearlstein’s ambitions–aggressive ambitions–make him the more interesting artist.<\/p>\n

\"Pearlstein's<\/a>
Pearlstein’s Female Model on African Stool<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Peralstein is much more interested in process than Neel. When I said that both artists were interested in nature, you might have wondered what artist isn’t. Many artists are consumed with the process of making art, which can take them far, far away from nature.<\/p>\n

Peralstien’s painting style is methodical and process-heavy, and provides none of the charming economies of Neel’s. With him, everything is calculated. He calculates a tone and (joylessly) paints a band of it. Then he calculates the neighboring tone and places a calculated amount of it in another band, and so on. He’s suspicious of emotion which denudes otherwise charming passages, such as the chin resting on the hand, of their warmth. The limitation of his technique can be seen in the chair. When examined in the museum, the animal’s face, while not clumsy, fails to track; the artist’s calculations have misfired.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a testament to Pearlstein\u2019s power as an artist that such a\u00a0cerebral,\u00a0 methodical, suspicious style could give rise to such strong paintings. Pearlstein is a very fine artist whose failings are more interesting than many artists\u2019 successes.<\/p>\n

For all of Peralstein\u2019s power, in this side by side comparison, Neel more than holds her own. Her easy-going, direct style looks even fresher against Peralstein\u2019s controlled aggression.<\/p>\n

[Photos are mine; paintings are owned by the Cleveland Museum of Art.]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By happenstance or cunning plan, The Cleveland Museum of Art has two large paintings hanging next to each other by artists of whom I am fond– Alice Neel and Philip Pearlstein. Juxtaposed this way, the relative merits of each can be studied. Except for a long detour in the Picasso Amusement Park, a straight line […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[17,5,10,6,87,1],"tags":[116,59,115],"class_list":["post-1085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-art-museum","category-artists","category-cleveland","category-paintings","category-thumbs-up-down","category-uncategorized","tag-alice-neel","tag-cleveland-museum-of-art","tag-pearlstein"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3611,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2014\/05\/philip-pearlstein\/","url_meta":{"origin":1085,"position":0},"title":"Philip Pearlstein","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"May 8, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I didn't know Philip Pearlstein long enough for him to be a true mentor, but even so\u00a0he made a powerful and long-lasting impression on me. During the 80's Philip was on the staff of\u00a0Brooklyn College. His presence was the main reason Brooklyn College's graduate fine arts department was ranked #2\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Artists"","block_context":{"text":"Artists","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/artists\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Philip Pearlstein","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Philip.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":292,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2012\/11\/thumbs-up-thumbs-down\/","url_meta":{"origin":1085,"position":1},"title":"Thumbs-up: van Ruisdael; Thumbs-down: Renoir","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"November 2, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u2019ve loved art as far back as I can remember.\u00a0 During the summer before First Grade we moved to a farm, and while exploring the barn loft (true story), I was thrilled to discover a bunch of painting gear\u2014half-empty paint cans, rags, and stiff brushes.\u00a0 I loved it!\u00a0 I loved\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art Museums"","block_context":{"text":"Art Museums","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/art-museum\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5900,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2016\/03\/in-the-studio-32016\/","url_meta":{"origin":1085,"position":2},"title":"In the studio 3\/20\/16","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"March 20, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I made progress on Euclid Avenue I\u00a0this morning. \u00a0Progress on the\u00a048\" x 60\" painting\u00a0has been slow at times. \u00a0This canvas is from a\u00a0stock of 'professional grade' canvases I bought some time back. \u00a0The surfaces on these 'professional grade' canvases are very poor--execrable. \u00a0I've had to spend a lot of time\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "aesthetics"","block_context":{"text":"aesthetics","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/aesthetics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/studio-2016-3-20.jpg?fit=666%2C561&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/studio-2016-3-20.jpg?fit=666%2C561&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/studio-2016-3-20.jpg?fit=666%2C561&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1592,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2013\/04\/thumbs-down-sargent-thumbs-up-bouguereau\/","url_meta":{"origin":1085,"position":3},"title":"Thumbs Down: Sargent; Thumbs Up: Bouguereau","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"April 14, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"John Singer Sargent and William-Adolphe Bouguereau\u00a0are not normally considered together, yet their careers overlapped for several decades. In the \u2018Undergrad\u2019s Giant Book of Art History\u2019 Sargent is counted among the progressives, while Bouguereau is thrown in with the anti-progressives--history's losers (according to the Giant Book). Indeed, in many fables in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art Museums"","block_context":{"text":"Art Museums","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/art-museum\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sargent's Portrait of Lisa Colt Curtis, 1898, 98\u201d x 52\u201d","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/sargent-colt.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":466,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2012\/12\/thumbs-up-bonnard-thumbs-sidewaysvuillard\/","url_meta":{"origin":1085,"position":4},"title":"Thumbs-up: Bonnard; Thumbs-sideways:Vuillard","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"December 19, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Vuillard Have you dated someone whose online profile scored highly, only to be\u00a0disappointed\u00a0upon\u00a0meeting her\/him? \u00a0I've never used an online dating service (my wife has strong opinions on this subject), but my relationship with Vuillard feels like a\u00a0disappointing\u00a0blind date. \u00a0At different times I've studied him closely. \u00a0He has a beguiling profile\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Artists"","block_context":{"text":"Artists","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/artists\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Vuillard: White Room","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/the-white-room.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/the-white-room.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/the-white-room.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":96,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2012\/10\/stephen-pentak-at-bonfoey\/","url_meta":{"origin":1085,"position":5},"title":"Stephen Pentak at Bonfoey","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"October 16, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"The Bonfoey Gallery (1700 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, OH) is the kind of establishment I adore: it's an art gallery in the business of showing real, contemporary artists. \u00a0Places like it are rare outside New York City, and I tip my hat to them. \u00a0I make a point of visiting every\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Artists"","block_context":{"text":"Artists","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/artists\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2Gw6F-hv","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1085"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1085\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11592,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1085\/revisions\/11592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}