Philip Pearlstein

Known for his paintings of nudes with almost clinical objectivity, Philip Pearlstein has been scrutinizing the body since the early 1960s, painting it as it is and avoiding idealization. Attuned to art history, Pearlstein is as interested in pattern and composition as he is in the body itself. He creates still life-like, visually complex arrangements by entangling his models with pieces of furniture, colorful rugs and blankets, and an assortment of objects, like a decoy swan or a whirligig. His model of 18 years, Desiree Avarez wrote: “He is fascinated with the beauty of form, and by beauty I mean power. This is a man studying structure and the math of its glamour as deeply as the ancient philosophers. As if understanding the essence of the endoskeleton might uncover the sublime.”