Is it possible for you get work done during the Coronavirus pandemic? Does it affect your studio time?

It seems to me studio time is just the same as always -about twelve noon to seven in the evening. My hope was that I would get more work done during this increased isolation but actually it’s just the same - I must have forgotten that to paint a picture I need to have an image first, some idea of what the picture is “of”, and that slows things down a lot

What is still the biggest influence on your work and current thinking? 

The biggest influence on my work as always is the deep down fear my picture is not going to be interesting enough for anyone to look at - except of course the built-in audience that “fine arts” has - critics, dealers, collectors and so on. But you get past that, what you might call the fan base and with fine arts, especially painting, it’s probably an empty room situation, zero interest from the average person.

Your paintings have always pushed boundaries and carried both risk and edginess as a core mantra. Where do you find the energy and passion every morning?

Gee whiz! I don’t know. It’s what I’ve always done - gets me through life easily, even luxuriously.

Over the years your paintings have addressed political and social issues in a very up-front manner, a no beating around the bush style. With the current state of serious social unrest and political paralysis, can you still make important statements in your works?

Yes, I hope so. Of course, what’s “up front” is a matter of opinion - someone else could say it’s an evasion of reality.

Looking back on your works, what has been your favorite painting of a politician and why?

I don’t have a favorite! Politicians and celebrities are there, in the world, useful subject matter, to be used by any artist who needs one. Back in the 1960’s, viewers came to associate me with pictures of politicians because other artists weren’t painting them, so I just continued - it’s my kind of picture.

What was your experience in Austin when you were teaching at the University of Texas?

I really, really enjoyed my conversations with students. Before my teaching job I had been all too isolated. It had seemed to me nobody had wanted to know my opinion of anything, and now some kids regard me as an expert - wow! Yes, the myths of Texas, the cowboy, the Alamo make very good subjects for painting. Love them and they make me laugh too.

Did the students engage with your studio classes?

I don’t know what I did for them but they helped me a lot, gave me the gift of gab.

Americana at its best?

Americana type subjects occurred to me in 1958 when I was living in Paris and trying to rebel against the seriousness of Abstract Expressionism which was a world-wide art movement back then. Never seems to wear out, still doing it.

How do you balance abstraction and recognisable subject matter in your final compositions?

I haven’t successfully balanced abstraction and recognizable subject matter - need to have a picture that asks me for more abstraction. The idea of coexistence of these two things is humorous, makes me laugh, gives me an idea right now for my next picture.

When do you know when a painting is completed?

I keep the picture around for a week or a month and invariably find final touches that are needed. Someone told me the last touches the artist makes are the first things the viewer sees and that may be true.

about peter saul

Peter Saul was born in 1934 in San Francisco, California. Saul is a painter and printmaker known for his satirical commentaries on political, social, and historical events in American history. He attended the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco, and the Washington University School of Fine Arts in St. Louis, Missouri. His work has been the subject of numerous international solo exhibitions, including recent major exhibitions at the New Museum, New York; Deichtorhallen Hamburg, Germany; the Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt, Germany; and Lincoln Center, New York.

Saul’s work is frequently featured in major group exhibitions at institutions both stateside and abroad, including recent presentations at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas; The Met Breuer, New York; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; the Musée d’Art Contemporain, Marseille, France; MoMA PS1, Long Island City, New York; the Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence; and the Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, Ohio. 

Peter Saul lives and works in New York City, and Germantown, New York.