Positano #1

1960

Not on view

Before he became renowned as a painter of the nude figure, Philip Pearlstein garnered critical acclaim with his paintings of the rocky landscapes of Maine and later, Italy. Spurred by conversations he had in the mid-1950s with the artist (and eventual fellow instructor at the Pratt Institute) Mercedes Matter, Pearlstein spent a summer at Deer Isle in Maine where he found in the rock formations an abstract source through which to work out his painterly ideas. Soon thereafter in 1958–59, Pearlstein traveled on a Fulbright scholarship to Italy, where he had been stationed during his army service in World War II.

In 1959, Pearlstein made extensive studies of the rocky cliffs along the Amalfi Coast (including at Positano) and Positano #1 was based on drawings made at the site. Over the succeeding decades, even as he focused on figurative painting the artist returned to Positano. He later linked his early landscapes of the region to his later nudes, explaining "I see the figure as landscape; the landscape as figure – they’re the same!"

Artwork Details

Title: Positano #1
Artist: Philip Pearlstein (American, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1924–2022 New York, New York)
Date: 1960
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 66 × 96 3/16 in. (167.6 × 244.3 cm)
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Gift of the artist, 2022
Object Number: 2022.317
Rights and Reproduction: © Philip Pearlstein
Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

More Artwork

By Philip Pearlstein

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Entrance to Lincoln Tunnel, Night-Time, Philip Pearlstein American, Oil on canvas — Entrance to Lincoln Tunnel, Night-Time
Philip Pearlstein
1992

Alex Katz, Philip Pearlstein American, Oil on canvas — Alex Katz
Philip Pearlstein
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Two Models with Bent Wire Chair and Kilim Rug, Philip Pearlstein American, Oil on canvas — Two Models with Bent Wire Chair and Kilim Rug
Philip Pearlstein
1984

Male and Female Models, Philip Pearlstein American, Graphite on paper — Male and Female Models
Philip Pearlstein
1964

St. Ivo

Multiple artists/makers

1984

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