Online Viewing Room | Peter Saul

In 2020, the New Museum in New York presented a major retrospective, Peter Saul: Crime and Punishment, curated by Massimiliano Gioni and Gary Carrion-Murayari, celebrating the artist’s groundbreaking contributions to contemporary art.

Works by Peter Saul are held in major international collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Museum Ludwig, Cologne; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles; and the Art Institute of Chicago.

"You never know about the art world because it's a matter of opinion. If you look at old art like Rembrandt and Vermeer, it's not completely a matter of opinion. The pictures confront you, and you see exactly what it is. In modern art, a lot of it is suggestive, and it becomes a matter of opinion... 

My idea of what Constantinople looked like in 1453 comes from a sixteenth century illustration in John Norwich’s “Byzantium, the Decline and Fall,” a very good account of the final battle as well as having a portrait of Mehmet II, the Turkish conqueror on the cover. However, aside from those two helpful illustrations, I paid no attention to the historical facts. That’s because my picture has to be interesting to look at in today’s art world, not a history classroom.” – Peter Saul

Rather than adhering to heroic or solemn interpretations, Saul transforms the historical event into a vivid spectacle, fusing Surrealism and Pop Art with garish hues and grotesquely exaggerated figures. His formal approach bridges the melting, elastic forms of Salvador Dalí with the frenetic brushwork of Willem de Kooning, merging the intersection of history and the visual absurd, prompting viewers to question how history is constructed, remembered, and mythologized.

“I’m interested in history, but I’m not interested in it as a narrative. I’m interested in it as a bunch of crazy stuff that happened.” – Peter Saul

In his work, Dalacroix succeeded to simultaneously shock and captivate the viewer. Peter Saul expanded this idea to its limits, turning the 'bad painting' into the quintessence of his iconic style. In Saul's work, the distorted perspective dramatically transforms the anatomy, the acidic, psychedelic colors and the chaotic composition create a vibrant drama and an incessant dialogue with the viewer.

"I'm not against history paintings, I just want to add my own flavor to it."

– Peter Saul

“I wanted my art…not to be in the middle. My feeling about politics in art is that it’s usually feeble, because it delivers the expected message. The expected message is dead on arrival, because all it does is point out that the good guys are good, the bad guys are bad. I wanted work that was far, far more troubling. If a picture isn’t troubling, why even think about it?” – Peter Saul

Each of Peter Saul's works weaves together multiple cultural layers. In Wall Street Suicide, Édouard Manet’s provocative imagery collides with the surreal, distorted figures of Francis Bacon and the enduring American icon of Frankenstein—both dead and alive. The painting’s bold use of color and jarring, exaggerated aesthetic exemplify Saul’s painterly mastery and his uniquely probing approach to contemporary themes.

"The important thing is that a work has to look fresh, to be as original as possible. That means it has to have its own idea and psychology. I try to make it worth looking at, to turn it into a sensation. True or false doesn't matter at all as long as it's disturbing or funny, because I love all psychology. Bad things make me laugh just as often as good things. This has been my art style for over 55 years. I am open to any humor, except sophisticated humor. Too many good artists have sought after it. The secret of the success of a "bad" artist is in overcoming the need for approval."

– Peter Saul