Untitled (Bathroom)

Peter Saul, Untitled (Bathroom), 1961, pastel crayon and collage on paper, 19 ¹⁄₂ x 25 ⁵⁄₈ in. (49.5 x 65.1 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Gene Davis Memorial Fund, 2009.19, © 1961, Peter Saul

Artwork Details

Title: Untitled (Bathroom)
Artist: Peter Saul
Date: 1961
Location: Not on view
Dimensions: 19 ¹⁄₂ x 25 ⁵⁄₈ in. (49.5 x 65.1 cm)
Copyright: © 1961, Peter Saul
Credit Line: Museum purchase through the Gene Davis Memorial Fund
Mediums: pastel
Mediums Description: pastel crayon and collage on paper
Classifications: Drawing
Subjects: Architecture Interior — domestic — bathroom
Object Number: 2009.19
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2009.19

Artwork Description

Early in his career, Peter Saul abandoned abstract expressionism in favor of vigorous figuration with vulgar and violent subject matter. He lived in Paris from 1958 to 1962, and reacted against the refinement and pretention of the art world both in Europe and in the United States. He adopted the stance of an intellectual outsider and provocateur, drawing and painting ordinary objects in his apartment – iceboxes, bathroom fixtures, food, knives – with carefree abandon. In this drawing, body parts strewn about and blood-colored water, depicted with cartoonlike spontaneity, create a mood of slapstick violence that characterizes much of his later work.

Abstract Drawings, 2012