Female Model on Platform Rocker
Brooklyn Museum photograph
Object Label
A key figure in the revival of realism in the 1960s, Philip Pearlstein experimented briefly with landscape before arriving at his signature subject: the nude model in the studio. Working directly from life, he created crisply and objectively rendered images of candid nude bodies. In this composition, the body of the reclining figure is dramatically foregrounded. The close-up vantage point is reinforced by the abrupt cropping and tilted perspective, while harsh lighting casts decorative shadows against the wall, creating an interplay between realism and abstraction.
Caption
Philip Pearlstein American, 1924–2022. Female Model on Platform Rocker, 1977–1978. Oil on canvas, 72 1/4 x 96 1/8 in. (183.5 x 244.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Designated Purchase Fund, Dick S. Ramsay Fund, Exxon Income Fund, Healy Purchase Fund B, John B. Woodward Memorial Fund, and Restricted Contributions, 79.17. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 79.17_SL1.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Artist
Title
Female Model on Platform Rocker
Date
1977–1978
Medium
Oil on canvas
Classification
Dimensions
72 1/4 x 96 1/8 in. (183.5 x 244.2 cm)
Signatures
Signed lower left: "Pearlstein 78"
Credit Line
Designated Purchase Fund, Dick S. Ramsay Fund, Exxon Income Fund, Healy Purchase Fund B, John B. Woodward Memorial Fund, and Restricted Contributions
Accession Number
79.17
Rights
© artist or artist's estate
The Brooklyn Museum holds a non-exclusive license to reproduce images of this work of art from the rights holder named here. The Museum does not warrant that the use of this work will not infringe on the rights of third parties. It is your responsibility to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions before copying, transmitting, or making other use of protected items beyond that allowed by "fair use," as such term is understood under the United States Copyright Act. For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org. If you wish to contact the rights holder for this work, please email copyright@brooklynmuseum.org and we will assist if we can.
Frequent Art Questions
This is fantastic. How come I've never heard of Joan Semmel?
Hm, I'm not sure, but many female artists aren't as well-known as well as they could be, in my opinion! Thankfully we have the Sackler Center for Feminist Art here at the Brooklyn Museum. (This work is from their collection). Here Semmel questions the male gaze and reclaims the female form. I like to compare this with the nearby Philip Pearlstein work, which is painted at a similar time but by a male artist.Philip Pearlstein's work is the nude woman in the rocking chair. How do you think the identity of the artists change the way you understand the works?I see that this room with the Semmel is all paintings from approximately 1935 onwards. What would you say they have in common?I'd say they share interest in the human figure as subject matter. Artists have always been questioning and exploring different depictions of the human body, but this gallery highlights those thoughts after the Second World War.You might also notice the work by Mickalene Thomas is even more recent (2007). Mickalene Thomas' work (the large painting covered in rhinestones) questions not only the role of the human body in art, but also race and intersecting identities.Answering your question about Pearlstein and Semmel, I think the Pearlstein figure is posed in a more provocative and sexual way, with her head tilted back. So maybe that's a little more stereotypical as a depiction?And what do you mean "intersecting identities"?It's a contemporary idea that people can have simultaneous multiple "identifiers." Thomas is Black, a woman, queer, and a feminist. Intersecting identity recognizes the uniqueness of an individual's experience and point of view.Thomas's identity and work are placed within these intersecting roads of understanding and conversation. I hope that makes sense!Yes, very enlightening, thank you!What's the deal with her knee?
The knee does look a little bit odd, doesn't it. This image is a realist work by Philip Pearlstein, who is particularly interested in depicting the qualities of the human body. The unusual look of the knee is due to Pearlstein's use of lighting to explore hollows and planes in his subjects. Notice how he cuts off parts of the subject's body, focusing in on others. It's possible the knee also looks so unusual because the model is particularly angular.Thanks!
Have information?
Have information about an artwork? Contact us at
