Peter Saul

was born in San Francisco in 1934. From 1950 to 1952, he studied at the California School of Fine Arts and then until 1956 at the University of Washington.

In the early 1960's, he created work that played a role in the development of Pop Art. His scenes were populated with cartoon characters, and yet his work had a much more painterly aim than that of the average Pop artist. His strongly satirical character already came to the fore here. A series of paintings such as Iceboxes shows an abundance of articles, foreshadowing our consumer society, which was still in its infancy. Around the mid-sixties, the painterly aspect disappeared from his work, and caricature, sharp satire and black humour gained the upper hand. 

His trademarks became an over-the-top figurative style and social criticism. Politics and the wars in Vietnam and Korea, and later Iraq, took the rap, as did the art world. Van Gogh, Duchamp and Pollock were made fun of, just like Nixon, Reagan and Bush. Violence, over-stimulation in terms of amusement and untruthfulness were exposed and repaid in kind. The violence and aggression do not correspond to the usual aim in art; the appeal to the longing for comfort. Measured in Freudian terms, Peter Saul is a good example of a follower of the conflict model, in contrast to the many who prefer to opt for the harmony model.