On October 18, Andover students had the chance to meet contemporary artist Peter Saul at the Addison Gallery of American Art. His works “Man in Electric Chair” and “The Mad Pilot” are currently on display in the exhibition “Americans in Paris: Artists Working in Postwar France, 1946-1962.”
With a distinctive style that blends vibrant colors and provocative images, Saul challenges conventional perceptions of art by prioritizing humor. For him, art is a playground for ideas rather than a rigid set of rules with a deep message.
“I always make sure my work is humorous. The whole idea of humor was forbidden, too, when I made these paintings. No one had made a humorous painting… Society wasn’t there yet, but I have always liked paintings that look like they’re showing a problem of some kind,” said Saul.
Early in his career, Saul felt compelled to adhere to the belief that art should always fulfill a political or moral purpose. Even when making light-hearted jokes, audiences often expected him to align with specific narratives, stifling his creativity. It wasn’t until more recently that Saul began expressing his views.
“I’m eager to admit this, because I’ve talked to journalists too many times, and they just assume that I am protesting or satirizing something. I used to tell people what they wanted to hear, up until about 20 years ago, when I quit doing it. I started a system of telling them what I wanted to say to them, and that was a huge improvement in my faith, actually. I’m very pleased with the result. If somebody agrees with me greatly, and if they don’t agree with me, they can let me go my way or something,” he described.
Despite the common misconception that abstract art is completely spontaneous, Saul’s creative process is a meticulous journey. He can spend an entire day manipulating a pencil, making minuscule adjustments while contemplating each decision. This careful attention makes all the difference in the final outcome.
“You can spend a whole day just doing something big with a pencil. Sometimes I just sit there and look at it, move it a quarter of an inch that way, think about it again. Once I get the sketch as good as I can on a little piece of paper, I transfer it to canvas by the old-fashioned method of squaring off, … So then, what do I do? I redraw it on the canvas a couple of times to get it used to itself, and only then, when I’ve got all that done, will I give it the paint,” Saul said.
Addison Community Ambassador Daisy Lopez ’26 jumped at the opportunity to gain insight from one of her role models. She found that Saul’s approach was refreshing and unique from many others she had encountered in the art world.
“ I stumbled upon his paintings, I was really excited, and I was intrigued with his art pieces because they just resonated a lot with my own creativity… His art is unique because a lot of artists that I’ve met or seen, have tried to tell a story or tried to protest something and that has kind of been boring in my eyes. Peter Saul just does it out of his own entertainment, and he doesn’t want to have some kind of story, he just wants to use his own imagination and his own creativity,” said Lopez.
Saul continues to seek the full potential of his imagination. He believes art should challenge conventions and expand perspectives. In the comfort of their studio, he and his wife Sally embrace their creativity, often addressing thought-provoking topics.
“Most of the time, I understand that I’m probably not doing the right thing, but I do it anyway… Whether I’m using the wrong attitude, or showing a lack of respect for destruction and death, I just do it anyway. I work in the privacy of my studio, Sally’s downstairs, and I’m upstairs, and we do anything we want. We let our imagination grow. We do anything the imagination says,” said Saul.
