Portrait of John Perreault

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John Perreault wrote art criticism for ARTnews, Soho News, and the Village Voice from the 1960s into the ‘90s and was an early proponent of a variety of avant-garde movements including Minimalism, Land art, and Pattern and Decoration. He also created art of his own (often using unusual materials), sometimes worked as a curator, and was tightly integrated into the New York art world of his time. His relationships with artists led Perreault to serve as a model for Philip Pearlstein, Alice Neel, and Sylvia Sleigh. Indeed, he sat for Sleigh on a number of occasions, including two of her best-known works: The Turkish Bath (1973) and the seventy-foot, fourteen-panel Invitation to a Voyage: The Hudson River at Fishkill, which Sleigh worked on from 1979–1999 (in the latter Perreault appears in multiple panels, alongside Sleigh, her husband Lawrence Alloway, his husband Jeff Weinstein, and other mutual friends). Sleigh’s long friendship with Perreault also resulted in this smaller tondo portrait, painted in 1980. The picture evinces many signature features of Sleigh’s art. As a portrait of a male subject by a female painter, it entails the reversal of traditional gender roles that Sleigh often pursued. This approach is highlighted by Perreault’s being depicted in profile, looking away from the viewer, and thereby leaving himself subject to Sleigh’s gaze. The tondo format itself connotes tradition (and earlier forms of portraiture and artmaking more broadly) in a fashion parallel to if somewhat subtler than Sleigh’s other adaptations of iconic historical compositions. Finally, Sleigh’s commitment to realism and representation of human bodies comes through especially in her attention to Perreault’s hair, from the waves and patterns on his head and beard, to the curly scruff on the back of his neck, and the chest hair emerging from under his collar. Ultimately, the picture might be seen as an unhesitating representation of bodily detail, yet also as a tender and knowing depiction of a close friend.

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