Superman

[NNadir]

4. I have seen it Peg. Pearlstein is mostly known for his "clinical"...

...paintings of nudes, some of which lean in the direction of Lucien Freud's work, some not, but all devoid of that god and goddess look of the Pre-Ralphaelites of 19th century Britain, and lacking the ethereal surrealist mysticism of Delvaux, whose work I love but have never seen live. Superman is not actually characteristic of Pearlstein's work, but I like it a great deal, particularly for its distortions of strengths.

(There will be an exhibition of Pre-Raphaelite work this summer at the Met and I hope I can get there for it, since those paintings are often beautiful in their own way and I've never had a chance to see them when I've been in Britain, which has always been for business purposes.)

Pearlstein is considered by some to be one of the most important figure painters of the late 20th century, although it seems possible to me at least, given the times we live in, that Lucien Freud's often disturbing work was more reflective of the world in which we live.

By the way, I'm very pleased to see that you're up and around after your surgery. Hopefully you're recovering nicely.