Don Perlis, Resident Artist Lecture 1972

Donald Perlis gives a lecture at Skowhegan where he talks in length to the participants about his artistic practice. Perlis reflects on the various techniques he has used in his paintings and drawings, borrowing from the style of the old masters. Perlis’s paintings span motifs including still life, the figure, and landscape. Perlis is interested in the role drawing plays in his practice, and how his drawings eventually get buried into his paintings. For Perlis, speed is something that is not of a big concern for he works very slowly, only producing around four to five paintings a year. Perlis comments on the importance of the design of the picture plane to always respect the painting. Perlis then tells the participants to find out what the importance is in making art for themselves. When artists have a clear conception in their mind, they can create art freely, otherwise their art will look dead. Perlis then goes on to talk about the current moment in painting, and how it is reviving a lot of historic value. Even though photography came in and filled the gap that painting wasn’t filling, photography wasn’t able to replace painting, and even though some painters stopped painting representationally because of where their ideas were taking them, representational painting has also not been replaced. Perlis ends his lecture by stating that his concept of painting is very linear. The more he paints the more definite it becomes of the kind of work he wants to create and artist he wants to be.