Peri Schwartz: Studio Self Portrait - Young Art Writers Project
Published February 11th 2025
By Cassell Stewart
With her piercing gaze and imposing stance, artist Peri Schwartz is striking in her self-portrait. Studio Self-Portrait captures the eye with the image of a poised, straight-backed woman, sitting in chair. Though, perhaps sitting is not the right word. “Sitting” implies a relaxation; but this woman is clearly attentive, ready to fight or take flight, and appears to be staring directly into the soul of the viewer as if challenging them. Upon closer inspection, the viewer may even see a hint of fear, as if she thinks the viewer has the power in this scenario.
Schwartz was a New York native, born Brooklyn in 1951 and raised in Far Rockaway. She received her BFA from Boston University in 1973 and an MFA from Queens College in 1975.1
In the painting, Schwartz is holding what appears to be a paintbrush and a ruler in her studio located in New Rochelle, New York. Throughout her forty-year art career, Schwartz often drew creative inspiration from her immediate surroundings. Beginning during her time at school at Boston University, she would often use the studio and the space around her as inspiration. In interviews, she has shared that she paints completely from life, and if she doesn’t like a color of a wall in her studio, she covers it with a new color of house paint.2
Throughout the painting there is a strong use of lines: the outward lines of the subject’s thighs, the downward diagonals of her lower legs, the rulers diagonally placed around the scene, the subject’s straight arms, the distinct folds of her shirt, and the lines of furniture and windows in the background. These strong lines and diagonals move the viewer’s eyes around the painting: from the face, down to the hands and rulers, to the legs, then to the surrounding area. The area surrounding the subject, while being a resting space for the viewer, is by no means uninteresting. Every angle in the background subtly leads the eye back to the subject.
Schwartz took care to create those strong lines in this composition and in all her compositions through grids. She would let the composition dictate the grid, arranging the items how she wanted them, then going back and adding grid lines to her real-life studio space to guide and dictate her brush. When discussing her process, Schwartz revealed, “By the time I get that brush to the canvas, I’m pretty sure that’s where I want it to go.”3
The precision and exactness Schwartz uses in her painting and printmaking is amazing, especially seeing that her paintings do not appear overly meticulous. Schwartz makes something perceived as challenging seem very easy with its presentation. She loves to utilize abstraction in her art. The loose and unfinished parts of her work draw attention, but it is the contrast between the loose brushwork and the intense work on grids and spatial relationships that makes it so. Schwartz spends time and effort perfecting the grid and getting it aligned on canvas so that her execution can have the appearance of being effortless. Her paintings and prints have bold, confident lines and brushstrokes. This is a testimony to the effort Schwartz puts into her setup and gridwork.
Schwartz’s work with grids is reminiscent of the early modernist grids, as much of her work is with large swatches of color and intersecting grid lines. She calls upon work from Modern artists like Piet Mondrian, with his straight black lines and primary colors. Her series on bottles, jars, or her series on her studio space most accurately show the influence of Mondrian and other Modernist artists like Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Cézanne, and Richard Diebenkorn. The Modern artists’ emphasis on reducing forms to their basic lines and colors is what has inspired the reduction of forms seen in Schwartz's art.4
One might have the opinion that working with a grid is too limiting and rules-based for the amount of freedom artists seek in their art. But one of Peri Schwartz’s favorite quotes did not have this perspective and pointed out, “Every artist knows that there is no such thing as ‘freedom’ in art. The first thing an artist does when he begins a new work is to lay down the barriers and limitations; he decides upon a certain composition, a certain key, a certain relation of creatures or objects to each other. He is never free, and the more splendid his imagination, the more intense his feeling, the farther he goes from general truth and general emotion.”5
Reflecting on Schwartz's position, one might conclude there is no such thing as total freedom in art — there are always rules to follow. This making of grids is allowing freedoms within limitations. Artists are limited by the materials and scope of the project. They are limited by time and energy. They are limited by what they can express. But the magic of the grid is that it takes all those limitations into consideration and allows freedom to run between them. Schwartz said, “The grid is a fluid thing. I’ve learned, that when you paint over something that is good, the new version is often even better, because
you let the old layer come through. A lot of my painting is about what’s underneath. It’s not just a one-shot thing. I’m not interested in the Frank Stella shape. I like the Diebenkorn shape, with its feeling of layers, of color upon color. It’s not just a block outline. It’s a shape that’s shifting.”6 Artist Frank Stella, in his attempts to make a totally self-referential painting, used the grid to further his restrictions. Schwartz wanted to contradict this attitude toward the grid and leverage it as a source of artistic freedom.
At the time that Peri Schwartz painted her Studio Self Portrait and was debating the freedoms and limitations of grids, many ideas were being discussed regarding the freedoms and limitations of women. Studio Self Portrait was created in the context of the third wave of Feminism. Beginning in the early 1990s, the third wave focused on tackling still-existing issues like the shortage of women in positions of power and sexual harassment in the workplace, and encouraged women to express their individuality and sexuality in rebellion.7 This rebellion and questioning of womanhood stemmed from the postmodern habit of breaking from accepted reality and instead questioning the structures and systems in place.
Historically, women appear in artwork from the male point of view. Women had less opportunities than men, so female painters and artists had a much harder time gaining recognition or training. The female perspective was often left out of the art world. Stories of women were being told but they were being told by men, with the male point of view manipulating the narrative. Women were subjects of paintings and objects of male desire; and this led to many female figures in paintings being oversexualized, in positions of submission, and being viewed as overly delicate or demure. The women in historic portraits often look to the side, they display signs of weakness, and their bodies are on display for the viewer and are not being owned by themselves.
The portrayal of women in art greatly changed in the 20th century. Because women had more rights, more reproductive control, and more education, they had more opportunities to represent themselves in the art world.8 Peri Schwartz represented the female figure in her painting often with her series of self-portraits. She was able to tell her own story and represent herself how she wanted to be represented. Schwartz chose to represent herself staring down the viewer, taking up physical space, and cutting an imposing figure. This is not a demure painting of a submissive woman. This is a painting of a confident woman, fully in charge of her body and herself. The pose that she chose to paint herself in is an uncommon one for women. This position would commonly be referred to in pop culture as “manspreading”. It is the action of taking up as much space as is comfortable for that person. Schwartz’s Self Portrait portrays a woman feeling confident taking up as much space as a man.
Schwartz staring down the viewer is also significant. It is striking how she appears to be almost challenging the viewer or staring directly into their soul. This eye contact with the viewer is bold and piercing, but perhaps a little unsure. As Schwartz paints directly from life, propping up a mirror in front of her to fully study herself, this raises questions about her unsure eye contact with the viewer. Is she challenging herself as her own viewer in the mirror? Is she scared of showing herself in the painting and being put on display? Is her gaze portraying confidence or insecurity? And do the two have to be mutually exclusive? There is much up for interpretation with the painting. The portrayal of the modern woman that Schwartz paints is nuanced and full of strength of character, showing a vast improvement from the portrayal of women in the past.
Peri Schwartz’s Studio Self Portrait is both an excellent example of Schwartz’s use of grids and a work that exhibits her position at the aftermath of the third wave of Feminism. The strong, straight lines in the composition are visually interesting and lead the eye around the composition. Her bold use of a grid in her paintings and prints reflects her Modernist inspirations, namely Mondrian among others. Thirty years of studying formations of grids, practicing them, and building them in her own physical studio helped Schwartz’s compositions have this impressionistic quality while keeping a distinct structure. Schwartz’s seat at the crux of third wave Feminism puts her in the perfect spot to paint self-portraits in the way that she does. Her bold stance and challenging stare in the portrait catch the eye and make one wonder what they are being challenged to do. To stare back? To possibly think about a time when women
weren’t permitted to be so bold? Schwartz ties all these influences, studies, and time periods together, whether intentionally or not, with her striking self-portrait.
Bibliography and Citations
1 Peri Schwartz, “Peri Schwartz.” Schwartz is recognized as a master painter and printmaker, and her work can be found in museum collections throughout the United States and Europe.
2 John Seed, “Peri Schwartz: ‘Painting Is like Breathing for Me.’” She takes the same approach with the props she uses in her projects. Schwartz goes as far as buying books simply for the exact color of their cover.
3 Larry Groff, “Interview with Peri Schwartz - Painting Perceptions.”
4 Larry Groff, “Interview with Peri Schwartz - Painting Perceptions.”
5 John Seed, “Peri Schwartz: ‘Painting Is like Breathing for Me.’”
6 John Seed, “Peri Schwartz: ‘Painting Is like Breathing for Me.’”
7 Laura Brunell, “Third Wave of Feminism | Definition, Goals, Figures, & Accomplishments.”
8 Sarah Pruitt, “What Are the Four Waves of Feminism?”
Brunell, Laura. 2024. “Third Wave of Feminism | Definition, Goals, Figures, & Accomplishments | Britannica.” Www.britannica.com. January 3, 2024. https://www.britannica.com/topic/third-wave-of-feminism.
Groff, Larry. 2013. “Interview with Peri Schwartz - Painting Perceptions.” Painting Perceptions. May 24, 2013. https://paintingperceptions.com/interview-with-peri-schwartz/.
———. 2018. “Color and Process - Interview with Peri Schwartz.” Painting Perceptions. September 5, 2018. https://paintingperceptions.com/colorprocess-peri-schwartz/.
NAGA. 2021. “Peri Schwartz: Self Portraits & Studio Paintings - NAGA - Berkshire Fine Arts.” Berkshirefinearts.com. 2021. https://berkshirefinearts.com/01-08-2021_peri-schwartz-self-portraits.htm.
“Peri Schwartz | You Want It Darker | the Metropolitan Museum of Art.” 2018. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2018. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/822560.
Pruitt, Sarah. 2023. “What Are the Four Waves of Feminism?” HISTORY. A&E Television Networks. October 4, 2023. https://www.history.com/news/feminism-four-waves.
Ritchie, Amy. 2012. “Easel Does It.” Style Weekly. March 6, 2012. https://www.styleweekly.com/easel-does-it/.
Schwartz, Peri. 2024. “Peri Schwartz.” Perischwartz.com. 2024. https://www.perischwartz.com/.
Seed, John. 2013. “Peri Schwartz: ‘Painting Is like Breathing for Me.’” HuffPost. August 5, 2013. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/peri-schwartz_b_3695278.
Weber, Nathan. 2015. “UM Museum to Host Peri Schwartz Exhibition - Ole Miss News.” Ole Miss News. September 27, 2015. https://news.olemiss.edu/um-museum-host-peri-schwartz-exhibition/.