“So-called ‘good painting’ is like a parade of intelligent thinkers,” American artist Peter Saul told BOMB in 2008. “I’m glad to be outside of that.” Saul has been an art-world outsider since the early 1960s, despite an affinity with the era’s Pop Art, and his trafficking in pop-culture icons. Where the Warholian school shrugs, however, Saul vigorously reacts, painting American murderers and corrupt politicians with similarly ferocious contempt. These ideological underpinnings have made Saul a favorite among younger artists. While his first New York museum survey comes late, with 60 paintings spanning his career—better late than never. —C.J.F.

Peter Saul: Crime and Punishment
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New Museum / New York / Art
New Museum / New York / Art
Peter Saul, “Bush at Abu Ghraib,” 2006. Courtesy of the New Museum, New York.
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