Robert Perillat was born in Seattle, Washington on December 5^th 1922. At 23 years of age, he received his B.A. from St. Patrick’s Seminary, Menlo Park, California. In 1951, he received his M.A. from the college of Notre Dame, his thesis: Jacques Marittain and the Problem Of Subsistence. In 1958 he completed his PhD (Philosophy) at the University of Notre Dame, his dissertation: St. Thomas Aquinas On The Principal Of Subsistence (the notion of person).

Perillat began teaching in 1954 as an Asst. Prof. of Philosophy at Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Indiana. He continued there until l962, when he accepted an appointment as an Asst. Prof. of Philosophy at The College of New Rochelle, New York. In l967, he was appointed Asst. Prof. of Philosophy at The State University of New York at Albany. In l968, he accepted an appointment as Vice President for Student Affairs at Russell Sage College in Troy, New York. He left in 1969 to join the ranks of the young Woodstock/Beat generation, rejecting the materialistic culture of mainstream America.

Although he left behind his academic degrees and titles, Robert Perillat was armed with years of study and teaching in Philosophy and an intrinsic drive to work as a creative artist. Creating sculptures and drawings throughout his life, he began to focus primarily on painting in 1969, at the age of 47.

He moved into a “goat-shed” on a mountainside in Woodstock, New York. There he began his search for the true realization of his life’s purpose and fulfillment. In true Socratic fashion, he did not pursue this quest in solitude. Rather, he engaged wholeheartedly in the impassioned debates and protests in the hay-days of political and social upheaval. Living on Maverick Road, he was known around town as “Woodstock Bob”. Battling wits with the “mavericks” of Woodstock, running for mayor, constantly taking trips to New York City to “do the galleries,” his work showed great gains in conceptual sophistication and mastery of materials. Rauschenberg and Johns were especially influential during this period.

Perillat had spent 7 years painting in Woodstock when he returned to his native California. Perhaps prompted by the romance and poetry as well as the social and political movements associated with the San Francisco art scene. He settled nearby in Stinson Beach, California and dove into his focused work as a painter. Over the next several years he produced hundred of paintings, much of which he considered unsatisfactory and selectively destroyed.

Creating mixed media abstract expressionist paintings as well as patterned works (sometimes as large-scale collages) presented unique problems to his lifestyle. His small studio, in which he had a single bed and a hot plate for cooking his meals, would not have been usable were it not for the kindness of neighbors who allowed him to store hundreds of paintings in their quarters.

In 1981, at the suggestion of George McClancy, Perillat returned to New York City to explore his horizon. In an industrial loft in Brooklyn, just over the Williamsburg Bridge from Manhattan, he began the most intense and productive period of his artistic life. Working long solitary hours into the night on his newfound inspirations, his day was spent following the seasons of New York’s gallery exhibitions with an almost religious dedication. Occasionally, he would engage some artist or dealer in discussion, like David McKee (McKee Gallery), who would recognize him as someone to be dealt with and to be taken seriously.

Richard Solomon of Pace Editions and the Pace Gallery came to view a series of his new paintings, spending the morning discussing what he considered the strengths (and weaknesses) of the work. Nevertheless, Perillat never made a serious effort to find a dealer or gallery to represent him in New York City.

When he did decide to go public with his work, it was usually in some modest way. Twice entering the annual citywide and juried competition, Discoveries (which sought to reveal under known older artists), Perillat received first prize awards in 1986 & 1988, both curated by Village Voice Critic Peter Frank.

In his own words, after years of struggle and living in poverty, Robert Perillat states:

“A friend of mine called me yesterday and told me I should wait until I’ve gained some recognition as an artist before applying for the scholarship. My answer was quite simple. Out of these one hundred and eighty-one paintings I could pick out forty for a one-man show that would knock the socks off New York. There is no doubt in my mind that my work is going to sell, and sell well. But right now I am not ready for that sort of stuff. I’m busy right now making it up this cliff… Discovering in a legitimate and painful way who I am as an artist. I am very much aware of the premium the art world places on style. Unfortunately most artist’s work I see in the galleries is the result of a premature arresting of style that results in cleverness without intuition, self- repetition without creation, method without madness, instant recognition without substance. I prefer the loneliness of the long distance runner.

I guess I am old enough to want to uncover the treasure for my own sake. I want the thing itself. The fame… the fortune… will come, I am sure, but it is only secondary to what I thirst for – the full birth of myself into the world as a true and complete artist”

Robert Perillat passed away in April of 1991.

“It has been a long journey. No part of it do I regret and nothing of it has been wasted. I am profoundly thankful to life for giving me so much and above all, for moving me so deeply in so many many ways”.

For more information including Shows and Awards, view or download the free printable Presentation PDF below:
Robert Perillat Abstract Expressionist Portfolio Presentation