THE PSYCHIATRIST

(Oil on Canvas, 30" x 24", 77cm x 61.5cm)

This is the first painting Perez did for this collection, and it set the stage for the mind games he would play with each specialty. While a psychiatrist is supposed to be thinking about a patient's case, the psychiatrist in Perez' work is preoccupied with his own problems: His mistress is playing with his hair while illusions and delusions fill the room. Napoleon is there, with both arms shown in an uncharacteristic stance and a large Number One on his back. An anthropomorphic parrot awaits his turn to talk, a monkey is climbing on or off the doctor's back, an egg waits to hatch or be stepped on, and a dragon seems poised to strike. Trumpet sounds fill the air near the doctor's ear, and the drunken gladiator doesn't seem to know where to begin as he tells the doctor his troubles.

It's interesting to note the shoes on the psychiatrist. Is it significant that they are untied, or that they are running shoes?

Studies in Pencil

Initial "P"

Napoleon

Listening

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Last updated: 8 May 1998