Press Release
Greg Salvatori Gallery
366 Commercial Street
Provincetown, MA 02657
BARE TIDES
The Male Figure at Rest by the Sea
An Exhibition of New Work by Eric Price
June 27, 2025 to July 11, 2025
In his third solo exhibition, Bare Tides: The Male Figure at Rest by the Sea, Eric Price invites viewers into quiet moments of stillness, vulnerability, and reflection—captured along the gentle edges of Provincetown’s tidal landscapes. Known for his commitment to figurative painting and his skill in capturing natural light, Price brings the viewer into scenes where identity, place, and memory intersect.
Painting en plein air to capture the essence of Cape Cod’s shifting light, Price refines his compositions in the studio, creating a balance between figure and environment. His palette—rooted in earth tones and subtle shifts of color—evokes the warmth of sunlit sand, the cool blues and purples of tidal pools, and the interplay of light across dunes and marshes. His brushwork varies from broader sweeps in the landscapes to more defined forms in the figures, crafting an interplay that runs throughout the exhibition.
Bare Tides centers on the male figure at rest—unposed, unguarded, and at ease by the sea. Price often employs the Rückenfigur composition, a tradition from German Romantic painting where a figure is shown from the back, gazing at a landscape. Inspired by artists like Caspar David, Andrew Wyeth, and Patrick Hennessy, Price uses this device to allow his subjects to invite viewers into their world without direct confrontation. In these paintings, the figures exist naturally in their environment—bodies shaped by light, marked by experience, and in a space that allows for contemplation and connection.
For Price, Provincetown is more than a setting; it’s a place where queerness, memory, and myth come together. Each painting captures a moment that is both specific and universal, a place where the human figure meets the natural world. The landscapes themselves act as both setting and metaphor—fragile, resilient, shifting yet rooted.
Wetland’s Embrace
In Wetland’s Embrace (oil on canvas, 24 x 18 inches), Price shows a solitary figure immersed in the quiet of a coastal marsh. Seen from behind, the nude figure steps into a world of tall grasses and reflected light, his posture both vulnerable and assured—somewhere between retreat and discovery. The marsh is rendered in earthy greens and ochres, offering a space for contemplation and renewal.
This painting draws on the legend of Weland the Smith, a mythical craftsman who escaped captivity by crafting his own wings. Here, the figure’s transformation is more subtle—finding change and resilience not through flight, but through stillness and the embrace of nature.
Rowmantic Escape
In Rowmantic Escape (oil on canvas, 18 x 24 inches), two nude figures stand in the shallow water, guiding a small rowboat between them like a shared secret. One figure looks down, absorbed in thought, while the other moves the boat forward, suggesting trust and ease.
Set against the calm waters off Provincetown, the painting depicts a moment of connection—relaxed, present, and unguarded. Price uses a balance of warm and cool tones to capture the scene’s atmosphere, with the water and sky adding depth and openness. The piece highlights quiet moments of companionship and shared experience.
Andy’s World
Andy’s World (oil on canvas, 24 x 18 inches) reimagines Andrew Wyeth’s Christina’s World from a contemporary queer perspective. A solitary nude male figure stands in the Provincetown marshes, gazing toward the distant Wood End Lighthouse.
This painting is grounded in Price’s own memories of his mother’s study, where a print of Christina’s World hung as a symbol of hope, strength and resilience. The figure’s stance is contemplative and open, inviting viewers to consider how landscapes can shape one’s sense of self. A colorful kite in the sky introduces a sense of whimsy and freedom that contrasts with the figure’s stillness.
The Quiet Held Him
In The Quiet Held Him (oil on canvas, 18 x 24 inches), a young nude man sits at the edge of a tidal pool, arms around his knees, looking off into the distance. The scene captures a sense of pause and reflection—where the dunes and water create a space of calm.
Price’s palette captures the interplay of warm sand and cool water, while the grasses in the background suggest the fragile resilience of the dunes. The title points to the figure being embraced not by another person, but by the landscape itself—a quiet, healing space that allows for introspection.
Caught or Missed?
In Caught or Missed? (oil on canvas, 28 x 21 inches), Price explores a playful yet ambiguous moment. A young man, standing nude in the dunes, glances back over his shoulder with a half-smile. Has he been caught off guard, or is he teasing the viewer?
The figure’s pose is relaxed but slightly twisted, revealing both openness and curiosity. Warm tones illuminate the figure’s form, while the shifting grasses and rolling dunes create a natural backdrop that frames the scene. This piece highlights the interplay of vulnerability and confidence—a recurring theme in Price’s work.
Bare Tides invites viewers to witness the male figure at ease, at rest, and in quiet moments of belonging. Each painting reflects Price’s careful attention to the landscape, light, and the emotional space where body and environment meet. Through his use of color, composition, and memory, Price offers a space where queerness, identity, and place come together—where even the simplest moment can hold meaning.
In these works, the beach is not just a setting; it is a collaborator and a witness, a place where the figure finds a sense of comfort and transformation. Bare Tides is an invitation to pause, to reflect, and to see the beauty in the quiet moments between the tides.
ERIC PRICE is a contemporary figurative painter whose work captures the quiet power of the male figure in natural settings. A graduate of Bates College, Price earned his Master of Fine Arts from the New York Academy of Art in 2019. He is he recipient of a prestigious artist residency at The Kylemore Abbey Global Centre Art Residency in Connemara, Ireland and a Patricia & Scott Moger Research Grant. He has studied with acclaimed artists including Vincent Desiderio, Peter Drake, Audrey Flack, Michael Grimaldi, Manu Saluja, Dan Gheno, and Marshall Jones. Beyond the studio, Price serves on the Board of the Stephen and Palmina Pace Foundation, is the Treasurer of the Alumni Association of the New York Academy of Art, and was a member of the Advisory Board of the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown. Before devoting himself fully to painting, Price held leadership roles in the book publishing industry, including executive management and marketing positions at Grove/Atlantic, Melville House, Quercus (a division of Hachette), and Henry Holt. He edited and published such authors as Larry Kramer, Tom Stoppard, Harold Pinter, Tony Kushner, and Terrence McNally.