Eric Price
Artist's Statement
"What we need is to be able to express ourselves through the medium of nature, the open air, the different impressions that we experience, all things we are concerned with."—Camille Pissarro
My work centers on the male figure in the coastal landscapes of Provincetown and Cape Cod. I am drawn to quiet moments of stillness, vulnerability, and reflection—figures resting by the water, moving through tidal flats, or absorbed in the surrounding light.
Nature, and especially proximity to water, is at the heart of my practice. Hiking, swimming, sailing, canoeing, and fishing have shaped the way I understand the body in relation to the landscape. These experiences bring both solace and uncertainty—the calm of immersion, the pull of weather, tide, and depth—and that tension often enters the work.
Painting en plein air allows me to work directly from light, color, atmosphere, and texture. These observations inform my larger studio paintings, where I refine the relationship between figure and environment. My palette draws from the muted earth tones of sand and dunes, the blues and purples of tidal pools, and the shifting light of marshes and open water.
Many of my figures are seen from behind or at a distance, inviting the viewer into the scene without direct confrontation. The body becomes part of the landscape while still carrying a private emotional life.
Provincetown is more than a backdrop. I am inspired by its historic queer heritage as a place of refuge, visibility, and self-recognition. In my paintings, it becomes a space where queerness, memory, desire, and nature overlap. Through these works, I aim to create images rooted in a particular place, yet emotionally recognizable to others.
Biography
Eric Price is a contemporary American figurative painter whose work centers on the male figure within the luminous coastal landscapes of Provincetown and Cape Cod. Blending classical technique with a queer narrative lens, his paintings explore identity, intimacy, vulnerability, and the connection between the body and the natural world.
Price’s work has appeared in The Adroit Journal, Provincetown Magazine, and The Provincetown Independent. He is represented by Greg Salvatori Gallery in Provincetown. His paintings have been exhibited in Provincetown, New York City, and Ireland, and he was awarded an artist residency at the Kylemore Abbey Global Centre in Ireland.
Price received his BA from Bates College and his MFA from the New York Academy of Art in 2019. He serves on the board of the Stephen and Palmina Pace Foundation, Inc., was Treasurer of the Alumni Association of the New York Academy of Art, and is a member of the Art Students League. He has also served on the Advisory Boards of the Fine Arts Work Center and the Cape School of Art.
Before painting full time, Price spent nearly three decades in senior leadership roles in book publishing at Grove/Atlantic, Quercus Publishing/Hachette, and Melville House. His background in publishing and narrative storytelling continues to inform the psychological depth, emotional clarity, and structure of his figurative work.
