Irving Petlin attempted to visually catalog society - both the good and the ugly - using a style that was neither abstract nor figurative. Petlin’s passion for social justice most likely developed from his childhood. His parents were Jewish immigrants who fled Poland before the horrors of World War II, but many of Petlin’s Polish family were killed in concentration camps. As a result, many of Petlin’s works touch on themes of war, protest, injustice, violence, and revolt.

Petlin was recognized for his masterful work with oil pastel. Using vibrant colors, Petlin harnessed the medium’s soft, blurred quality in direct contrast with his harsh, politically charged subject matter. He also took inspiration from music and literature and often made pastel drawings based on stories and classical compositions from composers like Bach.

Born in Chicago, educated at Yale, based in Los Angeles and Paris, and extensively traveled, Petlin was a man of the world. He explored many styles, from Surrealism to Symbolism, but his examination of the creative and destructive potential of humanity was a constant thread in his oeuvre.