Two rooms on the first floor hosted ten paintings by American artist Peter Saul (1934, San Francisco). Saul is 
a virtuoso painter, considered to be the successor to Philip Guston and Max Beckmann, who both taught at 
the College in St. Louis where Saul was a student. Over 
the course of his career, Saul has constantly resisted the avant-garde. As Minimalism took over from Abstract Expressionism, Saul opted for an ironic, brutal figuration. He also distanced himself from Pop art, although some historians consider him a precursor because his canvases were imbued with a political virulence far removed from the fascination with consumerism. The main targets of his criticism have been the US military and presidents during the Vietnam War, art critics and widely aclaimed works, religious figures, and iconic ideologists. He has also sought to renew the predominant artistic paradigms, making him a mentor for artists such as Paul McCarthy, Jim Shaw, and Mike Kelley.