{"data":{"id":"1388","type":"artwork","attributes":{"id":1388,"topgoose_id":2964,"portfolio_id":null,"tms_id":1388,"title":"Saigon","display_artist_text":"Peter Saul","display_date":"1967","accession_number":"69.103","dimensions":"Overall: 93 1/4 × 142 1/4 in. (236.9 × 361.3 cm)","medium":"Acrylic, oil, enamel, and fiber-tipped pen on canvas","department":"collection","classification":"Paintings","credit_line":"Purchase, with funds from the Friends of the Whitney Museum of American Art","is_virtual":false,"is_portfolio":false,"portfolio_tms_id":null,"portfolio":null,"edition":null,"publication_info":"","description":"\u003cp\u003ePeter Saul, \u003cem\u003eSaigon\u003c/em\u003e, 1967. Acrylic, oil, enamel, and fiber-tipped pen on canvas, overall: 93 1/4 × 142 1/4 in. (236.9 × 361.3 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from the Friends of the Whitney Museum of American Art 69.103. © 2019 Peter Saul/ Artists Rights Society (ARS), N.Y.\u003c/p\u003e","object_label":"\u003cp\u003eAt first glance, the Day-Glo palette, lively composition, and exaggerated figures of Peter Saul’s \u003ci\u003eSaigon\u003c/i\u003e seem cartoon-like, even whimsical. But the painting offers a biting critique of American policy during the Vietnam War. In a war-torn environment that includes uprooted palm trees, a river of blood, and a spiked American bomb, Saul depicts a voluptuous Vietnamese girl who has been trussed and labeled “Innocent Virgin.” A couple of American GIs are shown drinking Coca-Cola as they rape, dismember, and torture the girl’s family. The chaos is heightened by Saul’s rendering of the figures, including a headless, three-star officer in blue, two blasted Vietcong guerillas, and a nightmarish profusion of body parts. In the canvas’s lower corners, old-fashioned Oriental-style letters spell out “White Boys Torturing and Raping the People of Saigon: High Class Version”—emphasizing Saul’s condemnation of the war’s hypocrisies.\u003c/p\u003e","ai_alt_text":"Colorful abstract artwork with distorted figures, musical notes, and vibrant shapes. Text includes \"White Boys\" and \"Version.\"","alt_text":null,"visual_description":null,"on_view":false,"created_at":"2017-08-30T15:43:00.000-04:00","updated_at":"2026-02-06T11:59:34.794-05:00","images":[{"id":92895,"url":"https://whitneymedia.org/assets/artwork/1388/69_103_cropped.jpg"}]},"relationships":{"artists":{"data":[{"id":"1161","type":"artist"}]}}}}