The title Two Female Models on a Navajo Rug succinctly identifies the subject of this 1971 painting by Philip Pearlstein. Two nude female models are portrayed on a brown, red, black, and white tapestry, one lying casually in the foreground and the other one leaning upright. The heads of both figures are awkwardly cropped, barely allowing access to the physiological interior of these women. The lighting is white, artificial, and overly bright. Pearlstein described his style as “hard realism” and deliberately attempted to depict his models devoid of any symbolism or narrative content. Addressing one of the oldest subjects in Western painting, his uniquely “nude” painterly treatments were startling in the New York context of Pop Art celebrities in which they emerged, and their enigmatic or inexplicable character continues to puzzle the viewer.