Eric Fischl, 1970-2000

Eric Fischl emerged in the 1980s as one of America's most important figurative painters. His paintings compel the viewer to participate in a world of middle-class suburban ambiguity and drama. In Fischl's engaging and distinctly American canvases narration, sexuality, and psychology are preeminent. This volume is the latest and most comprehensive examination of this important twentieth-century painter. Two hundred thirty-three works, selected in conjunction with the artist, present the full scope of Fischl's career over the past decades: the 1970s, with Fischl's seminal formative work; the 1980s, when he burst onto the art world; and the 1990s, with the artist's mature works, often of a personal and contemplative nature. In his most recent paintings Fischl has turned to portraits of his intimate circle of friends, including Mike Nichols, Steve Martin, and his wife, the painter April Gornik. These engrossing images have been accomplished with a mastery that has been compared to that of Caravaggio. The introduction, by philosopher and critic Arthur Danto, places Fischl in the context of his contemporaries. Commentary drawn from interviews with Fischl, conducted by noted writer Robert Enright, accompanies the paintings. Finally, a witty and personal afterword by Steve Martin, best known as a gifted comic actor and author, but also an astute collector of modern art, discusses Barbecue, a famed Fischl painting from his private collection.