Eric Fischl

Mary Boone Gallery, New York
Private Collection, Greenwich (acquired from the above in 1987)
Thomas Ammann, Zurich
Mary Boone Gallery, New York
Acquired by the present owner from the above in 2001

New York, Mary Boone Gallery, Eric Fischl, May - June 1988, p. 9, illustrated in color
Munich, Bayerische Staatsgemaldesammlungen Staatsgalerie Moderner Kunst, Sieben Amerikanische Maler, April - June 1991, cat. no. 13, p. 50, illustrated in color

Catherina Liu, "Eric Fischl", Flash Art, October 1988, p. 112, illustrated in color
Bernard Marcade, "Entre symptome et stereotype: Eric Fischl ou le Realisme oedipien petit-bourgeois", ArtStudio, December 1988, p. 87, illustrated
David Whitney, ed., Eric Fischl, New York, 1988, fig. 90, illustrated in color
Rick Woodward, "Film Stills", Film Content, March 1989, p. 54, illustrated
Arthur Danto, Robert Enright and Steve Martin, Eric Fischl: 1970 - 2000, New York, 2000, p. 109, illustrated in color
A.M. Homes, Eric Fischl Beach Paintings, New York, 2009, p. 23, illustrated in color

This work is in excellent condition overall. Under Ultraviolet light there are no apparent restorations. The work is framed in a gray washed wood strip frame.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
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Psychological narrative is central to Eric Fischl's undertaking and is powerfully examined in his beach scene Untitled from 1987.  The beach paintings are a central focus of Fischl's oeuvre and an important recurring series, allowing him more opportunities to depict the human figure. As in his interior and domestic scenes, there is no specific or overt narrative at play here.  The extreme angle and the implied reclining figure on the sand convey the sense of a day at the beach which seems somehow private, but the viewer is slightly at a loss as to what we are witnessing in this viewpoint that is simultaneously obscure and intimate.  We sense that Fischl's hidden narratives have considerable meaning for his characters but they serve to exclude the viewer; thereby fuelling the viewer/voyeur dichotomy - a skill that Fischl has so perfectly mastered.  The viewer cannot help but be captivated by his compositions: they are both engaging narratives that raise a whole host of questions, coupled with an extraordinary painterly sensitivity for the body.

Fischl brought figurative art to the forefront of painting in the 1980s.  In the present work, there is an erotic and unencumbered expression of desire; however, the portrayal of the female form is not about vanity, rather it is about truth.  Although Fischl chooses poses for his figures that are not always flattering, he consistently treats them with a sympathetic touch.  The viewer knows this is a beach scene because of Fischl's treatment of light, and some of the props he includes (the sun visor and the bottles of sun tan oil). Yet the compositional perspective is still uncanny and serves to dilute any sense of temporal or spatial fixing, adding further complexities to our analysis of his paintings. The answers to the viewer's questions are open to interpretation, but by the very act of asking, one becomes aware that Fischl brilliantly demonstrates how precarious our urge to interpret really is.  What elevates Untitled is the nature and intricacy of the various possibilities the artist implies in the particular instant  he portrays.