Major Paintings by Eric Fischl Coming to SJMA This Fall

Release date

Dive Deep: Eric Fischl and the Process of Painting to explore the working methods of one of America’s most influential painters through rarely seen studies. 

and contemporary suburban tableaus for which the artist is best known. The paintings are accompanied by more than 100 related studies in various media: drawings, oil sketches, sculptures, digital composites, photographs, and prints. The exhibition brings together loans from major public and private collections in the U.S. and related works from artist’s own studio. Most of the studies included in this exhibition have never before been made available for public viewing: they provide a rare glimpse into Fischl’s thoughtful approach to composition and his provocative visual intelligence. SJMA is the only West Coast venue for the exhibition. 

Among the highlights in Dive Deep are the paintings Women Surrounded by Dogs, 1979-80 (collection of the Hall Art Foundation); Barbeque, 1982 (collection of Steve Martin); Portrait of the Artist as an Old Man, 1984 (San Francisco Museum of Modern Art); The Bed, the Chair, the Sitter, 2000 (collection of the artist); and Scenes from Late Paradise: Stupidity, 2006-2007 (Hall Art Foundation).

“Eric Fischl, widely recognized for his virtuoso painting style and careful observation of the social landscape, is grounded by his keen understanding of the historical language and the craft of painting,” says Jodi Throckmorton, associate curator at the San Jose Museum of Art and co-curator of the exhibition. “This exhibition will give viewers the chance to see the world through a painter’s eyes—with sharpened powers of observation and insight.”

Dive Deep is co-organized by SJMA and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, (PAFA). Dive Deep is generously supported by the Richard A. Karp Charitable Foundation, the Walter and Karla Goldschmidt Foundation, Rita and Kent Norton, the Clinton Hall/Allen Tran Foundation, Christies, and W. Donald Head. The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue featuring an in-depth interview with the artist conducted by co-curators Throckmorton and Harry Philbrick, PAFA’s Edna S. Tuttleman Director of the Museum.

Dive Deep seeks to bridge tradition and innovation; it demonstrates how Fischl uses age-old academic preparatory practices side by side with Photoshop. Though his subject matter and style is contemporary, Fischl’s approach to the human figure relates to 19th-century figurative traditions. Viewers will see references to such familiar artists as Bonnard, Vuillard, and Degas in his paintings. In particular, Dive Deep connects Fischl’s work to that of American artist Thomas Eakins (1844–1914). The exhibition includes a group of original photographs by Eakins and his circle from the collection of PAFA, notably a series of 1885 photographs of Eakins holding a nude female in his arms. Fischl used these figures in his painting Where You Look to Bury Your Dead (1996, The Eli and Edythe L. Broad Collection, Los Angeles), which is also on view in the exhibition. 

The exhibition also demonstrates how Fischl uses photographs as studies for his paintings. Among the examples included are photographs he took on the beaches of Saint Tropez (1982-88) and photos from his landmark Krefeld Project in 2002. Fischl has also laboriously made clay maquettes (sculptures), photographed them, and used the photos as the basis for sketches. Fischl has now adopted Photoshop, fully integrating technology into his hybrid processes; he adds and removes figures before he arrives at his final composition. The exhibition reveals how the artist’s compositional process has moved from the canvas to computer, while the process of execution – the act of painting – remains central to what makes his work unique.

ARTIST BIO

Eric Fischl is an internationally acclaimed American painter and sculptor. His artwork is represented in many distinguished museums throughout the world and has been featured in over one thousand publications. He is considered one of the most influential figurative painters of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Fischl was born in 1948 in New York City and grew up in the suburbs of Long Island. He began his art education in Phoenix, Ariz., where his parents had moved in 1967. He attended Phoenix College and earned his B.F.A. from the California Institute for the Arts, Valencia, Calif., in 1972. Fischl came to prominence in the 1980s, at a time characterized by a bullish art market and dominated by appropriation and photographic imagery. Working in the then marginalized medium of representational painting, he looked at the underbelly of American suburban experience.

Fischl's paintings, sculptures, drawings and prints have been the subject of numerous solo and major group exhibitions. His work is represented in many museums, as well as prestigious private and corporate collections, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; The Museum of Modem Art, New York; The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; the Saint Louis Art Museum; and many others. Eric Fischl is a Fellow at both the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Science. He lives and works in Sag Harbor, N.Y., with his wife, the painter April Gornik.

SAN JOSE MUSEUM OF ART

The San Jose Museum of Art celebrates new ideas, stimulates creativity, and inspires connection with every visit. Welcoming and thought-provoking, the Museum rejects stuffiness and delights visitors with its surprising and playful perspective on the art and artists of our time.

The San Jose Museum of Art is located at 110 South Market Street in downtown San Jose, California. The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday, 11 AM to 5 PM, and until 8 PM on the third Thursday of each month. Admission is $8 for adults, $5 for students and senior citizens, and free to members and children under 6. For more information, call 408-271-6840 or visit www.SanJoseMuseumofArt.org.

 

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