Eric Fischl (American, b.1948) is a painter, printmaker, and sculptor, most famous for his sexually charged figurative paintings coinciding with the boom of Neo-Expressionism in the 1980s. Born in New York City, Fischl was raised on Long Island, until his family moved to Phoenix, AZ, when he was 19. He describes his childhood as a mix of “alcoholism and a country club culture,” themes that continually appear in his work. Though he studied at both Phoenix College and Arizona State University, Fischl eventually decided on an artistic career, and earned his BFA in 1972 from the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia.
After graduating, he took a job as a security guard at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, which exposed him to the Chicago Imagists, such as the unconventional work of the artist collective Hairy Who. In 1978, Fischl moved back to New York City with his new wife, the artist and painter
April Gornik.
Upon his return to the city, he began painting scenes of private suburban life, establishing a reputation as a skilled Figurative painter of intimate and provocative subject matter. His sculpture
Tumbling Woman, which memorializes the victims of 9/11, created controversy for its treatment of the tragedy. Fischl is often compared to
Edgar Degas, for his intimate scenes and treatment of light and color.