What do you think?
Rate this book
Bad Boy: My Life On and Off the Canvas
In Bad Boy , renowned American artist Eric Fischl has written a penetrating, often searing exploration of his coming of age as an artist, and his search for a fresh narrative style in the highly charged and competitive New York art world in the 1970s and 1980s. With such notorious and controversial paintings as Bad Boy and Sleepwalker, Fischl joined the front ranks of America artists, in a high-octane downtown art scene that included Andy Warhol, David Salle, Julian Schnabel, and others. It was a world of fashion, fame, cocaine and alcohol that for a time threatened to undermine all that Fischl had achieved.
In an extraordinarily candid and revealing memoir, Fischl discusses the impact of his dysfunctional family on his art—his mother, an imaginative and tragic woman, was an alcoholic who ultimately took her own life. Following his years as a student at Cal Arts and teaching in Nova Scotia, he describes his early years in New York with the artist April Gornik, just as Wall Street money begins to encroach on the old gallery system and change the economics of the art world. Fischl rebelled against the conceptual and minimalist art that was in fashion at the time to paint compelling portraits of everyday people that captured the unspoken tensions in their lives. Still in his thirties, Eric became the subject of a major Vanity Fair interview, his canvases sold for as much as a million dollars, and The Whitney Museum mounted a major retrospective of his paintings.
Bad Boy follows Fischl’s maturation both as an artist and sculptor, and his inevitable fall from grace as a new generation of artists takes center stage, and he is forced to grapple with his legacy and place among museums and collectors. Beautifully written, and as courageously revealing as his most provocative paintings, Bad Boy takes the reader on a roller coaster ride through the passion and politics of the art world as it has rarely been seen before.
In an extraordinarily candid and revealing memoir, Fischl discusses the impact of his dysfunctional family on his art—his mother, an imaginative and tragic woman, was an alcoholic who ultimately took her own life. Following his years as a student at Cal Arts and teaching in Nova Scotia, he describes his early years in New York with the artist April Gornik, just as Wall Street money begins to encroach on the old gallery system and change the economics of the art world. Fischl rebelled against the conceptual and minimalist art that was in fashion at the time to paint compelling portraits of everyday people that captured the unspoken tensions in their lives. Still in his thirties, Eric became the subject of a major Vanity Fair interview, his canvases sold for as much as a million dollars, and The Whitney Museum mounted a major retrospective of his paintings.
Bad Boy follows Fischl’s maturation both as an artist and sculptor, and his inevitable fall from grace as a new generation of artists takes center stage, and he is forced to grapple with his legacy and place among museums and collectors. Beautifully written, and as courageously revealing as his most provocative paintings, Bad Boy takes the reader on a roller coaster ride through the passion and politics of the art world as it has rarely been seen before.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2013
33 people are currently reading
416 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews
June 7, 2013
Pretentious blather, but quite harmless. How Eric Superfischl got very rich and took cocaine and met tons of famus ppl and gives celeb parties in the Hammies. He is now fat.
July 14, 2013
I really enjoyed this book. Eric came up 7 or 8 years ahead of me but we followed similar trajectories. I was work at the Whitney the night of his opening there in 1986, the scene that opens the book.
And like me, the 87 stock market crash eventually caught up with the art market. I was non established, despite having two one man shows in the east village. Eric was a rich and famous artist, living the dream. In the 90's I moved into computer graphics and a whole new world, Eric continued to paint.
I don't think I've read a work on art that so well describes the creative process, the visions one has, as this book. The high flying years over, Eric came to terms with his work and life as the years progressed. The book settles down abit as we hit the "Steve Martin" years. But still a joy to read all the way through.
And like me, the 87 stock market crash eventually caught up with the art market. I was non established, despite having two one man shows in the east village. Eric was a rich and famous artist, living the dream. In the 90's I moved into computer graphics and a whole new world, Eric continued to paint.
I don't think I've read a work on art that so well describes the creative process, the visions one has, as this book. The high flying years over, Eric came to terms with his work and life as the years progressed. The book settles down abit as we hit the "Steve Martin" years. But still a joy to read all the way through.
February 7, 2023
There are memoirs that feel pretentious, and then there are the ones that seem true to the last word. Bad Boys is a tricky one - Technically, I could dismiss the whole book calling it pretentious and self-indulgent. Especially when you consider the macho-ness of the artist in the 80s and 90s America, and Eric Fischl’s place in the revival of figurative painting amid all the abstract expressionists. But I honestly couldn’t. It is written in a simple language with barely any eccentric jargon, and there was hardly any moment where I felt that he came across as defending his work without any rationale. As a painter emphasising on representational motifs, I could readily connect with the difficulties he was (and perhaps is) facing in the contemporary art world where the value of art is based on the price it is sold at, let alone the importance of realistic depictions of human figures to form a narrative in paintings. He lays bare the absurdity of absence of figure paintings in the new art world - it’s almost like we don’t even want to talk about what makes us human. There’s no shying away from whom he looked as a threat and why he did what he did in his works and life. His portrayal of grief, loss, enthusiasm, and guilt comes across as an honest reflection of a painter who really just wants to make sincere works.
June 7, 2013
Fischl's new book -- which mixes autobiography, art world anecdotes and aesthetic self-justifications -- is clearly written and well argued. He had good help with the project as he worked with a co-author (Michael Stone) and turned to friends, including comedian/writer Steve Martin, to give him feedback on the drafts in progress. The book has some very frank and revealing moments, including Fischl's descriptions of his mother's alcoholism and eventual suicide. In one stark anecdote Fischl describes how he tried to "reason with her" after the family faced a financial setback: "She'd rather be dead, my mother said, than face the sterility of suburban life without booze."
As I made my way through Bad Boy, I was struck by the book's tone of sincerity, which brought up a question for me: just how heartfelt are Fischl's works?
If you are going to find this book convincing, you will need to believe that Fischl really has been coming from a place of genuine emotion, as opposed to tweaking the public with images that were and are calculatedly sensational. Bad Boy argues for the former. Fischl goes to great lengths to explain that his early life was painful and disjointed, and that his career and oeuvre are about a personal quest for catharsis and wholeness.
As I made my way through Bad Boy, I was struck by the book's tone of sincerity, which brought up a question for me: just how heartfelt are Fischl's works?
If you are going to find this book convincing, you will need to believe that Fischl really has been coming from a place of genuine emotion, as opposed to tweaking the public with images that were and are calculatedly sensational. Bad Boy argues for the former. Fischl goes to great lengths to explain that his early life was painful and disjointed, and that his career and oeuvre are about a personal quest for catharsis and wholeness.
June 27, 2022
Fischl has written a brave, honest and heartfelt memoir. He brought me into the artists perspective, helping me to understand the challenges they have in expressing their feelings through their art, staying true to themselves, trying to make a living and dealing with the ups and downs of the art market. He clearly was trying to become more whole through his art, after having lived through a difficult childhood. He then attempted to offer healing to America through his art after 9/11.
September 20, 2013
I really enjoyed this book. As an artist, it's good to read the story of another, much more successful artist and see that his struggles are the same, though on a much larger (and more lucrative) scale. His contemporaries and friends, the dealers, collectors and artists he talks about read like my senior seminar art history class in contemporary art. A thoughtful and honest autobiography.
August 30, 2020
Loved this book. Really enjoyed how Fischl made the creative process come alive. Was also surprised by how much painting compares to writing. Highly recommend this book for any creatives out there or anyone who enjoys a good memoir.
September 2, 2013
An irresistible, irrepressible chance to ride along with Eric Fischl on his roller coaster ride of a life and career. Such highs and lows, all related with candor, insight, wit, and heart. It's a rare chance to get to know a fine artist all over again, this time through a new medium.
July 10, 2013
starts out great - last third is a bit of a dud. Not to be snarky, but much like his paintings.
March 17, 2019
Excellent! A must-read for artists!
My full video review is here: http://www.artbizblog.com/2013/07/fis...
My full video review is here: http://www.artbizblog.com/2013/07/fis...
October 5, 2013
This book was a solid 5 until the last 10%. Then I felt it really slowed down. However, I still rated it a 5 because the first 90% was so extraordinary. A real must for artists and art lovers.
February 25, 2015
Especially liked the writing about his journey as an artist striving for authenticity and expression and his insider's experience about being one of the successful in the malignant art world.
June 1, 2020
An unpretentious insight in to an artist’s life and the art world. It taught me how to think further, beyond the immediate to the emotions of the piece. How art engages with the viewer - or fails to, and Fischl is honest with his perceived failures. Regardless of whether you like or know of Fischl’s art (I’m English, it was unfamiliar to me) it is secondary to the processes he describes to learn art; techniques, context, period...to be comfortable or uncomfortable with how you perceive something, or how you put something on to canvas. A lot of his work is deeply personal.
A previous review mentions celebrity friends, these seem obvious genuine friendships built over many years; fellow artists or art collectors given space in the book to offer further insight on how we think about artists and art. They are far from superficial ‘name-drops’ and I think you’ve misread the book if you believe that the case.
I saw a photograph of ‘Tumbling Woman’ and thought of the tragedy of 9/11 before I read it was created in response to it. It’s a thoughtful interpretation of tragic loss and how we move forward emotionally from the aftermath. Falling from known space in to something we can’t define. It’s all ultimately subjective but being able to look and think before reacting is something I’m still learning to do.
Overall this memoir is educational, insightful, challenging, often emotionally raw and self deprecating. I’m buying it for a couple of artist friends who are painters and for a friend who loves art as much as I do. As soon as this virus lockdown hell is over, (I’m currently living in New York) I’m going to search out his paintings to really look at them. I’m not going to like all of them, but I’m going to see them with a far deeper understanding based on the learning I’ve taken from this excellent book.
A previous review mentions celebrity friends, these seem obvious genuine friendships built over many years; fellow artists or art collectors given space in the book to offer further insight on how we think about artists and art. They are far from superficial ‘name-drops’ and I think you’ve misread the book if you believe that the case.
I saw a photograph of ‘Tumbling Woman’ and thought of the tragedy of 9/11 before I read it was created in response to it. It’s a thoughtful interpretation of tragic loss and how we move forward emotionally from the aftermath. Falling from known space in to something we can’t define. It’s all ultimately subjective but being able to look and think before reacting is something I’m still learning to do.
Overall this memoir is educational, insightful, challenging, often emotionally raw and self deprecating. I’m buying it for a couple of artist friends who are painters and for a friend who loves art as much as I do. As soon as this virus lockdown hell is over, (I’m currently living in New York) I’m going to search out his paintings to really look at them. I’m not going to like all of them, but I’m going to see them with a far deeper understanding based on the learning I’ve taken from this excellent book.
August 31, 2018
I didn't know who Eric Fischl is or his artwork but I picked up the book because of the cover. The book is really about how an artist deals with vast amounts of emotions and paints them on canvas. He then explores how others feel about his work and the ridiculous amounts of money paintings sell for.
July 25, 2020
As an artist, I enjoyed this book but also felt it was not that well written and I struggled with the last bit, it gets boring and has a bit of self pity which I find annoying. It would have been good to hear a bit more about living in New York in the 80's. The continual name dropping is also off putting.
August 25, 2015
A woman lies in bed, legs akimbo, worrying a toenail; bars of light illuminate her nakedness, while a boy of 10 or 12 stares at her sex and conceals a ladies purse behind his back. Bad Boy is both a pivotal painting by Eric Fischl and the title of his memoir, to be released by Crown in May.
Fischl first came to prominence in the heady early 1980s with a series of artworks that seemed to depict suburban angst; voyeurism and subversion layered between the sheets of American dreams. They were unforgettable images: a young boy masturbating into a kiddie pool, a nude father embracing his naked toddler daughter (an ocean view providing background), a slim black servant bathing a blond boy-child. And Fischl, along with other artists labeled "neo-Expressionists," including his dear friend David Salle and his former bête noir Julian Schnabel, were stars of New York City's incandescent art world.
eric fischl
Captivatingly written (with Michael Stone), employing the same candor that produced these arresting narrative paintings, we see a portrait of the artist as a young boy in the '50s and '60s, on Long Island and in Arizona, victim of a brilliant, beautiful, narcissistic, violent alcoholic mother, an eventual and perhaps inevitable suicide. He enters CalArts at its inception in 1970, which somehow, before it even has a campus, is immediately a Zeitgeistian center, with Fischl, Salle, and Ross Bleckner enrolled, and professors John Baldessari, Nam June Paik and Judy Chicago. Art can be almost anything here, though figurative painting is not what Eric Fischl is taught. Fischl develops as an artist, leaving behind early abstraction, needing to depict emotion, gathering confidence and technique in Nova Scotia and Chicago, painting on glassine, layering translucent storytelling images, before erupting with the daring canvases of the 80s, a time when painting had long been declared dead.
Celebrity and money enter his life, along with cocaine sparked nights. Artists become like rock stars. Within a decade, Fischl's and friends' period of supernovadom passes. And yet wonderful works continue to emerge from his studio, images of India and powerful fleshy sculptures.
Fischl laments much of the contemporary art world as a passionless marketplace and is especially dismissive of artists Jeff Koons and Damian Hirst, who "were making work that I didn't respect," and dealer (now MOCA director) Jeffrey Deitch: "Going into his gallery was like going into a daycare center for artists with their art toys strewn everywhere."
As tough as he can be toward others, he is also brutal with himself. While still supremely successful, still sought by museums and connoisseurs, and still producing work that excites him, he quotes a collector of his, a man he respects, telling him, "You've got to face it, man. You didn't make the cut," post 1980s.
Along with Fischl's self-portrait in print, Bad Boy includes numerous short essays from family and friends, including Steve Martin, Mike Nichols and Fischl's estimable dealer of 29 years, Mary Boone. It's intriguing to see how memory sometimes works. Eric and his sister lay claim to different years for their father's death. Fischl recalls a fight with David Salle, culminating in the two artists not speaking for several years as having taken place on the streets of TriBeCa, and Salle states that the rupture occurred in Magoo's bar.
For anyone seeking an understanding of the contemporary art world, Bad Boy is a fascinating read. Fischl, who has often taught and lectured, skillfully and non-pedantically describes his work, his technique, the people and places that have inspired him, and readily admits to being highly competitive with other artists, not seeing himself as some highfalutin isolated preciosity. And as his approach to art is so emotive, his need to relate to the viewer so profound, we feel his passion in his words as well as his pictures. And he owns up to what his paintings have sold for, a taboo subject for most artists, more taboo than any art they make.
Has Eric Fischl been a Bad Boy? Not especially. There were some amusing hijinks, but the artist hasn't touched cocaine or alcohol in 25 years. For aficionados of Fischl's work, there are reveals. The model for the woman in "Bad Boy" was his wife, the lyrical landscape painter April Gornik. The couple has been together since 1975. And his descriptions of his interconnectedness with Gornik and his friends (and competitors) shows a man succeeding in relating to themes of male sensitivity and identity that have long compelled him in his work.
Disclaimer: I once interviewed the eloquent Eric Fischl at his spectacular home in Sag Harbor, Long Island, for The Art Economist Magazine, our discourse focusing on the subject of "America: Now and Here", Fischl's passion project, in which trucks containing works by over one hundred major artists (including poets, playwrights, and filmmakers) would tour the hinterlands. Fischl baked the most delicious olive bread I have ever tasted; it was not a bribe (as this book was yet to be written!). And sadly, so far "America: Now and Here" has not received the financing it needs; its tours were abbreviated.
Fischl first came to prominence in the heady early 1980s with a series of artworks that seemed to depict suburban angst; voyeurism and subversion layered between the sheets of American dreams. They were unforgettable images: a young boy masturbating into a kiddie pool, a nude father embracing his naked toddler daughter (an ocean view providing background), a slim black servant bathing a blond boy-child. And Fischl, along with other artists labeled "neo-Expressionists," including his dear friend David Salle and his former bête noir Julian Schnabel, were stars of New York City's incandescent art world.
eric fischl
Captivatingly written (with Michael Stone), employing the same candor that produced these arresting narrative paintings, we see a portrait of the artist as a young boy in the '50s and '60s, on Long Island and in Arizona, victim of a brilliant, beautiful, narcissistic, violent alcoholic mother, an eventual and perhaps inevitable suicide. He enters CalArts at its inception in 1970, which somehow, before it even has a campus, is immediately a Zeitgeistian center, with Fischl, Salle, and Ross Bleckner enrolled, and professors John Baldessari, Nam June Paik and Judy Chicago. Art can be almost anything here, though figurative painting is not what Eric Fischl is taught. Fischl develops as an artist, leaving behind early abstraction, needing to depict emotion, gathering confidence and technique in Nova Scotia and Chicago, painting on glassine, layering translucent storytelling images, before erupting with the daring canvases of the 80s, a time when painting had long been declared dead.
Celebrity and money enter his life, along with cocaine sparked nights. Artists become like rock stars. Within a decade, Fischl's and friends' period of supernovadom passes. And yet wonderful works continue to emerge from his studio, images of India and powerful fleshy sculptures.
Fischl laments much of the contemporary art world as a passionless marketplace and is especially dismissive of artists Jeff Koons and Damian Hirst, who "were making work that I didn't respect," and dealer (now MOCA director) Jeffrey Deitch: "Going into his gallery was like going into a daycare center for artists with their art toys strewn everywhere."
As tough as he can be toward others, he is also brutal with himself. While still supremely successful, still sought by museums and connoisseurs, and still producing work that excites him, he quotes a collector of his, a man he respects, telling him, "You've got to face it, man. You didn't make the cut," post 1980s.
Along with Fischl's self-portrait in print, Bad Boy includes numerous short essays from family and friends, including Steve Martin, Mike Nichols and Fischl's estimable dealer of 29 years, Mary Boone. It's intriguing to see how memory sometimes works. Eric and his sister lay claim to different years for their father's death. Fischl recalls a fight with David Salle, culminating in the two artists not speaking for several years as having taken place on the streets of TriBeCa, and Salle states that the rupture occurred in Magoo's bar.
For anyone seeking an understanding of the contemporary art world, Bad Boy is a fascinating read. Fischl, who has often taught and lectured, skillfully and non-pedantically describes his work, his technique, the people and places that have inspired him, and readily admits to being highly competitive with other artists, not seeing himself as some highfalutin isolated preciosity. And as his approach to art is so emotive, his need to relate to the viewer so profound, we feel his passion in his words as well as his pictures. And he owns up to what his paintings have sold for, a taboo subject for most artists, more taboo than any art they make.
Has Eric Fischl been a Bad Boy? Not especially. There were some amusing hijinks, but the artist hasn't touched cocaine or alcohol in 25 years. For aficionados of Fischl's work, there are reveals. The model for the woman in "Bad Boy" was his wife, the lyrical landscape painter April Gornik. The couple has been together since 1975. And his descriptions of his interconnectedness with Gornik and his friends (and competitors) shows a man succeeding in relating to themes of male sensitivity and identity that have long compelled him in his work.
Disclaimer: I once interviewed the eloquent Eric Fischl at his spectacular home in Sag Harbor, Long Island, for The Art Economist Magazine, our discourse focusing on the subject of "America: Now and Here", Fischl's passion project, in which trucks containing works by over one hundred major artists (including poets, playwrights, and filmmakers) would tour the hinterlands. Fischl baked the most delicious olive bread I have ever tasted; it was not a bribe (as this book was yet to be written!). And sadly, so far "America: Now and Here" has not received the financing it needs; its tours were abbreviated.
April 20, 2019
As an artist, I always find artists’ autobiographies very interesting. Eric Fischl is a talented painter with a colorful career. He says he is a storyteller in his paintings. He is also a fine storyteller within these pages.
February 9, 2018
interesting artist and very relatable. i think i want to paint something this weekend.
December 8, 2019
A compelling, honest well written account of a famous artist who tells the truth- the good, the bad and the ugly!!
January 12, 2022
Even if you are not particularly familiar with this influential artist’s work, you will find his story fascinating.
August 20, 2023
The timeline kind of jumps all over the place but as it would, coming from the mind of an artist. Good writing, amazing artist, interesting perspective on contemporary art. Me likeeeeee
September 26, 2021
book 33
didn’t finish
seems like an awkward transcription of the artist relating his life story to a co-author who has a different voice than fischl’s when it comes across the page. some moments are expressly eric’s while others seem to be overly pedantic relations from said co-writer. first artist biography I’ve read and while I enjoy the “other voices” anecdotes from fischl’s acquaintances, friends, and family, overall I feel this is a difficult account of trauma and the enormous battle he faced with finding his voice in his art but I wouldn’t read again. I would be curious to hear what an emerging artist (male or female) would think after reading this book.
didn’t finish
seems like an awkward transcription of the artist relating his life story to a co-author who has a different voice than fischl’s when it comes across the page. some moments are expressly eric’s while others seem to be overly pedantic relations from said co-writer. first artist biography I’ve read and while I enjoy the “other voices” anecdotes from fischl’s acquaintances, friends, and family, overall I feel this is a difficult account of trauma and the enormous battle he faced with finding his voice in his art but I wouldn’t read again. I would be curious to hear what an emerging artist (male or female) would think after reading this book.
March 16, 2016
I don’t follow art, but I’m intrigued by art. So I chose to read and review this book without any knowledge whatsoever of Fischl or his art. (Surely, you say, you could have at least thought about the implications of the title and could have done a quick Google search. Oh wise one, yes, I could have and should have.)
Call me ugly names if you will, but Fischl’s art is not my cuppa-tea. His art is disturbing. Very disturbing.
All of which I learned after finally doing a quick Google search. After I’d already committed to reading and reviewing the book (my bad...if you will please excuse the pun).
It was with great reluctance that I decided to go ahead and try chapter one. I was surprised to find Fisch is a solid writer (well, apparently Fischl with the help of Michael Stone is a solid writer), able to put together enough pages about how art came to him (he isn’t really sure how it came to him) and about his disfunctional family-of-origin and about his attempts to get past his alcoholic mother and about how he established happy grownup relationships to make a nice book. Yes, there is the usual celebrity name-dropping and pages of photos of that disturbing art, but I must admit that Bad Boy is a compelling story.
Call me ugly names if you will, but Fischl’s art is not my cuppa-tea. His art is disturbing. Very disturbing.
All of which I learned after finally doing a quick Google search. After I’d already committed to reading and reviewing the book (my bad...if you will please excuse the pun).
It was with great reluctance that I decided to go ahead and try chapter one. I was surprised to find Fisch is a solid writer (well, apparently Fischl with the help of Michael Stone is a solid writer), able to put together enough pages about how art came to him (he isn’t really sure how it came to him) and about his disfunctional family-of-origin and about his attempts to get past his alcoholic mother and about how he established happy grownup relationships to make a nice book. Yes, there is the usual celebrity name-dropping and pages of photos of that disturbing art, but I must admit that Bad Boy is a compelling story.
November 9, 2013
Excellent narrative on Eric Fischl's evolution as an artist without the chest thumping from painters of the 80s one might expect. His writing is not exactly self-effacing but that would be a disappointment, too. It remains right in the soft spot where he chronicles his personal life, professional development and the social context that surrounds it from his own viewpoint, naturally colored by his own opinions on the latter. This is a very good book indeed for artists to read because much of what he says resonates perfectly with less successful artists like myself, and those of us who grew up in the 60s. His personal story is of great interest and told in a non-sentimental way ... and with some humor despite the darkness. I recommend this to the general reader and especially to any artists who want to take time away from their easels.
September 17, 2013
2+1/2 stars
I was never a big fan of Fischl's art but read a review somewhere that got me to pick his book up and give it a try. This book is not particularly well written but it is pretty fascinating. Fischl is very revealing in his analysis of his own artistic practice and the art of others. He writes about his place in the art world and his self doubts about his painting throughout his career, a lot of which I can relate to. After reading this book, I had to adjust my opinion of Eric Fischl. There is a lot more to him than what he puts on the canvas. It's similar to what they say about good baseball managers. The best baseball managers were not the best players during their playing days but the time they spent on the bench was well served. They were able to observe and analyze the game and its technique.
I was never a big fan of Fischl's art but read a review somewhere that got me to pick his book up and give it a try. This book is not particularly well written but it is pretty fascinating. Fischl is very revealing in his analysis of his own artistic practice and the art of others. He writes about his place in the art world and his self doubts about his painting throughout his career, a lot of which I can relate to. After reading this book, I had to adjust my opinion of Eric Fischl. There is a lot more to him than what he puts on the canvas. It's similar to what they say about good baseball managers. The best baseball managers were not the best players during their playing days but the time they spent on the bench was well served. They were able to observe and analyze the game and its technique.
July 4, 2013
I really enjoyed this book. Well written, good mix of autobiography, stories of the art world, thoughts on art.
The first time I saw Eric Fischl's work was in a gallery in LA in probably 1983. His work was part of a group show; I went to see another artist I no longer remember.
Probably 15 years passed before I saw his work again at MOCA in Chicago, then another decade before his work showed up at MOMA in San Francisco.
That he named one of his best-known paintings and book Bad Boy reminds me of how I perceived him back then - the kind of charming but harmless bad boy that I find endearing.
A good read for anyone; especially for those who followed art in the 80's.
The first time I saw Eric Fischl's work was in a gallery in LA in probably 1983. His work was part of a group show; I went to see another artist I no longer remember.
Probably 15 years passed before I saw his work again at MOCA in Chicago, then another decade before his work showed up at MOMA in San Francisco.
That he named one of his best-known paintings and book Bad Boy reminds me of how I perceived him back then - the kind of charming but harmless bad boy that I find endearing.
A good read for anyone; especially for those who followed art in the 80's.
September 16, 2013
I enjoyed this book very much. Fischl manages to articulately explain his process of making art in a way that few artists can do. I also liked his discussions of the art world of the 70's and 80's, of becoming a painter at a time when painting was out of fashion, and his view of the new artists who replaced him as artist/celebrities. The sidebars written by Fischl's friends and families added interesting alternative views. I sped through this book and it re-energized me for spending more time reading.
September 29, 2013
I devoured this book. I will never look at an Eric Fischl painting the same way. It was interesting to read about his struggle to find his voice. I thought his thoughts on the art world were revealing and honest. The book is interspersed with "musing" from friends, family and colleagues - from his wife to Steve Martin. It is a very good look into the contemporary art scene from the 80's through now. I agreed with much of his musing about what has become of the art market, his thoughts on Koons and Hirst, and even Schnabel (who wrote an essay in the book).
July 25, 2016
A friend of mine who is a librarian in Montauk mentioned that Eric Fischl had been to his library to promote his book. I thought nothing of it, but when it appeared in the list of ebooks from my library, I borrowed it. At first, the writing didn’t capture me, but after the first chapter, the story became more compelling. I think you have to see this as an honest attempt to reflect on a life that people in the art world knew from the sidelines. I have more respect for Fischl for writing this book.
February 4, 2017
Some of the detail of who, where and when of Fischl's career was a bit too detailed for me but I appreciate that he included this detail for posterity and future historical reference. As a struggling artist trying to be authentic myself, I found his working methods that got him to his place in the art world fascinating.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews