Untitled 1987

Here is the Eric Fischl painting, Untitled, where the artist is really working the oil paint to get to the heart of the scene. Fischl’s brushstrokes are loose, like he’s building the image out of these raw, expressive marks. The nude is really interesting, because it is this kind of figure-ground relationship that emerges from within the process of painting itself. The viscosity is so present, you can almost smell the linseed oil! There is a thick opacity, almost like sculptural impasto. Look at the visor on the figure, that single stroke of pink defines the angle of the head. All the elements of this composition point towards this ongoing conversation in painting where anything, even the most traditional subject matter, can be refigured through the way you handle the paint. I'm reminded of someone like Francis Picabia, who treated painting as a site of constant reinvention.