Scenes From Late Paradise Beached 2007

Eric Fischl made “Scenes From Late Paradise Beached” with paint, and probably a brush, in his signature way. The painting feels like a momentary observation, a kind of visual diary entry of an awkward beach scene. The fleshy tones are really doing it for me. Look at the way he's built up the figures with these broad strokes of warm hues, sometimes letting the underpainting peek through. It's like he's trying to capture the heat of the sun on the skin. And the textures! You can almost feel the grit of the sand and the stickiness of sunscreen. There’s a kind of voyeuristic quality to it, almost like we are lurking, maybe a little too close. It reminds me of some of early Alex Katz, who was also capturing these sorts of fleeting moments, though Katz always seemed a bit cooler. Fischl, for all his bravado, is a little more raw, a little more anxious. Ultimately, it's a snapshot of humanity, in all its messy, beautiful, and slightly uncomfortable glory.