Eric Fischl
Year of the Drowned Dog

Year of the Drowned Dog

© Eric Fischl

Year of the Drowned Dog
Year of the Drowned Dog
ArtistAmerican, born 1948
CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Year of the Drowned Dog
Date1983
Published inNew York City, New York, United States
MediumPortfolio of six etchings in colors on wove paper, artist's proof III/X
DimensionsSheet (overall): 24 1/2 × 70 3/4 in. (62.2 × 179.7 cm)
Credit LineThe Peter Blum Edition Archive, 1980-1994, museum purchase funded by the Alice Pratt Brown Museum Fund
Object number96.20.1-.6
Not on view

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Object Type
Description

Having grown up against a backdrop of alcoholism and a country-club culture obsessed with image over content, artist Eric Fischl focuses on the rift between experience and expression. His landmark portfolio Year of the Drowned Dog consists of two three-part components. When combined, they operate as a pictorial game.


The first component is a triptych of a beach panorama, and the second consists of three separate smaller sheets (mother and child, three sailors, walking man) that overlap the panorama. These irregular-shaped segments transform a tranquil Caribbean beach scene into a complex narrative. The mother and child observe the boy and the dog of the title; the other figures do not interact with each other. Each of the sheets’ varying times of day, as evidenced by the figures’ shadows, underscores the independent, nonlinear development of the imagery. Year of the Drowned Dog was Fischl’s first attempt at a complex, multi-component project of etchings. It marks a shift in subject matter as he began to explore the negative impact of American tourism on idyllic beaches of islands that had recently been developed by the resort industry.


Provenance[Peter Blum Gallery, Blumarts Inc., New York, by 1996]; purchased by MFAH, 1996.
Exhibition History"Defining the Body: Contemporary Figuration on Paper," The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, August 1—November 1, 2015.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Each sheet numbered in pencil: "III/X" (see individual records for location).
Each sheet signed in pencil: "E. Fischl" (see individual records for locations).

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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Untitled
Barbara Kruger
1985
Portfolio of nine photolithographs on wove paper, edition VII/X
96.27.A-.I
Untitled (Landscape)
Eric Fischl
1983
Sugar lift aquatint and soft ground etching with scraping in colors on wove paper. A.P. III/X
96.20.6
Untitled [2]
Eric Fischl
1985
Sugar lift aquatint, scraping, and drypoint in colors, artist's proof X/X
96.22.2
Untitled [1]
Eric Fischl
1985
Sugar lift aquatint, scraping, and drypoint in colors, artist's proof X/X
96.22.1
Untitled [4]
Eric Fischl
1985
Sugar lift aquatint, scraping, drypoint and roulette in purple, orange, and black, artist's proof X/X
96.22.4
Untitled [3]
Eric Fischl
1985
Sugar lift aquatint, scraping, soft ground etching, and drypoint in colors, artist's proof X/X
96.22.3
Untitled [5]
Eric Fischl
1985
Sugar lift aquatint in yellow, artist's proof X/X
96.22.5
Untitled (Boy with Dog)
Eric Fischl
1983
Sugar lift aquatint and soft ground etching with scraping in colors on wove paper. A.P. III/X
96.20.5
Untitled (Man Dressing)
Eric Fischl
1983
Sugar lift aquatint and soft ground etching with scraping in colors on wove paper. A.P. III/X
96.20.4
Untitled (Three Men Standing)
Eric Fischl
1983
Sugar lift aquatint and soft ground etching with scraping in colors on wove paper. A.P. III/X
96.20.3
Untitled (Man Walking)
Eric Fischl
1983
Sugar lift aquatint and soft ground etching with scraping in colors on wove paper. A.P. III/X
96.20.2
Untitled (Woman with Child Watching)
Eric Fischl
1983
Sugar lift aquatint and soft ground etching with scraping in colors on wove paper. A.P. III/X
96.20.1