Priority access JENNY HOLZER "FEAR - INFLAMMATORY ESSAY" 1982

Since the 1980's Eric Fischl (b. 1948) he has been admired internationally as one of the most daring figurative painters. Over the course of his career he has worked in a host of mediums; sculpture, mosaic, paint and printmaking. 

Fischl's work is typically infused with a pending emotional, sexual or psychological violence and tension. His expertise lays with his distinctive renderings of the body, whether in a vulnerable or sexualized state. 

This work, "Trout" is a fine example of Fischl's aesthetic, and was created for the book "A Bestiary" by Bradford Morrow (b. 1951).  Interestingly this is the only image in the book that shows a human figure with one of the animals. One of Fischl's favorite motifs are 'bodies by the shore'. 

Since the ancient world, bestiaries have been used to catalog and describe collective knowledge on creatures and other natural elements (i.e. rocks). Illustrated bestiaries grew in popularity during the Middle Ages, often pairing the animal with a moral lesson. This reflected the allegorical Christian belief that each living thing had its own special meaning, and reiterated the symbolic language of animals used in Western Christian art.