After more than 30 years together, the artist Eric Fischl has left Mary Boone Gallery. “Eric has wanted to change his working relationship with the gallery,” says Ron Warren, a director and partner at Mary Boone. “I think he has decided that the art world and the market have changed so much that he wants to concentrate on making his work, and distance himself from being represented by a gallery.”
Both Boone and Fischl voiced concerns about the state of the market in a recent article in Interview magazine. The article, written by Fischl, details a conversation between the two about their long working relationship, and the various shifts that have taken place in the art world over the decades. Lamenting the lack of vision of today’s collectors, Boone says many collectors “often just want a laundry list of the top names”. Fischl agrees, adding that “artists are treated more like brand names… There has become this kind of collecting hysteria.”
In the interview, Fischl talks about wanting to work with Boone because he saw her gallery as “a nexus for my generation of artists” who shared a “deep belief generationally that art could change society, that it could change culture. So it had an idealism to it,” he said. “Your gallery had a glow about it of something really new and fresh. It felt like something different was starting to happen.”
“We have had a long relationship with Eric, but relationships evolve,” Warren says. “Right now, Eric says he wants to concentrate on his work, not be affiliated with a gallery. We respect that and will continue to have a good relationship with him.”
The artist could not be reached for comment.