Slumber Party

Eric Fischl’s paintings depict scenes from everyday life, including backyard barbeques, beach vacations, anddomestic dramas. These seemingly innocuous moments become venues for psychologically charged themes such as the loss of innocence, impulsive behavior, and the transience of life. In Slumber Party a young boy and girl in various states of undress prepare for bed. The boy appears absorbed by the television rather than by the girl behind him. While this could be simply a benign bedtime ritual, we cannot shake the question of what will happen next. The painting’s dark, erotically ambiguous narrative engages a tradition of American noir, from the canvases of Edward Hopper to the films of David Lynch.