The Maritime Painting That Set Eric Fischl's Auction Record
3 min read · 04 Jul 2025
The Old Man's Boat and the Old Man's Dog. Image courtesy of Christie's
Eric Fischl's The Old Man's Boat and the Old Man's Dog (1982) sold for $4.14m at Christie's in New York on May 10, 2022. The oil on linen work had been traded 4 times in the past.
A leading member of the mainly New York-based artists who in the 1980s breathed new life into figurative painting, Fischl (1948) is best known for his paintings of emotionally charged scenes, of which this painting is a classic example.
His record-breaking canvas was inspired by trips to St Tropez in the South of France. The artist based the people on the yacht from his archive of images of the sunbathing vacationers on the French Riviera. Dark clouds on the horizon hint at trouble ahead for the seemingly carefree sunbathers on board.
Painted in 1982, the following year the work made its public debut at the Whitney's "1983 Biennial Exhibition" in New York.
Dog Days. Image courtesy of Christie's
The sale beat the artist’s previous auction record by $2.27m, a 100% rise. His previous record was set by Dog Days (1983), which sold for $1.87m at Christie's on May 13, 2009. It is now part of the Hall Art Collection.
A Brief History of Eric Fischl at Auction
Sale Date | Title | Price | Record Increase | Venue | City |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2022-05-10 | The Old Man's Boat and the Old Man's Dog | $4.14m | 121 % | Christie's | New York |
2009-05-13 | Dog Days | $1.87m | 10 % | Christie's | New York |
2006-11-15 | Daddy's girl | $1.7m | 89 % | Christie's | New York |
2000-05-16 | Noonwatch | $900,000 | 27 % | Christie's | New York |
1999-11-17 | Time for bed | $710,000 | 9 % | Sotheby's | New York |
1990-05-07 | Stuntman | $650,000 | 381 % | Christie's | New York |
1988-05-02 | Growing up in the company of women No.3 | $135,000 | 275 % | Sotheby's | New York |
1987-05-05 | Untitled mother and child | $36,000 | 38 % | Sotheby's | New York |
1986-11-11 | Bathers | $26,000 | - | Sotheby's | New York |
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