Nicole Eisenman

One of the most important figurative painters working today, Nicole Eisenman explores the human condition in prints, paintings, drawings, and mixed-media works full of tenderness and dark humor. Influenced by Pablo Picasso, Expressionism, and Impressionism, Eisenman populates their works with emotionally resonant, cartoonish figures—of themself, their friends, and imagined characters. Energetic, painterly flourishes and intense colors give heft to Eisenman’s scenes, which often focus on community and queer love. A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, Eisenman was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2015 and was included in both the Venice Biennale and the Whitney Biennial in 2019. Eisenman’s paintings have been acquired for the public collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Modern Art, the Tate, and the Centre National des Arts Plastiques, among other institutions, and regularly sell for six figures at auction. Whether carousing at a beer garden or lounging dreamily, in groups or alone, Eisenman’s figures can seem isolated and contemplative—products of our time, reflections of ourselves.