Nicole Eisenman (b. 1965 in Verdun, France) is an American painter and sculptor who lives in Brooklyn. A key figure of contemporary figurative art, she is a MacArthur Fellow and appeared at both the Venice Biennale and the Whitney Biennial in 2019. Gender, sexuality, work and inequality are her subjects, treated with dark humour. From September 22, London is giving her two exhibitions at once. An eight-metre Stack by Nicole Eisenman stands in the courtyard of the Royal Academy, and ten new paintings hang at Sadie Coles HQ. The location matters too. The Royal Academy was founded in 1768 and is the oldest arts institution in Britain. Eisenman has taken over its courtyard with a self-portrait that carries a wine barrel on its back.
Five Figures, One Fragile Stack
Stack is a fragile architecture of five figures and objects. At its base stands Eisenman herself, in Birkenstock sandals, holding an empty glass. A wine barrel rests on her back. Above it lies a potato, a humble symbol of sustenance. Higher still sits her cat and muse, Edie. Finally, at the very top, sculptor Phyllida Barlow (1944–2023) smiles and balances a vase of flowers on her head.
Yet the balance is deliberately doubtful. The stack quotes The Town Musicians of Bremen, a fairy tale about animals standing on one another, and turns it into an absurd monument to artistic life. It is also an abstract self-portrait. In it, friendship, art, food and domestic rituals form a chain of mutual dependence. Moreover, there is a great deal of affection in its humour.
© Nicole Eisenman, courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth, foto: Damian Griffiths
Crossover: Phyllida Barlow, the Sculptor at the Top
© Nicole Eisenman, foto: Sarah Muehlbauer
Barlow at the top is no accident. For Eisenman, she embodies the art that feeds her work, especially her relationship to sculpture. Barlow was one of the most influential British sculptors. She taught at the Slade School of Fine Art for over forty years, and Tacita Dean was among her students. She became a Royal Academician in 2011. In 2017 she represented Britain at the Venice Biennale with the project Folly. Her sculptures were monumental and anti-monumental at once, built from everyday materials. In 2019 she also had her own show at the Royal Academy, cul-de-sac, so Eisenman has placed her in a house where she has already exhibited. Hauser & Wirth represents both artists. We wrote separately about another sculptor who rewrites the rules, Lynda Benglis.
Foto: Ruth Clark © British Council. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth
A Courtyard with Memory
The setting is the Annenberg Courtyard, the courtyard of the Royal Academy on Piccadilly. It lies within a 17th-century palace, so the sculptures stand between centuries-old walls. Since 1931, a monument to the academy’s first president has stood here. That solemn monument now has a neighbour who carries a wine barrel on her back.
Photo: Simon Menges, source: davidchipperfield.com
In 2018, British architect David Chipperfield connected the palace to the neighbouring building. The same architect restored Berlin’s Neue Nationalgalerie, an icon by Mies van der Rohe.
We also covered London’s architecture in London Open House 2026.
Ten Paintings at Sadie Coles HQ
Stack is not the only Eisenman in London. Sadie Coles HQ at 17 Savile Row shows ten new works from 2026 until November 21. The gallery links the show directly to the unveiling of the sculpture in the Royal Academy courtyard. You will find the shaped-canvas paintings Orgy and Togetherers. Alongside them hangs the more realistic canvas The Waiter. In the accompanying text, a critic compares the paintings to frozen frames from an animation. According to the gallery, Eisenman also paints her own life and matches the paintings to emotions. She says Orgy will please the eyes.
© Nicole Eisenman. Courtesy the Artist and Sadie Coles HQ, London. Photo: Katie Morrison
Three Galleries, One Artist
Eisenman is represented by several galleries at once. Hauser & Wirth has worked with her since 2019 and represents her worldwide. In London she is represented by Sadie Coles HQ, and in New York by Anton Kern. Stack is therefore the work of an entire network.
Hauser & Wirth is also hosting her conversation with curator Mark Godfrey on September 29 at 6:30 pm at the Royal Institution. Godfrey was Senior Curator of International Art at Tate Modern from 2007 to 2021. Admission is free, but it must be booked in advance.
© Nicole Eisenman. Photo: Nicolas Brasseur. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth
The drawing Drawing for the Stack (2022) will then appear in Hauser & Wirth’s presentation at Frieze London (October 14–18). You can find both Hauser & Wirth and Sadie Coles HQ in our Frieze London 2026 highlights. The fair has long been supported by Deutsche Bank, whose lounge with Studio Lenca we presented earlier. We cover the full Frieze London and Frieze Masters programme in October Highlights.
Sadie Coles HQ also exhibits in the Galeries section at Art Basel Paris 2026, which we covered in our text on 211 galleries from 41 countries. In its Public Program, Manfred Pernice is also presented by Anton Kern, the gallery that represents Eisenman in New York. More in The City as Gallery.
When and Where
Royal Academy, Annenberg Courtyard, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London. Stack: September 22, 2026 – February 5, 2027.
Sadie Coles HQ, 17 Savile Row, until November 21, 2026, Tuesday to Saturday, 11:00 am to 6:00 pm.
