From Dan’s Papers, Issue #17, written by Amelia Persans, published July 17, 2009:

“The erasure of history is partly interesting because it forces us to consider that, however much the superficial look of our world has changed, the fundamentals remain constant. A landscape by Eric Forstmann presented by Eckert Fine Art, Inc. borrows stylistic elements from Edward Hopper and looking even further back, the Hudson River School painters. The painting depicts a rural-suburban scene after dark and immediately after a rainfall. The isolation and desolation of a Hopper painting from the '30s are conveyed partly stylistically - the loose approach to realism, the dark palette - and partly in his choice of subject matter. The loneliness of chain store signs shining brightly after hours mirrors the emptiness of pieces like "Nighthawks." Forstmann's approach to the Northeast landscape also shares a tenderness for his subject with early American painters. Despite years of developing, Forstmann manages to convey the beauty and wildness of the New World after a rainstorm in the same way Hudson River School painters once did before every town had a strip mall. The ugly, functional architecture feels small and somehow co-opted by the woods. “

From Decoration, Trompe l’Oeil, and Soft Porn at ArtHamptons

Written by Robert Ayers,  published  July 10, 2009:

“Trompe l’oeil is also much in evidence at the fair. Connecticut gallery Eckert Fine Art has Eric Forstmann’s oil-on-shaped-panel Made Off with the Bail Out Package (2008–09), a depiction of an unwrapped pigeonhole with a crumpled dollar and two pennies inside, which the artist explained is a Madoff-inspired joke, priced at $13,500.”

From The East Hampton Star article Surprises From the Second String written by Jennifer Landes,  published July 11, 2009:

 “Many galleries representing contemporary artists brought hyper-real work, a conservative choice. Of those, the one whose work stood out as both skillful and ironic was Eric Forstmann, who was shown by Eckert Fine Art of Kent, Conn. His "Everything/Nothing" a painting of crumpled, brown wrapping paper was accomplished and witty.”