Beschreibung:

13 Ed Ruscha Romance 1980 oil on canvas 55 1/8 x 57 1/2 in. (140 x 146.1 cm) Signed and dated “Ed Ruscha 1980” on the reverse.
Provenance Ace Gallery, Venice, California Private Collection Exhibited Vancouver, Ace Gallery, Edward Ruscha: Recent Paintings, June – July, 1981 Nagoya City Museum and Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Barnsdall Park, Contemporary Los Angeles Artists, April – May, 1982 (illustrated on the poster and announcement) Los Angeles, County Museum of Art, The Works of Edward Ruscha – Part II: 1973 – 1983, March – May, 1983 (illustrated on the announcement) Pasadena, Art Center College of Design, Alyce de Roulet Williamson Gallery, Romance, November 1994 – February 1995 Literature Ed Ruscha Ace Gallery, Artforum, 1980 (illustrated on the back cover) Catalogue Essay I seemed to be drawn by the most stereotyped concepts of Los Angeles, such as cars, suntans, palm trees, swimming pools, strips of celluloid with perforations; even the word sunset had glamour…All my work gets affected by the things that attracted me to this town in the first place, together with the little twists in my character that motivate me. ED RUSCHA (Ed Ruscha from an interview with Robert Landau and John Pashdag, “A Conservation with Ed Ruscha ” Outrageous LA, San Francisco, 1984, pp. 8-9, quoted in R. Marshall Ed Ruscha Made in Los Angeles, Madrid, 2002, p. 14) Ed Ruscha’s body of work owes many of its creative impulses to the artist’s fascination with his adopted home in Los Angeles. From his immortal Hollywoods to his Standard Gas Station series, Los Angeles has functioned as the life blood within Ruscha’s work, both old and new. The present lot is a testament not only to the vibrant California culture that gives him brilliant artistic fodder, but also the beautiful sky and landscapes that lend Los Angeles romantic greatness. Romance, 1980 is a breath of Ruscha’s love for America, centered within the waves of the golden coast. He gives us a portrait unique in its power to engage our memories, our notions of meaning, and the meaning of Romance. Ruscha has been producing art since 1958. An Oklahoma native, he carries with him a deep-seeded attachment to quintessentially American culture. Through his combinations of visuals and specific wording, artworks become artwords, playing on scale, perspective, and depth with letters and their relation to his painted backgrounds. Ruscha’s move to Los Angeles was a turning point in his life, and one that proved crucial in his career. Departing the geography and mentality of the dusty plains, he found both the mood and environment of the West Coast perfectly suited for his freedom of expression. The liberating surroundings of Los Angeles provided Ruscha with a safehaven, one where he could leave behind the sterile ideals of his hometown. Ruscha’s previous experience in commercial sign making, bookbinding, printing, and photography resound acutely in his career. Indeed, his word paintings are a seminal fusion of his many technical influences. Tracing their roots to the graphic design of the early 1950s, Ruscha’s word paintings initially resemble a product of graphic design. Indeed, their use of various fonts from newspapers, billboards, and other signage, paired with familiar images in the background come across as enormous marketing tools—advertisements for the word in question. But, upon close inspection, we see the careful and exacting brushstroke of Ruscha’s painterly hand, and it is in the relationship between his words and images that Ruscha’s true brilliance manifests itself. Though they sometimes resemble each other in color and tone, his text and picture usually contrast each other in provocative ways. Rucha zeroes in our prejudicial notions of emotion with words, and, through exploiting it with dissimilar background, gives us an experience of cognitive dissonance as we view his art. We are reminded that letters and typography have emotional charges comparable to an image itself. Through exploring visual language and its relation to text, grammar and literature intertwine with soft brushstrokes and smooth plays o