14 PROPERTY OF A DISTINGUISHED AMERICAN COLLECTION Richard Prince Untitled (Cowboy) 2003 Ektacolor photograph 39 5/8 x 30 in. (100.6 x 76.2 cm) Signed, dated “Prince, 2003” and numbered of two on the reverse. This work is from an edition of two plus one artist’s proof.
Provenance Barbara Gladstone Gallery, New York Exhibited New York, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Richard Prince Spiritual America, September 28, 2007 – January 9, 2008. This exhibition later traveled to The Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, March 22 – June 15, 2008 (another example exhibited) New York, The Museum of Modern Art, Into the Sunset: Photography’s Image of the American West, March 24 – June 8, 2009 Literature N. Spector, Richard Prince Spiritual America, New York, 2007, p. 100-101 (another example illustrated) Catalogue Essay Richard Prince’s Untitled (Cowboy), 2003, is a testament to the classical image of masculinity in American culture. One of Prince’s famous “rephotographs”, Untitled (Cowboy) traces its origins to the now extinct advertising campaigns of Marlboro cigarettes, featuring that symbol of rugged solitude, the Marlboro Man. Prince’s genius in his on-going Cowboys series (now more than thirty years in the making) is that he distills the historical conscious of America into its “most undeniable image of itself, and as such [it passes] through culture with no friction”(R. Brooks. “A Prince of Light or Darkness?”, Richard Prince New York, 2003, p. 56). Prince delivers us an image steeped in our own identity. In the present lot, Prince shows us America’s most celebrated stock-figure in both a literal and spiritual elevation. Indeed, the cowboy has been extolled to such an unparalleled folk status in American culture that we could accurately describe him as the patron saint of the American West. As the lasso winds beneath his feet, our hero is forever in command of his destiny, determined to greet every day with physical vigor, mental toughness, and a vision of relentless optimism. Or so Madison Avenue would have us think. Prince’s appropriations of advertisements leads us to question our constantly shifting definitions of American masculinity, for perhaps the fantasy of the lone ranger is mere fiction, one relegated to a remote past in America’s history. Today, he exists only as an symbol of virility and uncompromising manhood. As such, Richard Prince cannot recreate the past, but only our images of it. Read More Artist Bio Richard Prince American • 1947 While some artists are known for a signature style, Richard Prince is most closely associated with his subject matter: for instance, Cowboys, his series of the Marlboro man magnified between 1980 and 1994; Nurses, sinister yet seductive, all copies from pulp novel covers; joke text paintings, simple block lettering of his own or appropriated jokes. Often labelled an artist of the Pictures Generation alongside Cindy Sherman and Robert Longo Prince has been said to be the contemporary artist who most understands the depth and influence of mass media over life in the 20th and 21st centuries. In whichever medium Prince chooses to work, he stays within the realm of appropriation. Of course Prince is not met without controversy, and he has been on the losing end of several lawsuits involving copyright infringement. His "Instagram" series — unedited reproductions of content posted by models, influencers and celebrities on their personal feeds — sold for upwards of $100,000 at primary market, making for a memorable moment at Frieze Week New York in 2015. View More Works
14 PROPERTY OF A DISTINGUISHED AMERICAN COLLECTION Richard Prince Untitled (Cowboy) 2003 Ektacolor photograph 39 5/8 x 30 in. (100.6 x 76.2 cm) Signed, dated “Prince, 2003” and numbered of two on the reverse. This work is from an edition of two plus one artist’s proof.
Provenance Barbara Gladstone Gallery, New York Exhibited New York, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Richard Prince Spiritual America, September 28, 2007 – January 9, 2008. This exhibition later traveled to The Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, March 22 – June 15, 2008 (another example exhibited) New York, The Museum of Modern Art, Into the Sunset: Photography’s Image of the American West, March 24 – June 8, 2009 Literature N. Spector, Richard Prince Spiritual America, New York, 2007, p. 100-101 (another example illustrated) Catalogue Essay Richard Prince’s Untitled (Cowboy), 2003, is a testament to the classical image of masculinity in American culture. One of Prince’s famous “rephotographs”, Untitled (Cowboy) traces its origins to the now extinct advertising campaigns of Marlboro cigarettes, featuring that symbol of rugged solitude, the Marlboro Man. Prince’s genius in his on-going Cowboys series (now more than thirty years in the making) is that he distills the historical conscious of America into its “most undeniable image of itself, and as such [it passes] through culture with no friction”(R. Brooks. “A Prince of Light or Darkness?”, Richard Prince New York, 2003, p. 56). Prince delivers us an image steeped in our own identity. In the present lot, Prince shows us America’s most celebrated stock-figure in both a literal and spiritual elevation. Indeed, the cowboy has been extolled to such an unparalleled folk status in American culture that we could accurately describe him as the patron saint of the American West. As the lasso winds beneath his feet, our hero is forever in command of his destiny, determined to greet every day with physical vigor, mental toughness, and a vision of relentless optimism. Or so Madison Avenue would have us think. Prince’s appropriations of advertisements leads us to question our constantly shifting definitions of American masculinity, for perhaps the fantasy of the lone ranger is mere fiction, one relegated to a remote past in America’s history. Today, he exists only as an symbol of virility and uncompromising manhood. As such, Richard Prince cannot recreate the past, but only our images of it. Read More Artist Bio Richard Prince American • 1947 While some artists are known for a signature style, Richard Prince is most closely associated with his subject matter: for instance, Cowboys, his series of the Marlboro man magnified between 1980 and 1994; Nurses, sinister yet seductive, all copies from pulp novel covers; joke text paintings, simple block lettering of his own or appropriated jokes. Often labelled an artist of the Pictures Generation alongside Cindy Sherman and Robert Longo Prince has been said to be the contemporary artist who most understands the depth and influence of mass media over life in the 20th and 21st centuries. In whichever medium Prince chooses to work, he stays within the realm of appropriation. Of course Prince is not met without controversy, and he has been on the losing end of several lawsuits involving copyright infringement. His "Instagram" series — unedited reproductions of content posted by models, influencers and celebrities on their personal feeds — sold for upwards of $100,000 at primary market, making for a memorable moment at Frieze Week New York in 2015. View More Works
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