Beschreibung:

PROPERTY FROM A DISTINGUISHED NEW YORK COLLECTION Richard Prince Untitled (Cowboy) signed, numbered and dated "Richard Prince ap 1989" on the reverse; further signed, numbered and erroneously dated "Richard Prince ap 1988" on the reverse of the mat Ektacolor print image 23 x 18 1/4 in. (58.4 x 46.4 cm.) sheet 24 x 20 in. (61 x 50.8 cm.) Executed in 1989, this work is artist's proof number 1 from an edition of 2 plus 1 artist's proof.
Provenance Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner Literature Rosetta Brooks, Jeff Sian and Luc Sante, Richard Prince London, 2003, p. 25 (another example illustrated and erroneously dated 1999) Catalogue Essay Richard Prince’s cowboys are among the most iconic examples of his prolific oeuvre. The present lot, an early work from 1989 is a unique artist’s proof aside from the artist’s small editioned series of luminously colored photographs, representing one of the artist’s early experimentations with appropriated imagery. Adapted from a Marlboro cigarette advertisement, the present lot depicts three quintessentially American cowboys in a receding row, looking off into the distance. They are dressed in patriotic garb, adorned in red, white, and blue, set against what is assumed to be a warm, sunny Western landscape. All three men are smiling in symmetrical, profile view, not one making direct eye contact with the camera. While the photograph is anything but candid, Prince’s choice of cropping at the brims of their hats and extending only to their upper torsos captures a split second in time that gives the essence of a genuine, American moment. As Prince has described, the cowboy pictures “were too good to be true. They were about wishful thinking, public pictures that happen to appear in the advertising sections of mass-market magazines… it was their look I was interested in. I wanted to represent the closest thing to real thing”. To achieve this level of reality, Prince has removed the text from the Marlboro advertisement, reframing the image in a way that rejects the obvious reappropriation of mass media sources, and instead elevates the source imagery to one that is seemingly original. The result is paradoxically comforting and disquieting, calling into question the meaning behind the staged smiles. It is “normalcy as special effect”, as Prince once explained, thus challenging the notions of Pop art begun by his predecessors, and elevating the nostalgic to the extraordinary. (Rosetta Brooks, "A Prince of Light or Darkness?", Richard Prince London, 2003, p. 56) 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