Richard Prince Untitled (Cigarettes) 1978-1979 set of two Ektacolor photographs image: 16 1/4 x 23 3/8 in. (41.3 x 59.4 cm) sheet: 20 x 24 in. (50.8 x 61 cm) Signed, numbered and dated “Richard Prince, 9/10, 1978-79” on the reverse. This work is number nine from an edition of ten.
Provenance Barbara Gladstone Gallery, New York Private Collection Zwirner & Wirth, New York Private Collection Exhibited New York, Skarstedt Fine Art, Richard Prince Photographs 1977-1979, February 21 - April 20, 2001 (another example exhibited) Basel, Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Richard Prince Photographs, December 8, 2001 - February 24, 2002 (another example exhibited) Wolfsburg, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Richard Prince Principal. Gemälde und Fotografien 1977-2001, April 27 - July 28, 2002 (another example exhibited) Literature R. Prince, Richard Prince Photographs 1977-1979, Skarstedt Fine Art, New York, 2001, pp. 137-138 (another example illustrated) B. Bürgi, Richard Prince Photographs, Ostfildern-Ruit, New York, 2002, pp. 8-9 (another example illustrated) R. Brooks, J. Rian, and L. Sante, Richard Prince London, New York, 2003, p. 9 (another example illustrated) Catalogue Essay Appropriating and recontextualizing images, Richard Prince examines the decay of aura and the transformation of fact into fiction by using the photographic medium to question the viewer’s understanding of representation. The artist creates an “official fiction” by underming the authorship of representation as that which potentially belongs to the viewer as much as it belongs to the artist– or advertising firm. Created through the process of re-photographing, the present lot, Untitled (Cigarettes), 1978 - 1979, appropriates a visual language most fluently associated with the commercial sphere, capturing the image of an image, fracturing the myth of the photograph as truth. Prince locates this practice as an addition to the history of collage, however, “instead of ripping [a] page out and pasting it up, the gesture [is] photographing the page, but in a way that look[s] like a photograph.” (Marvin Heiferman, “Richard Prince,” BOMB, issue 24, Summer (1988). Prince further disrupts the notion of singularity through visual syntax; here, staging Untitled (Cigarettes), 1978 - 1979, as a diptych alludes to the familiarity of an object, an object that simultaneously suggests its own multiplicity as much as it represents the pervasiveness of its advertisements. In this case a cigarette dominates each photograph, positioned diagonally as a prominent and divisive object, which Prince uses to emphasize the advertisement’s original signifiers and attributes. The use of black and white evokes the factual tone of a newspaper– the potential transmission of such an ad– while brand labels and luxury adjectives are “inserted into the natural disposition of the scene, ‘en abyme’.” (Roland Barthes “Rhetoric of the Image” Image, Music, Text, New York & Noonday Press, 1977: p.33). In this way, Prince’s photographs are not an interpretation of an advertisement as much as they are a repackaging, becoming a trace– not an imitation. 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
Richard Prince Untitled (Cigarettes) 1978-1979 set of two Ektacolor photographs image: 16 1/4 x 23 3/8 in. (41.3 x 59.4 cm) sheet: 20 x 24 in. (50.8 x 61 cm) Signed, numbered and dated “Richard Prince, 9/10, 1978-79” on the reverse. This work is number nine from an edition of ten.
Provenance Barbara Gladstone Gallery, New York Private Collection Zwirner & Wirth, New York Private Collection Exhibited New York, Skarstedt Fine Art, Richard Prince Photographs 1977-1979, February 21 - April 20, 2001 (another example exhibited) Basel, Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Richard Prince Photographs, December 8, 2001 - February 24, 2002 (another example exhibited) Wolfsburg, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Richard Prince Principal. Gemälde und Fotografien 1977-2001, April 27 - July 28, 2002 (another example exhibited) Literature R. Prince, Richard Prince Photographs 1977-1979, Skarstedt Fine Art, New York, 2001, pp. 137-138 (another example illustrated) B. Bürgi, Richard Prince Photographs, Ostfildern-Ruit, New York, 2002, pp. 8-9 (another example illustrated) R. Brooks, J. Rian, and L. Sante, Richard Prince London, New York, 2003, p. 9 (another example illustrated) Catalogue Essay Appropriating and recontextualizing images, Richard Prince examines the decay of aura and the transformation of fact into fiction by using the photographic medium to question the viewer’s understanding of representation. The artist creates an “official fiction” by underming the authorship of representation as that which potentially belongs to the viewer as much as it belongs to the artist– or advertising firm. Created through the process of re-photographing, the present lot, Untitled (Cigarettes), 1978 - 1979, appropriates a visual language most fluently associated with the commercial sphere, capturing the image of an image, fracturing the myth of the photograph as truth. Prince locates this practice as an addition to the history of collage, however, “instead of ripping [a] page out and pasting it up, the gesture [is] photographing the page, but in a way that look[s] like a photograph.” (Marvin Heiferman, “Richard Prince,” BOMB, issue 24, Summer (1988). Prince further disrupts the notion of singularity through visual syntax; here, staging Untitled (Cigarettes), 1978 - 1979, as a diptych alludes to the familiarity of an object, an object that simultaneously suggests its own multiplicity as much as it represents the pervasiveness of its advertisements. In this case a cigarette dominates each photograph, positioned diagonally as a prominent and divisive object, which Prince uses to emphasize the advertisement’s original signifiers and attributes. The use of black and white evokes the factual tone of a newspaper– the potential transmission of such an ad– while brand labels and luxury adjectives are “inserted into the natural disposition of the scene, ‘en abyme’.” (Roland Barthes “Rhetoric of the Image” Image, Music, Text, New York & Noonday Press, 1977: p.33). In this way, Prince’s photographs are not an interpretation of an advertisement as much as they are a repackaging, becoming a trace– not an imitation. 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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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
