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Rene Ricard
Michele Maria: bright yellow red Maria Callas opera artist portrait with poetry

1989

About the Item

Touched by the influence of Andy Warhol, champion of a young Jean-Michel Basquiat, Rene Ricard served as enfant terrible of the 1980s New York art scene. In this bright yellow, red, and black portrait print of opera singer Marie Callas and artist Michele Zalopany, Ricard effortlessly traverses text and the pleasure of color. An expanse of yellow forms the background of Ricard's tribute to the opera singer Maria Callas. Her portrait is painted in profile with bold, black marks. The artist Michele Zalopany was Rene’s close friend, and he produced this portrait honoring Michele, and the opera singer Maria Callas, jointly. An expanse of bright yellow forms the background of this bold portrait in profile, painted with bold, black marks. Within her portrait, Ricard wrote the names of some of her most well-known operas and arias, such as Norma and Casta Diva. As in many of Ricard’s works, his freely-written cursive evokes emotion, and the inky black marks increase the drama of this portrait in profile. At the bottom of the composition, "Michele Maria" is written in red. Ricard was a poet and art critic who published numerous books of poetry, and his increasing use of text in his work over the 1980's reflects this interest in the written word. Ricard's confessional hand-painted and hand-written poetry is almost always accompanied by the artist's outsized signature, integrated into the composition, or placed at its center. Here, Ricard signs his name in pale peach ink, the same size as the title, displaying the artist's unabashed confidence and flamboyance. This confidence (and Ricard's bedroom-eyed allure) attracted the attention of Andy Warhol, and the young Rene (formerly Albert Napoleon Ricard) became his protege. He would appear in three Warhol films, even playing the Factory founder himself in "Andy Warhol Story". Warhol would later call the famously acid-tongued Ricard "The George Sanders of the Lower East Side, the Rex Reed of the art world." By the early 1980s, Rene Ricard was a fixture in the New York art scene, not only as an accomplished artist, but as a critic. Penning enlightening and poetic essays for Artforum, he turned his attention to rising stars such as Julian Schnabel and Alex Katz. Ricard famously wrote the first major article on Jean-Michel Basquiat. “The Radiant Child” is credited with launching Basquiat’s career, and is considered a seminal contemporary art essay. Paper 40 in. x 26.5 in. / 101.6 cm x 67.31 cm. Lithograph with silkscreen and relief on cream Rives BFK Heavyweight paper. Edition 28. Signed by the artist lower center. Numbered lower left in pencil; dated 1989 lower right in pencil
  • Creator:
    Rene Ricard (1946 - 2014, American)
  • Creation Year:
    1989
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 40 in (101.6 cm)Width: 26.5 in (67.31 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
    This print is not previously owned and has been stored in the archives of the publisher since its publication.
  • Gallery Location:
    New York, NY
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU1211212698922
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