Ed Ruscha Art

“I don’t have any Seine River like Monet, I’ve just got US 66 between Oklahoma and Los Angeles.” — Ed Ruscha An example of this rare Artist Book was exhibited prominently at the Museum of Modern Art in New York for the 2023-4 Ed Ruscha retrospective. Keep scrolling right of header image to see installation photographs of that exhibit to show how MoMA displayed this accordion style book with slipcase. (the last images) This is the 1966 true 1st Edition of Ed Ruscha's groundbreaking self-published artist book "Every Building on Sunset Strip." The book itself was published in an unsigned edition of 1000. However, in 1980, exceptionally, Ruscha hand signed and beautifully inscribed this book in red ink to football legend Joe Fields. (Joseph Charles Fields Jr. is an American former professional football player who was a center and guard in the National Football League for the New York Jets and the New York Giants.) This book is also in the original slipcase. Dimensions slip case: 7 5/16 x 5 13/16 x 9/16" (18.5 x 14.7 x 1.5 cm) This historic limited edition Artists Book is in the permanent collection of the Getty Museum in California which explains its importance as follows: In the 1960s, Ed Ruscha more or less reinvented the artist’s book. By turning away from the craftsmanship and luxury status that typified the livre d’artiste in favor of the artistic idea or concept, expressed simply through photographs and text, Ruscha opened the genre to the possibilities of mass-production and distribution. The 25-foot length of the accordion-folded Every Building on the Sunset Strip affords the viewer two continuous photographic views of the mile and a half section of this landmark stretch of Sunset, one for each side of one of the city’s landmark thoroughfare. Among many other institutions, it also in the permanent collection of MOMA, which describes "Every Building on the Sunset Strip" thus: Ruscha's photography books are antithetical to the traditional limited-edition livre d'artiste, or artist's book. Their banal subject matter and documentary style are indebted to the remarkable pictures of signs and vernacular architecture that American photographer Walker Evans made in the 1930s, but their deadpan, cool aesthetic is radically different. While each book chronicles an aspect of Los Angeles or the artist's round-trip drives between LA and Oklahoma, their use of photography as a form of map-making or topographical study signals a conceptual, rather than documentary, thrust. Edward Ruscha: Editions 1959-1999, Catalogue Raisonné, Engberg, vol. 1, ppg. 84-85 and vol. 2, pg. 124, no. B4 Publisher: Dick de Ruscha...

Screenprint in colors on wove paper. Hand signed, dated and numbered 'AP' by the artist (main edition of 150 plus 10 artist proofs made). Image size 19.5 x 37 inches. Sheet size 25.7...

Ed Ruscha Some Los Angeles Apartments (Unsigned), 1965 True First Edition Artist Book: Stated Limited Edition of only 700 7 × 5 1/2 inches Unframed A rare and elusive 1960s Artist Book. Makes a terrific gift. This is a TRUE 1965 1st Edition of only 700 stated copies. (NOT to be confused with the second edition in 1970 which was published in a much larger edition of 3000 and NOT to be confused with an eponymous 1990 Whitney Museum publication.) A must have for Ruscha Fans. SOME LOS ANGELES APARTMENTS. Los Angeles: Self-Published, 1965. True First Edition Printed Wrappers with Glassine. Original Artist's Book. This marvelous vintage 1965 48 page book features 34 black and white illustrations and is in surprisingly fine condition. "Some Los Angeles Apartments" is Ed Ruscha's third artist book - a wry yet heartfelt photographic survey of the subtle beauty of the post-war Southern California rental property construction boom. A spectacularly bright, most handsome example of the uncommon 1965 first edition (entry B3 in Siri Engberg's "Edward Ruscha: Editions 1959-1999" which is also cited on page 141 of Martin Parr and Gerry Badger's "The Photobook: A History Volume II", pages 198-201 of The Hasselblad Center's "The Open Book", page 105 of "From Fair to Fine 2", and page 226 of "From Fair to Fine 3") limited to seven hundred unnumbered copies. This is an exceptional example of this important little gem that is often confused with the 1990 Whitney Museum exhibition catalogue of virtually the same title. "In the 1960s, Ed Ruscha more or less reinvented the artist’s book. By turning away from the craftsmanship and luxury status that typified the livre d’artiste in favor of the artistic idea or concept, expressed simply through photographs and text, Ruscha opened the genre to the possibilities of mass-production and distribution. Some Los Angeles Apartments, with its straightforward presentation of modern California domestic buildings, celebrated the vernacular architecture of Southern California." The Getty Museum "....It's perhaps fitting that Ed Ruscha - one of the central figures in late 20th century photography - does not consider himself a photographer. "I think photography is dead as a fine art," he told John Coplans...

ED (Edward) RUSCHA (born 1937) 1937 Omaha, Nebraska (American) and KENNETH PRICE (1935-2012) Los Angeles 1935-2012 Arroyo Hondo (American) Title: Flies and Frog, 1969 Technique...

ED (Edward) RUSCHA (born 1937) 1937 Omaha, Nebraska (American) Title: Boiling Blood, Fly, 1969 Technique: Original Hand Signed, Dated and Numbered Lithograph in Colours on Wove...

Printer and Publisher: Tamarind Lithography Workshop Inc., Los Angeles Signed, dated, and numbered, lower margin Sheet size: 9 5/8 x 11 3/4 inches Frame size: 17 1/4 x 20 3/8 inches

Edition 28 of 30 Suite of five silver gelatin prints