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Richard Prince — “For a while I never spoke or continued to deny that the “cowboy” images were from the Marlboro campaign. I’ve never thought about the commodifcation subtext in these works. It’s never been an issue for me. These images came out every week, a different one, and it almost seemed like they were being made by me. Every week I would “claim” one.” RICHARD PRINCE
Richard Prince

“For a while I never spoke or continued to deny that the “cowboy” images were from the Marlboro campaign. I’ve never thought about the commodifcation subtext in these works. It’s never been an issue for me. These images came out every week, a different one, and it almost seemed like they were being made by me. Every week I would “claim” one.” RICHARD PRINCE

This chromogenic print by Richard Prince features the artist's own reflective statement about his iconic appropriation of Marlboro cigarette advertisements, presented as the work itself. Prince's text candidly reveals his psychological relationship with the appropriated cowboy imagery, describing a process of weekly "claiming" that blurred the line between his authorship and the original source material. The admission that he once denied the images' origins, paired with his dismissal of commodification as a concern, transforms the artist's confession into a meditation on ownership, authorship, and the nature of appropriation in contemporary art.

Medium
chromogenic print

🔨 Auction Lot

Contemporary Art Evening Sale

October 16, 2013

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About this work

Richard Prince, “For a while I never spoke or continued to deny that the “cowboy” images were from the Marlboro campaign. I’ve never thought about the commodifcation subtext in these works. It’s never been an issue for me. These images came out every week, a different one, and it almost seemed like they were being made by me. Every week I would “claim” one.” RICHARD PRINCE

This chromogenic print by Richard Prince features the artist's own reflective statement about his iconic appropriation of Marlboro cigarette advertisements, presented as the work itself. Prince's text candidly reveals his psychological relationship with the appropriated cowboy imagery, describing a process of weekly "claiming" that blurred the line between his authorship and the original source material. The admission that he once denied the images' origins, paired with his dismissal of commodification as a concern, transforms the artist's confession into a meditation on ownership, authorship, and the nature of appropriation in contemporary art.

Medium
chromogenic print
Seen at
Phillips, New York, London, Hong Kong

Related themes

Postmodernism, Photography, Cowboy Subject, Commodity Critique, Male Artist, Conceptual Art, Commodity Culture, Contemporary Artist, Appropriation Art, American Artist, Chromogenic Print, Late 20th Century, Text-Based Art, Neutral Mood

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