Join The Collection to save, track, and explore works like this.

Richard Prince — “I was in the tear-sheets department. At the end of the day, all I was left with was the advertising images, and it became my subject. Pens, watches, models—it wasn’t your typical subject matter for art.”
Richard Prince

“I was in the tear-sheets department. At the end of the day, all I was left with was the advertising images, and it became my subject. Pens, watches, models—it wasn’t your typical subject matter for art.”

This triptych of Ektacolor photographs by Richard Prince presents rephotographed advertising imagery—pens, watches, and models—stripped of their original commercial context and reframed as fine art. Working from his experience in the tear-sheets department of a magazine, Prince appropriated the seductive visual language of consumer culture, challenging traditional notions of authorship and originality. The work stands as a foundational example of Pictures Generation appropriation art, interrogating the boundary between advertising and artistic subject matter.

Medium
Ektacolor photograph, triptych

🔨 Auction Lot

Contemporary Art & Design Evening Sale

March 7, 2013

Start the Discussion

Request access to join the discussion

About this work

Richard Prince, “I was in the tear-sheets department. At the end of the day, all I was left with was the advertising images, and it became my subject. Pens, watches, models—it wasn’t your typical subject matter for art.”

This triptych of Ektacolor photographs by Richard Prince presents rephotographed advertising imagery—pens, watches, and models—stripped of their original commercial context and reframed as fine art. Working from his experience in the tear-sheets department of a magazine, Prince appropriated the seductive visual language of consumer culture, challenging traditional notions of authorship and originality. The work stands as a foundational example of Pictures Generation appropriation art, interrogating the boundary between advertising and artistic subject matter.

Medium
Ektacolor photograph, triptych
Seen at
Phillips, New York, London, Hong Kong

Related themes

Consumer Culture, Postmodern Photography, Advertising Imagery, Color Photography, Male Artist, Triptych Format, Conceptual Art, Contemporary Artist, Appropriation Art, American Artist, Late 20th Century

More works by Richard Prince