ED RUSCHA, Every Building on the Sunset Strip, 1st Edition (signed & inscribed to Dallas Interior Designer Beverly Field) 1966

Ed Ruscha

Every Building on the Sunset Strip, 1st Edition (signed & inscribed to Dallas Interior Designer Beverly Field), 1966, 1st Edition

Publisher: Dick de Ruscha, Los Angeles, California, Copyright 1966 Edward Ruscha, Los Angeles

Edition Size: 1000 (note: the regular edition of 1000 is unsigned; this work, exceptionally, is hand signed, which is very uncommon) 

Note: In 2014, another signed copy of this edition sold at Wright auction for $9,375. However, that one lacked any special provenance or dedication, and the signature was badly smudged and done only on the exterior of the slipcase. Here you have amazing provenance and a personalized inscription and dedication with the bold ink signature - on the first front end page of the book itself - far more desirable. For reference, below is a link to that auction comparable:
https://www.wright20.com/auctions/2014/09/art-design/315

This is an absolute rare, highly collectible gem; makes a terrific gift. 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 legendary Dallas interior designer Beverly Field, a friend and collector of Ruscha's works, and an avid book collector, who passed away in 2016. Below is a link to the Dallas Morning News' obituary on Fields:
https://www.dallasnews.com/arts/design/2016/10/27/grand-dame-dallas-decorator-beverly-field-known-wit-flamboyance-dies-88

This book is also in the original slipcase -- very uncommon...and it is in very good vintage condition, with expected minor scuffing, etc. considering it's more than half a century old; but otherwise clean crisp pages, no other markings (besides the Ruscha inscription and signature) and in an accordion style design.
Utterly collectible. Very rare to find this book - even unsigned. Majestic to find it hand signed, as the present one; and simply sublime to find it signed and dedicated, as it is, to such an illustrious woman. Good luck finding another like this!
Dimensions
slip case: 7 5/16 x 5 13/16 x
9/16" (18.5 x 14.7 x 1.5 cm)
In 2016, on the 50th anniversary of its publication, Blouin Art Info's writers paid homage to this gem of a publication. Below is a link to their illuminating article on this work. Note the stock photograph they use is the book unsigned; ours is indeed signed, however:
http://www.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/1408205/ed-ruschas-iconic-sunset-strip-turns-50
And here's some inspiration to show how another collector framed their (unsigned) book. Just imagine how awesome your signed one will look!
http://www.dave-dyment.com/every-building-in-the-sunset-strip/bsy1mmctk3fvdlfrouqiwuhuqi4flu

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

SIGNATURE: Boldly signed and dated 1980 in red ink, and inscribed with the words "My very best" and dedicated to Beverly Field - with an extra flourish of the pen underneath. 

Provenance: Estate of Dallas Interior Decorator Beverly Field