Ed Ruscha, Hollywood Tantrum, 1979 (hand signed by Ed Ruscha), 2008

Ed Ruscha

Hollywood Tantrum, 1979 (hand signed by Ed Ruscha), 2008

Offset lithograph postcard (Hand signed by Ed Ruscha)

Offset lithograph postcard
Boldly signed in black marker by Ed Ruscha
A rare collectible when hand signed by the artist.
This work is elegantly matted and framed in a white wood frame under UV plexiglass
Measurements:
card alone:
4 inches (vertical) x 6 inches (horizontal)
Framed:
10 inches (vertical) by 11.75 inches (horizontal) x 1 inch
This card depicts an original pastel drawing by Ed Ruscha done in 1979. The card was acquired in 2008 by the National Galleries of Scotland and Tate. The original card was acquired jointly through The d'Offay Donation with assistance from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and Art Fund.. It was published by the Tate Gallery.
Below is the description of the original pastel from the Tate:
During the mid 1970s, Ruscha made a series of drawings in pastel using pithy phrases set against a field of colour. The sentences and phrases evoke American vernacular and slang, draw attention to a particular experience of the artist, or recall the excesses of Hollywood culture. This work brings to mind the cliché of the demanding Hollywood diva, and is one of numerous works which shows the artist’s ongoing concern with the culture of his adopted hometown of Los Angeles.

ED RUSCHA BIOGRAPHY:
Ed Ruscha was born in 1937 in Omaha, Nebraska, and grew up in Oklahoma City. In 1956, he took Route 66 to California, which would become a central part of his story as an artist. Settling in Los Angeles, he studied art at Chouinard Art Institute (now California Institute of the Arts) and had an early job as a commercial illustrator. In the 1960s, inspired by artists like Raymond Hains, René Magritte, Jasper Johns, and Kurt Schwitters, Ruscha became a vibrant part of the art scene surrounding Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles.

Paramount to Ruscha’s work is that the changing nature of language —as its meaning shifts as a function of font, color, composition, and other visual effects—can be a subject for painting and drawing. He often repeats the same phrase or word in artworks over the course of many years. Often, his words and phrases have a vernacular, familiar tone, but an unfamiliar reference. Along the way, Ruscha teases out and accumulates new meanings from the expression. Though words typically take a secondary role in the history of art, Ruscha places language at the center of his practice, reflecting on contemporary life, especially in Los Angeles, with candor and humor.

Ruscha’s interest in language is frequently coupled with an interest in landscape, especially that of the American west. His words appear on road signs, buildings, and mountains, and across open skies and horizons. At times, words are strangely present through their disappearance. In early photographic work, Ruscha created documentary images and books full of swimming pools, parking lots, buildings on Sunset Boulevard, gas stations, and many other features of L.A. life. In his paintings and drawings, these same subjects combine with language to poetically evoke the changing fabric of the city through themes of evolution and destruction.

Ruscha has been living and working in the L.A. area for over sixty years. Through his innovative approach to painting, drawing, and photography, Ruscha has influenced artists worldwide and is considered to be one of the most important figures in contemporary art today.

Provenance: Signed by Ed Ruscha for the previous owner