EDWARD RUSCHA GEMINI GEL - HARD AT WORK - Postcard Letter to National Gallery Director (Hand Signed by Ed Ruscha), 1982

EDWARD RUSCHA GEMINI GEL - HARD AT WORK - Postcard Letter to National Gallery Director (Hand Signed by Ed Ruscha), 1982

Handwritten and hand signed note in graphite and ink on postmarked postcard

Autographed postcard to Ruth Fine, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC postmarked December 27, 1982 from Los Angeles
A rare and highly engaging vintage piece of artist correspondence from Ed Ruscha to Ruth Fine, then curator at the National Gallery of American Art, Washington DC
The recto features a photographic image of Ruscha at the famous publishing house Gemini G.E.L., where he is depicted signing works in 1982 - an iconic moment in the artist's printmaking practice. Below the image and underneath the text, Ruscha has handwritten in pencil: HARD AT WORK
The verso, or text side of the postcard is postmarked Los Angeles, December 27, 1982, and is addressed to Ruth Fine, National Gallery of Art. Ruscha writes:
Hi Ruth,
Drat! Haven't found any material relating to the latest edition, so I hope what we talked about was enough. If not, let me know.
Ed Ruscha."
He also includes his telephone number beneath his signature, adding a personal and immediate quality to the exchange. (How cool is that???)
This piece is particularly notable for its intersection of:
Artist-to-institution correspondence; and direct reference to Ruscha's editioned works; visual documentation of the artist working at Gemini G.E.L., one of the most important print workshops in Los Angeles.
A wonderful piece for longtime fans and collectors of Ed Ruscha
The postcard - Ed Ruscha at Gemini © 1982 was taken by Sidney B. Felsen
The postcard is presented in a museum quality white wood frame, floated with archival corner mounts so that all four corners remain visible through a secondary plexiglass window, preserving the front and the back of the object for documentary integrity. Framed under UV plexiglass.
Measurements:
Framed:
11.5 inches (vertical) by 13.25 (horizontal) by 2 inches
Card
4.25 inches (vertical) by 6 inches (horizontal)
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.
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.

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.