James Rosenquist, Miles (Kennedy Half Dollar), Screenprint with Pochoir, Hand Signed & Numbered, 1975

Legendary Pop Artist James Rosenquist's hand signed, titled, dated and numbered silkscreen with pochoir on Arches, "Miles" was created as part of a portfolio "America: the Third Century", commissioned by Mobil Oil Corporation in which 13 artists were commissioned to create works celebrating America's bicentennial.  Other editions of this print are in the permanent collection of the Museum of American art and the US State Department's Art in Embassies Program among many other prestigious collections worldwide. 

Melissa Merritt, who curated an exhibition featuring this work for Keane State University, wrote: 

"In 1975, America was one year shy of its bicentennial. It was in this year that the United States Mint began releasing special bicentennial coinage with new designs on the reverse sides of the quarter, half-dollar, and dollar. The Bicentennial Kennedy half-dollar was released on July 7, 1975, and was minted with the image of Independence Hall. The front of all of the bicentennial coins remained the same. It was also in this year that printmaker James Rosenquist created his print Miles (America’s Third Century) which, as the title implies, tied together two themes that recurred in many of his other prints: American politics juxtaposed with pop culture, and events linked to his personal life...Although Miles (America’s Third Century) was printed in 1975, the Kennedy half-dollar coin depicted, which is broken into slices at the center of the print, is dated 1976, the year of America’s Bicentennial. As the title describes, that bicentennial year marked the beginning of a third century for the United States. The Director of the United States Mint, Mary Brookes, described the importance of the bicentennial coinage in a 1975 press release: “The Bicentennial coins mark the first time in our history that circulating coins have been re-designed in honor of an anniversary of American Independence. The silver specimens, particularly, are quality mementoes of our 200 years of freedom and I hope they will be treasured and admired long after 1976 fades into memory."..The textural, collage-like imagery in the print recalls Rosenquist’s earlier oil paintings of the 1960s, which served as “a metaphor for modern and specifically urban life. . . .  Fractured imagery and discontinuous narratives were the devices Rosenquist chose in order to express an autobiographical, birds-eye and street-level view of the modern metropolis.” .. As the artist himself stated: “Collage is a very contemporary medium, whether it’s done with little bits of paper or in the cinema. The essence of collage is to take very disparate imagery and put it together and the result becomes an idea, not so much a picture.”... In layering the images of tire tracks, a hanging tire, and a shattered bicentennial half-dollar coin, Rosenquist could address personal and national topics within the same print."