Kenny Scharf, "Thou Shalt Have No Other Gods Before Me" (The First Commandment) 1987

Kenny Scharf

 5-Color lithograph on Dieu Donne handmade paper with deckled edges

Hand Signed, Dated and Numbered 6/84

24 x 18 inches

Provenance: The Ten Commandments Portfolio

This five color lithograph on Dieu Donne hand made paper with deckled edges is pencil signed, dated and numbered 6/84. This classic 1980s Kenny Scharf print was created as part of the 1987 portfolio "The Ten Commandments", in which ten top Jewish American artists were each invited to choose an Old Testament commandment to interpret in contemporary lithographic form. The "Chosen" artists were, in order of Commandment: Kenny Scharf, Joseph Nechvatal, Gretchen Bender, April Gornik, Robert Kushner, Nancy Spero, Vito Acconci, Jane Dickson, Judy Rifka and Richard Bosman. This lithograph is in excellent condition; unframed with deckled edges so it would look terrific when floated and framed. This is the first time it will have been removed from the original portfolio case. (shown). Lisa Liebmann, who wrote the introduction to the collection, observed:  "...The image has, for most of us, replaced the word..."  With respect to the present work, she writes, " Kenny Scharf's affinity for the FIRST COMMANDMENT could come as a surprise to those who thought his pantheon of T.V. deities and cartoon gods idolatrous. But Scharf's one-eyed gonzoed apparition takes full command of its position on a concocted Sinai - already acclaimed by the documentary-style hordes in the background and oggles us with the news that there is at last a joyful god in our midst only if we can tune into it..."  Excellent original condition.

 SIGNATURE

Signed and numbered 6/84 on the front

 PROVENANCE

Ten Commandments Portfolio, 1987, Art Issue Editions, Inc.