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Lot Essay
The present painting, House on 38th St., 1965 is a rare, sentimental portrait of a house with personal and artistic significance to the artist. The snapshot quality is a precursor to the later series of documented landscapes such as Every Building on Sunset Boulevard from 1966.
House on 38th St. fuses the Surrealist sensibilities of Rene Magritte with the American Realist perspective of Edward Hopper. It is not a typical "word" painting from the period, however his understanding of these two periods in art is clearly evident. The giant red roses and bar of soap fill the sky with the scent of romance and elegaic farewell to childhood. The artist utilizes a perspective reminiscent of Edward Hopper's House by the Railroad, 1925. The absence of human figures and stark surroudings imply the same symbolic isolation as in the American Realist masterpiece.
Ruscha has captured a highly personal and sentimental portrait that shares with the viewer a moving statement of "love of art" and "life in art." May we only hope to comprehend this as Ruscha does--with clarity, intelligence and absolute visual authority.
House on 38th St. fuses the Surrealist sensibilities of Rene Magritte with the American Realist perspective of Edward Hopper. It is not a typical "word" painting from the period, however his understanding of these two periods in art is clearly evident. The giant red roses and bar of soap fill the sky with the scent of romance and elegaic farewell to childhood. The artist utilizes a perspective reminiscent of Edward Hopper's House by the Railroad, 1925. The absence of human figures and stark surroudings imply the same symbolic isolation as in the American Realist masterpiece.
Ruscha has captured a highly personal and sentimental portrait that shares with the viewer a moving statement of "love of art" and "life in art." May we only hope to comprehend this as Ruscha does--with clarity, intelligence and absolute visual authority.