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Richard Prince (American, b.1949)
LOT ID: 64640
Joke, Girlfriend, Cowboy, 2001

Chromogenic Print (C-print)
29.9 х 40.2 in. cm.
Signed, numbered "Z"
Edition Z/26
Lot description
Edition: 26 (A-Z)

Richard Prince is a postmodern pioneer of appropriation art, building upon the strategies of Duchamp and Warhol among others. His trademark technique of re-photographing readymade imagery from popular culture reveals the absurdity or unreality of the original image and refutes the notions of originality and authorship. In 'Cowboys and Gilrfriends', (a composite or 'gang' of images), Prince appropriates images from the iconic Marlboro cigarette advertising campaign. By removing the ad copy and emphasizing the grainy texture of the original images, Prince peels back the layers of associations constructed by the ad execs (masculinity, independence, the freedom of the American Frontier) and exposes the fictive, representational nature of the pictures. His work shows that commercialization, has, in a sense, replaced the simulated with the simulation, the advertised with the advertisement, the Marlboro with the Marlboro man. In juxtaposing these disparate subcultures, Prince sheds light on the highly codified clichés that organize society. Prince's Cowboy series is his most iconic and sought after body of work. In 2005, 'Cowboy' (1989) sold at auction for $1,248,000, a record at the time for the most expensive photograph ever sold.
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Sales Results for Comparable Works

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  • Richard Prince

    Joke, girlfriend, cowboy
    ektacolor print
    (H 30.5, W 40.7) in.
    (77.4 x 103.5) cm.
    Ed. 6/26
    Sold for: US$8,125 €
    Wednesday, September 22, 2010
    Christie's New York
    Lot 00189

  • Richard Prince

    Joke, girlfriend, cowboy
    color coupler print
    (H 30, W 40) in.
    (76.2 x 101.6) cm.
    Ed. ed.26
    Sold for: US$16,791 €
    Saturday, November 22, 2008
    Phillips de Pury & Company London
    Lot 00008

  • Richard Prince

    Joke, girlfriend, cowboy
    Ektacolor print
    (H 30, W 40) in.
    (76.2 x 101.6) cm.
    Ed. 4/26
    Sold for: US$13,750 €
    Monday, September 10, 2007
    Christie's New York
    Lot 00221

  • Richard Prince

    Joke, girlfriend, cowboy
    fujicolor crystal archive print
    (H 36.0, W 6.7) in.
    (91.4 x 17.1) cm.
    Ed. ed.26
    Sold for: US$10,800 €
    Saturday, September 16, 2006
    Phillips de Pury & Company New York
    Lot 00084
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