James Rosenquist

Leo Castelli Gallery, New York
Mr. and Mrs. Roger Davidson, Toronto
Private Collection, Toronto
Acquired by the present owner from the above

New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, James Rosenquist, April - May 1972, p. 100, illustrated
Toronto, Art Gallery of Ontario, Selections from the Roger and Myra Davidson Collection of International Contemporary Art, January - March 1987, p. 61, illustrated
Houston, Menil Collection and Museum of Fine Arts; New York, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; James Rosenquist: A Retrospective, May 2003 - January 2004, no. 66, p. 146, illustrated in color

Judith Goldman, James Rosenquist, New York, 1985, p. 42, illustrated

The canvas portion of the work is in very good condition overall. There are some small areas of scattered inpainting, which are visible under Ultraviolet light nspection. The mylar sheet that hangs over the construction is in fair condition overall. There has been extensive restoration throughout the chair composition, which fluoresces darkly under Ultraviolet inspection. The restoration has been performed expertly and is not visible under normal light conditions. There is evidence of additional wear to the mylar sheet, including some small indentations and creases. Framed in a Plexiglas box.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

James Rosenquist's unique style of Pop art has been a critical component of the post-war American art movement since he began working in the style after retiring as a commercial sign painter.  His work as a sign painter, in the Midwest where he was born and raised, as well as in New York where he relocated and began working on his fine art projects, was a great influence on his abilities to transform and comment on typical American life and values throughout the 20^th century.

His In Honor and Memory of Robert F. Kennedy from the Friends of Eugene McCarthy is a prime example of the manner in which Rosenquist imbued his often bright, playful, and immediate Pop imagery with an undercurrent of gravity and social commentary.  F-111 which was completed just four years prior was the first Rosenquist work to receive wide-spread acclaim that similarly utilized found imagery collaged and recomposed in order to illustrate a particular interpretation of the current state of affairs in Rosenquist's eyes.  Similarly, this work completed the same year as the late Senator Kennedy's assassination, can be clearly recognized and understood to relate to his early departure and the particular relationship shared between these two rivals, and chiefs of the anti-war political movement in the late 1960's. 

Rosenquist's brand of art in which he fashions collages out of found materials and then transforms the source material into an original painting is particularly apt in our contemporary age of digital appropriation and rearrangement, never mind the similar sort of politics of our current head-of-state mirroring that of his predecessors in Kennedy and McCarthy.  The immediate imagery and ingenuity of arrangement in the composition make this work particularly poignant as the empty chair seems to signify loss even as the bright ribbons of color insinuate an impending celebration.  If nothing else, Rosenquist's work is indeed a celebration of the confident optimism of the American life.