Richard Prince

Nathalie Karg, New York
Private Collection, Monaco
Christie's, London, June 27, 2003, lot 250
Private Collection, Milan
Christie's, London, October 14, 2011, lot 45
Acquired by the present owner from the above sale

New York, Whitney Museum of American Art; Dusseldorf, Kunstverein; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Richard Prince, May 1992 - November 1993, pp. 4-5, illustrated in color (another example exhibited)
Basel, Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Richard Prince: Photographs, December 2001 - February 2002, p. 102, illustrated in color (another example exhibited)
Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Wanted: Selected Works from the Mugrabi Collection, August - December 2012, pp. 81 & 111, illustrated in color

This work is in very good condition overall. The sheet is secured at all 4 corners by photo corners. There is evidence of a few very soft impressions at the center left and right edges of the sheet, likely from handling. Only under very close inspection and raking light are several very faint, hairline surface scratches visible at the center of the sheet. Under Ultraviolet light inspection there is evidence of surface accretions in the lower left and upper left quadrant and a minor spot just left of the figure's chin that were retouched retroactively likely by the artist, which appears to be original to the condition of the work and inherent to the artist's practice. There is some possible very pale time staining to the sheet. Framed under Plexiglas.
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.

“It sort of started in the late 70s when I was working at a place called Time Life. My job was to tear up the magazine and give the editorial parts to the people who wrote the articles. So at the end of the day I was left with all the advertising in the magazines and of course no one called down for those, they were sort of authorless. I started to think, rather than make a collage, I would return them to their former self and make a photograph of them. This started around 1976; I wasn’t familiar with a camera, I’d never used one before and I didn’t know much about it. Therefore I thought I could maybe do something with it. I thought of the camera at the time as sort of an electric scissor. And I also thought that my practice was not having a license. The idea, when I first started to re-photograph these advertisements, [was] to present them as real photographs, so I had them made in a commercial lab using color film and I would frame them like a fine art photograph with a mat and a proper frame so it all kind of looked normal. My idea back then was that normality was going to be the next special effect.” 

Richard Prince