A brief clip from an audio museum tour given by the artist. The tour was part of the Laguna Art Museum.
On line and land galleries: Joseph K. Levane Art in New York City. http://www.josephklevenefineartltd.com/NewSite/RichardPettibonePaintings.htm
Leo Castelli Gallery in New York City. http://www.artnet.com/galleries/artists_detail.asp?G=&gid=140983&which=&aid=13423&ViewArtistBy=online&rta=http://www.artnet.com/artists/richard-pettibone/
mediums used: oils, acrylics, silkscreens, serigraphs
surfaces used: paper, canvas
low price range: One print went for $2,500 last year, most prints or silkscreens are into $10,000 or higher.
high price range: Last year a painting of his of Jackie Kennedy in acrylics went for nearly $135,000. Maybe it pays more to copy someone’s work than express yourself!
The first time I saw the works by this artist I was just opening my eyes to the art world. I knew I had seen the artwork somewhere else before, in fact the artists I was remembering were Lichtenstein and Warhol. In fact this artist doesn’t do original paintings, he takes a painting or an idea for a painting that has been successful from a sales standpoint, then he repaints them in a smaller and miniature style. Two words to describe the artist would be Pop-Artist cloner. All of the works I have seen of the artist were copies of the main stalwarts of the 60s and 70s. Frank Stella, Andy Warhol,and Jackson Pollack all made originals of the ideas this artist just copied them.
He also paints very much smaller than the originals. The Jackie Kennedy done in acrylics that sold for $135,000 was a little larger than 8 by 5 inches! The only part of his art that is his idea are the frames. He loved to build model trains as a youngster and takes great pleasure in making special frames for his work. At least there is some part of the art that is original!
He is perfect for April Fools Day as for me Art is about expressing oneself, not imitating someone. Its great to copy other artists, that is how we learn to be great and improve our skills. This artist doesn’t really create anything new, he just states what has already been painted but in a smaller form. Is he an artist or not? April Fools! But he is one great businessman.
The artist was born in 1938 in Los Angeles, California.
The artist started making these copies of famous paintings in 1965. He painted some soup cans in the same manner as Andy Warhol. The artist even used a rubber stamp to sign Andy’s autograph as well as his own.
Has work in the Norton Simon Museum of Art in Pasadena, California.
Although I call the works copies a more technical name for the word are appropriations. Its quite normal to study the artists you admire, in fact we all are representatives of the artists we most admired. Its just so unusual to have that be all of your public work output. The artist is a fine businessman, he has earned more than 100,000 for a work. My guess is that per square inch his paintings his art sells for nearly the same as the originals. As artist he is the only one I know that doesn’t really have his own style, but no one else has done it!
Happy April Fools Day!
Make an Appropriation of your favorite painting today!
Food series starts tomorrow!
Happy painting!
D
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