Today, we extend a happy 78th birthday to James Rosenquist, one of the preeminent American artists associated with Pop Art.
The AMAM owns a few works by Rosenquist, including the silkscreen and color sketch seen here. The drawing was preparatory to a painting of the same year now in the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, and reprises the composition of the color lithograph made by the artist one year earlier. The title and composition allude to telephone communications, sliced cables and broken connections, while feather-like forms in the upper left suggest a bird in flight.
James Rosenquist (American, b. 1933)
Area Code, 1969
Color lithograph
Overall: 28 1/2 x 52 in. (72.4 x 132.1 cm)
Richard Lee Ripin Fund, AMAM 2006.30.2AB
Sketch for Area Code, 1970
Crayon, pastel, graphite, and ink on paper
Overall: 14 1/8 x 22 15/16 in. (359 x 583 mm)
Oberlin Friends of Art and Richard Lee Ripin Funds, AMAM 2006.30.1
