RICHARD PRINCE (b. 1949) UNTITLED (COWBOYS)

A PRIVATE AMERICAN COLLECTION OF CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHY

Provenance
Barbara Gladstone Gallery, NEW YORK

Exhibited
Cleveland Museum of Art, CLEVELAND COLLECTS CONTEMPORARY ART, November 8, 1998-January 10, 1999

Literature
R. Prince and T. Kawachi, eds., RICHARD PRINCE 4 X 4, KYOTO, 1997, p. 10 (detail illustrated)
D. Aaronson, ed., PHOTOGRAPHY TRANSFORMED: THE METROPOLITAN BANK & TRUST COLLECTION, NEW YORK, 2002, p. 248, no. 192 (illustrated)

John Wayne, Gene Autry, the Marlboro Man—all cowboys and all recognizable symbols of a period in American history and characters in a Pop culture lexicon that have become universally recognizable and mythologized in countless incarnations and reproductions America's most recognizable image of itself. In his COWBOYS series started in 1980–of which the present lot is an example—Richard Prince has chosen to re-photograph anonymous images that capture the essence of "cowboys" without making any direct reference to a particular character the chosen subjects are not particularly glamorous. He does not mythologize these figures as Andy Warhol did, for example. As Boris Groys describes:

…THE PICTURES THAT PRINCE SELECTS ARE NOT PICTURES OF THE DOMINATING CULTURE, THE DOMINATING TASTE–YET THEY ARE NOT PICTURES OF ALTERNATIVE CULTURE, PROTEST OR THE EXOTIC EITHER. AT THE SAME TIME THEY ARE ALSO NOT PICTURES OF DAILY LIFE OR THE AVERAGE COMMONPLACE. THEY FALL INTO A GAP BETWEEN ANY PAIR OF KNOWN ALTERNATIVES. AND THEY EVADE ANY SPECIFIC CATEGORIZATION.
B. Groys in C. Haenlein, ed., RICHARD PRINCE: PHOTOGRAPHS 1977-1993, HANNOVER, 1994, p. 17

Perhaps the success and appeal of these photographs lies is the way that they reside on multiple levels, sparking questions of proprietorship the relationships between producer/consumer appropriation among others. But one must not overlook the powerful cinematic qualities that they possess. Playing the role of director, Prince creates visual worlds that play out like epic films that time and time again keep their audience, on the edge of their seats.