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“You weren’t allowed to walk around by yourself. ‘Nyet’ to walking around. No cameras. No pictures of anything. The KGB followed you everywhere.”
—James RosenquistIn 1965, James Rosenquist arrived in Leningrad wearing his cowboy hat, cowboy boots, and rain slicker. He had embarked on an adventurous detour from Sweden, following the exhibition of F-111 at Stockholm’s Moderna Museet, to find someone he knew well, but had never met: the Russian Non-Conformist painter Evgeny Rukhin. Rukhin and Rosenquist had been pen pals, Rukhin, having first seen Rosenquist’s work in a Museum of Modern Art exhibition catalogue. Over the years, they exchanged art supplies, books, and records through the mail, finally meeting in Rukhin’s native Russia.Rukhin gave Rosenquist a tour of his Soviet life: his small studio with a trap door stashed with Cuban cigars and alcohol, sparsely stocked department stores, and his magnificent found object paintings, which teemed with paint drips, layered surfaces, and stenciled text.i A trained geologist, Rukhin revealed to Rosenquist that he started painting in 1963 and decided to dedicate himself to being an artist later that same year, after seeing a rare Soviet exhibition of American graphics that presented the works of Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Jim Dine, Robert Indiana, and of course, James Rosenquist. With the support of other dissident artists, Rukhin became a key figure in a movement of radical artists, a legendary character in Soviet art circles.
“He had moxie; he was on the verge of doing something really great and becoming known internationally. In 1976 he was killed.”
—James Rosenquist, on Evgeny RukhinWhen Rosenquist returned to the United States, he maintained their transcontinental correspondence and dedicated the screenprint Whipped Butter for Eugen Ruchin to the Russian artist, the flat planes of red, yellow, and blue reminiscent of 1930s Soviet propaganda posters.ii In May 1976, Rosenquist was considering sending Rukhin some American blue jeans when he received word that Rukhin had been killed – the information came to him on a piece of paper tucked away in a magazine Rukhin’s widow Galina had sent, telling Rosenquist of the death and asking if he would store the late artist’s paintings in New York.iii At the age of thirty-two, Rukhin had died in his studio in a mysterious fire that was suspected to be the work of the KGB: he had been seen as a threat for his staunch opposition to Soviet artistic values and had long been surveilled, Rosenquist believed.
Rosenquist stored Rukhin’s paintings in his New York studio for nearly a decade while Galina left Russia and settled in the United States, a testament to Rosenquist’s belief in Rukhin’s artistic prowess and potential influence as a dissident painter, his monochromatic fields, richly textured assemblages, and stenciled phrases able to hold their own against those of the American artists who first inspired him. Whipped Butter for Eugene Ruchin memorializes Rukhin’s own artistic spirit, which even in 1964, persisted against the strict status quo, and Rosenquist’s enduring friendship with this Russian champion of self-expression.
Evgeny Rukhin getting out of a taxi, Leningrad, 1972. Courtesy of the Estate of James Rosenquist i James Rosenquist, Painting Below Zero: Notes on a Life in Art, 2009, pp. 170-171.
ii Stephan Diederich and Yilmaz Dziewior, James Rosenquist: Painting As Immersion, 2017, p. 278.
iii Rosenquist, p. 240.
Literature
Constance Glenn 11
201
Whipped Butter for Eugene Ruchin, from 11 Pop Artists, Volume II (G. 11)
1965
Screenprint in colors, on Italia handmade Beckett paper, the full sheet.
S. 24 x 29 7/8 in. (61 x 75.9 cm)
Signed and dated in pencil (presumably a proof, aside from the edition of 200 and 50 artist's proofs in Roman numerals), published by Original Editions, New York, unframed.
Estimate
$400 - 600
Sold for $3,556
Works from the James Rosenquist Estate
New York Auction 15 February 2024
200
James Rosenquist
Circles of Confusion, from 11 Pop Artists, Volume I (G. 10)
Estimate $800 - 1,200
Sold for $2,794
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201
James Rosenquist
Whipped Butter for Eugene Ruchin, from 11 Pop Artists, Volume II (G. 11)
Estimate $400 - 600
Sold for $3,556
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202
James Rosenquist
For Love, from 11 Pop Artists, Volume III (G. 13)
Estimate $1,000 - 2,000
Sold for $2,540
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203
James Rosenquist
F-111 (Leo Castelli Gallery)
Estimate $800 - 1,200
Sold for $6,350
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204
James Rosenquist
A Drawing While Waiting for an Idea (S. 6, G. 14)
Estimate $800 - 1,200
Sold for $2,794
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205
James Rosenquist
Morning Mirror (G. 15)
Estimate $600 - 900
Sold for $2,286
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206
James Rosenquist
Circles of Confusion & Lite Bulb
Estimate $600 - 900
Sold for $3,556
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207
James Rosenquist
Small Doorstop
Estimate $80,000 - 120,000
Sold for $95,250
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208
James Rosenquist
Forehead I; and Forehead II (G. 20 & 21)
Estimate $2,000 - 3,000
Sold for $3,048
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209
James Rosenquist
See-Saw, Class Systems (G. 22)
Estimate $500 - 700
Sold for $2,794
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210
James Rosenquist
Night Smoke II (S. 15, G. 26)
Estimate $1,500 - 2,500
Sold for $3,302
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211
James Rosenquist
Spaghetti (G. 31)
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
Sold for $10,795
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212
James Rosenquist
Tumbleweed (G. 32)
Estimate $600 - 900
Sold for $889
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213
James Rosenquist
Delivery Hat, from Cold Light Suite (G. 35)
Estimate $400 - 600
Sold for $1,651
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214
James Rosenquist
Mirrored Flag; Moon Beam Mistaken for the News; and Cold Light, from Cold Light Suite (G. 37-38 & 40)
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
Sold for $7,620
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215
James Rosenquist
Earth and Moon, from Cold Light Suite (G. 43)
Estimate $800 - 1,200
Sold for $5,715
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216
James Rosenquist
Pulling Out (G. 47)
Estimate $600 - 900
Sold for $3,048
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217
James Rosenquist
Hey! Let's Go for a Ride (G. 55)
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
Sold for $9,525
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218
James Rosenquist
Brighter than the Sun (G. 57)
Estimate $600 - 900
Sold for $3,048
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219
James Rosenquist
Short Schedule (S. 1972.05, G. 61)
Estimate $500 - 700
Sold for $2,540
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220
James Rosenquist
Banner #1
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
Sold for $3,302
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221
James Rosenquist
Banner #2
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
Sold for $9,525
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222
James Rosenquist
First [When was the first time you had your eyes examined?] (G. 64)
Estimate $800 - 1,200
Sold for $2,286
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223
James Rosenquist
Off the Continental Divide (S. 17, G. 69)
Estimate $7,000 - 10,000
Sold for $6,985
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224
James Rosenquist
F-111 (south) (west) (north) (east) (G. 73)
Estimate $30,000 - 50,000
Sold for $228,600
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225
James Rosenquist
Tampa—New York 1188 (G. 81)
Estimate $2,000 - 3,000
Sold for $9,525
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226
James Rosenquist
Head Stand (G. 777, G. 104)
Estimate $800 - 1,200
Sold for $2,286
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227
James Rosenquist
Terrarium (G. 154)
Estimate $1,000 - 1,500
Sold for $2,286
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228
James Rosenquist
Industrial Cottage (G. 159)
Estimate $1,000 - 1,500
Sold for $2,286
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229
James Rosenquist
Sheer Line (S. 1979.41, G. 163)
Estimate $800 - 1,200
Sold for $4,826
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230
James Rosenquist
Idea I; and Idea II (G. 165 & 166)
Estimate $600 - 900
Sold for $1,397
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231
James Rosenquist
Doorskin (G. 168)
Estimate $1,000 - 2,000
Sold for $1,651
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232
James Rosenquist
Chambers (S. 19, G. 173)
Estimate $800 - 1,200
Sold for $1,270
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233
James Rosenquist
Dog Descending a Staircase (S. 20, G. 174)
Estimate $6,000 - 9,000
Sold for $16,510
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234
James Rosenquist
High Technology and Mysticism: A Meeting Point (G. 180-186)
Estimate $4,000 - 6,000
Sold for $4,826
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235
James Rosenquist
The Glass Wishes: eight plates (G. 1014-1016, 1018-1019, 1021, 1023 & 1024, G. 187-189, 191-192, 194, 196 & 197)
Estimate $4,000 - 6,000
Sold for $3,810
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236
James Rosenquist
The Kabuki Blushes, from Secrets in Carnations (G. 206)
Estimate $2,000 - 3,000
Sold for $7,620
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237
James Rosenquist
Welcome to the Water Planet (G. 211)
Estimate $4,000 - 6,000
Sold for $10,160
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238
James Rosenquist
The Prickly Dark (G. 212)
Estimate $3,000 - 5,000
Sold for $6,096
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239
James Rosenquist
The Bird of Paradise Approaches the Hot Water Planet, from Welcome to the Water Planet (G. 214)
Estimate $8,000 - 12,000
Sold for $44,450
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240
James Rosenquist
Time Door Time D'Or, from Welcome to the Water Planet (G. 218)
Estimate $10,000 - 15,000
Sold for $30,480
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241
James Rosenquist
Space Dust, from Welcome to the Water Planet (G. 219)
Estimate $10,000 - 15,000
Sold for $21,590
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242
James Rosenquist
Caught One Lost One for the Fast Student or Star Catcher, from Welcome to the Water Planet (G. 222)
Estimate $2,000 - 3,000
Sold for $7,620
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243
James Rosenquist
House of Fire (G. 223)
Estimate $15,000 - 25,000
Sold for $25,400
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244
James Rosenquist
The Light Bulb Shining (G. 228)
Estimate $2,500 - 3,500
Sold for $7,620
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245
James Rosenquist
Speed of Light
Estimate $15,000 - 25,000
Sold for $39,370
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246
James Rosenquist
The Stowaway Peers Out at the Speed of Light
Estimate $15,000 - 25,000
Sold for $27,940
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247
James Rosenquist
The Xenophobic Movie Director or Our Foreign Policy
Estimate $7,000 - 9,000
Sold for $6,985
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248
James Rosenquist
The Memory Continues but the Clock Disappears
Estimate $2,000 - 3,000
Sold for $10,160
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249
James Rosenquist
Time Lines
Estimate $2,000 - 3,000
Sold for $7,938
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