“By 1967 the Vietnam War was escalating out of control.”
—James Rosenquist On the heels of radical social changes taking place in America in the late 1960s, See-Saw, Class Systems exemplifies Rosenquist’s progressive activist activities during the period. While many of Rosenquist’s 1960s compositions reference the Vietnam War more broadly, See-Saw, Class Systems refers to a specific incident related to the war, one which occurred on American soil: the 1968 police riots in Chicago at the Democratic National Convention, where police exerted unprecedented levels of violence upon counterculture and anti-war demonstrators, including the artist Claes Oldenburg, who got caught in the shuffle. When Oldenburg subsequently cancelled his Chicago show with Richard Feigen Gallery, the gentle show about pleasure he concluded was “obscene in the present context,”ⁱ Feigen decided to instead host a protest show against Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley, who was largely seen as responsible for the police actions at the Convention.

The image of See-Saw, Class Systems was used as the exhibition poster for the show, prominently depicting the scowling face of Mayor Daley. Rearrangements of the words “upper,” “middle,” and “lower” printed at either side of the portrait echo the “new class struggle” evoked in Feigen’s manifesto-slash-proposal for the exhibition: “the week of Aug. 25 exposed the new class struggle. It is no longer the poor class against the rich or Democrat against Republican. It is the educated against the uneducated, the courageous against the terrified, young against old, thinking against nonthinking.”ⁱⁱ The show provided an outlet for politically minded artists like Rosenquist to both engage in art activism and negotiate the role of art and artists in relation to social crisis.

In 1967, a year before Rosenquist would create See-Saw, Class Systems, the artist painted a large-scale political picture and mounted it to a flatbed truck for a New York anti-war protest parade–the painting was eventually destroyed by people throwing tomatoes and rotten vegetables.ⁱⁱⁱ The Richard J. Daley show and its rhetoric surrounding artist commentary on social crisis thus contained a personal connection for Rosenquist, whose own artwork had been defaced due to its political commentary.

ⁱ Letter from Oldenburg to Richard Feigen dated September 5, 1968, cited in Patricia Kelly, “Art and Politics, Chicago-Style: 1968,” in Louise Lincoln, 1968: Art and Politics in Chicago, 2008, p. 15.

ⁱⁱ Reprinted in D. J. R. Bruckner, “The Art World Answers Chicago’s Mayor Daley,” Los Angeles Times, October 20, 1968, cited ibid, p. 15.

ⁱⁱⁱ Jan van der Marck, “Reminiscing on the Gulf of Mexico: A Conversation with James Rosenquist,” American Art vol. 20, no. 3., 2006, pp. 87-88.
- Literature
  Constance Glenn 22

209

James Rosenquist

See-Saw, Class Systems (G. 22)

1968
Lithograph in colors, on Arches paper, the full sheet.
S. 24 x 34 1/4 in. (61 x 87 cm)
Signed, titled, dated and numbered 55/100 in pencil (there was also an unrecorded number of artist's proofs), published by Richard Feigen Graphics, New York (with their blindstamp), framed.

Full Cataloguing

Estimate
$500 - 700

Sold for $2,794

Contact Specialist

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212-940-1220

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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Works from the James Rosenquist Estate

New York Auction 15 February 2024

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Literature

209

James Rosenquist

See-Saw, Class Systems (G. 22)

Works from the James Rosenquist Estate

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