“The literal image of the lines marking off the days came from when I was put in jail after protesting against the Vietnam War in Washington... the nails are asking a question: Are you marking off days, or are you going to use the nails to build something. Sometimes it’s hard to tell whether you’re wasting time or using it well.”
—James Rosenquist
Though Rosenquist tended to shy away from overtly discussing politics, there is no doubt that the artist harbored an antiwar spirit in the 1960s and 70s. In 1972, Rosenquist joined an antiwar demonstration in Washington, D.C. and protested along with the likes of actor Jon Voight, psychiatrist and author Robert J. Lifton, famed pediatrician Dr. Benjamin Spock, and the speechwriter for Republican Senator Barry Goldwater. Many, including Rosenquist, were arrested and put in jail; among his group of jailbirds for his one night behind bars was the artist Robert Morris, who Rosenquist spied through a hole in the wall. While brief, Rosenquist’s stay in jail inspired a motif that would continue to reappear in his prints and paintings: nails formed like tally marks, ticking off time. As Rosenquist noted, this tradition of marking the days with tallies holds dual function: “there’s the point of identity, but then it’s an ugly time reminder,”i evoking an awareness of how we spend – or waste – our days. This nail motif makes notable reappearances in the 1972-74 lithographs Off the Continental Divide (lot 223) and Pulling Out (lot 216) along with the 1992 print The Light Bulb Shining (lot 244), continuing Rosenquist’s reuse of symbols throughout his career.