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“The essence is to take very disparate imagery and put it together and the result becomes an idea, not so much a picture. It’s like listening to the radio and getting your own idea from all these images that are often antidotes—acid—to each other. They make sparks or they don’t.”
—James RosenquistThe images making up Dog Descending a Staircase reflect a scene of displaced domesticity; the doll symbolizes a wife, the dog becomes the husband, and the tin mill image is his job. By imbuing the scene of self-described “bleak” images with a Pop-like sensibility, Rosenquist creates a commentary on everyday objects and subjects, instilling them with new meanings. The resulting composition disrupts the reading of the lithograph and distorts the viewer’s understanding of the narrative, instilling suspense: one waits for the dog to move, the doll to blink, the spool to wind.i
Marcel Duchamp, Nude Descending a Staircase (No. 2), 1912. Image: Philadelphia Museum of Art / Artwork: © 2024 Association Marcel Duchamp / ADAGP, Paris / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York Dog Descending a Staircase’s title is inspired by Marcel Duchamp’s Cubist masterpiece Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2 (1912), and much like Duchamp’s painting, Rosenquist’s lithograph relies on the left to right orientation of the work to inform the composition. The two titans of 20th century art did cross paths, and upon meeting Duchamp, Rosenquist recalls giving him a sunflower fly swatter, remembering “he was very normal for a being a genius. He was friendly.”ii In Dog Descending a Staircase, Duchamp’s nude becomes Rosenquist’s titular dog, but in Rosenquist’s rendition, the movements of the dog are rendered flat and frozen in time, the print’s fragmented imagery reminiscent of that of the Surrealists. Although Rosenquist’s preference for odd couplings associated him with the movement, he did not consider himself a Surrealist. Where Surrealism was a philosophy of thought based on automatic impulses, random associations, and literary or Freudian references, Rosenquist’s images do grow out of associations, but not random ones: “you have to let ideas cook and simmer,” he explained.iii Instead of evoking higher states of being and feeling, like the Surrealists, Rosenquist’s strange pairings create a dense, silent, often impenetrable poetry; by linking the spool, to the dog, to the doll, Rosenquist evokes the aesthetic of Surrealism while maintaining his artistic independence and personal poetics.
Phillips recently sold the 1979 painting upon which this 1980-1982 print is based, on November 15, 2023, in the 20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale.
i Elizabeth Frank, “James Rosenquist at Castelli-Feigen-Corcoran,” Art in America, November 1980.
ii James Rosenquist, Painting Below Zero, 2009, p. 99.
iii James Rosenquist quoted in G.R. Swenson, “The F-111,” Partisan Review, Fall 1965, p. 285
Literature
Esther Sparks 20
Constance Glenn 174
233
Dog Descending a Staircase (S. 20, G. 174)
1980-82
Monumental lithograph and intaglio in colors, on Arches paper, with full margins.
I. 40 x 63 1/4 in. (101.6 x 160.7 cm)
S. 42 x 70 in. (106.7 x 177.8 cm)
Signed, titled, dated and numbered 'A.P. II 1/8' in pencil (an artist's proof, the edition was 33), published by Universal Limited Art Editions, West Islip, New York (with their blindstamp), framed.
Estimate
$6,000 - 9,000
Sold for $16,510
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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