Provenance
Barbara Gladstone Gallery, New York
Catalogue Essay
“I was in the tear-sheets department. At the end of the day, all I was left with was the advertising images, and it became my subject. Pens, watches, models—it wasn’t your typical subject matter for art.”
RICHARD PRINCE

Richard Prince is both a hero and antihero of the photographic image. In 1980 Prince was working in the tear-sheet department of Time/Life and began to formulate a theses and a technique that would eventually make him one of the most recognizable artists of the late twentieth century. Untitled (Massage), 1980 features three separate scenes, each of a woman on the receiving end ofa massage, indicated by a truncated set of hands placed firmly on each woman’s body. The woman in each scene is depicted in a submissive state of pleasure, evidenced by their lack of eye contact with the camera and in their acquiescent posture.

Whether these states of pleasure are contrived or authentic no one can know for certain, however, there remains something vaguely unsettling about the anonymity of the
masseuse in the scenes. Untitled (Massage) is also an early example of Prince’s, later famous, highly cinematic style. This work from Prince’s early period contains many of the hallmarks and leitmotifs of his mature style, which, were beginning to take form. The work says as much about the artist’s own fluid and ever-changing relationship with his subject as it does about the formation of his hallowed style.
Artist Biography
Richard Prince
American • 1947
For more than three decades, Prince's universally celebrated practice has pursued the subversive strategy of appropriating commonplace imagery and themes – such as photographs of quintessential Western cowboys and "biker chicks," the front covers of nurse romance novellas, and jokes and cartoons – to deconstruct singular notions of authorship, authenticity and identity.
Starting his career as a member of the Pictures Generation in the 1970s alongside such contemporaries as Cindy Sherman, Robert Longo and Sherrie Levine, Prince is widely acknowledged as having expanded the accepted parameters of art-making with his so-called "re-photography" technique – a revolutionary appropriation strategy of photographing pre-existing images from magazine ads and presenting them as his own. Prince's practice of appropriating familiar subject matter exposes the inner mechanics of desire and power pervading the media and our cultural consciousness at large, particularly as they relate to identity and gender constructs.
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PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT EUROPEAN COLLECTION

21

Richard Prince

Untitled (Massage)

1980-1981
Ektacolor photograph, triptych
each: 20 X 24 in. (51 x 61 cm)
Signed, dated,and numbered “R. Prince 1980-81 2/10” on the reverse.
This work is numbered two from an edition of ten plus two artist proofs.

Estimate
$100,000 - 150,000

Sold for $146,500

Contemporary Art & Design Evening Sale

7 March 2013
New York

1
Ryan Sullivan
June 18, 2009 - January 20, 2010
Estimate $40,000 - 60,000
Sold for $60,000
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2
Dan Colen
Oy Vey 3
Estimate $100,000 - 150,000
Sold for $164,500
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3
Glenn Ligon
Silver Just Us #5
Estimate $200,000 - 300,000
Sold for $242,500
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4
Johnny Swing
“Half Dollar / Butterfly” chair
Estimate $40,000 - 60,000
Sold for $67,300
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5
Kelley Walker
Untitled
Estimate $50,000 - 70,000
Sold for $110,500
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6
This lot is no longer available.
7
Rob Pruitt
I Love Bamboo (I hate you)
Estimate $80,000 - 120,000
Sold for $98,500
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8
Wendell Castle
Black Edition “Big Table,” from the “Molar” series
Estimate $60,000 - 80,000
Sold for $74,500
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9
Mark Grotjahn
Butterfly (Black, Red, Orange)
Estimate $200,000 - 300,000
Sold for $254,500
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10
Ettore Sottsass, Jr.
“Menta” totem
Estimate $20,000 - 25,000
Sold for $25,000
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11
Damien Hirst
Levorphanol
Estimate $100,000 - 150,000
Sold for $218,500
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12
Cecily Brown
S.A.P.
Estimate $800,000 - 1,200,000
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13
Albert Oehlen
Traurigkeit
Estimate $300,000 - 500,000
Sold for $362,500
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14
Andy Warhol
Knives
Estimate $2,000,000 - 3,000,000
Sold for $2,008,900
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15
Ed Ruscha
Anchor Stuck in Sand
Estimate $600,000 - 800,000
Sold for $550,000
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16
Sigmar Polke
Untitled
Estimate $400,000 - 600,000
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17
Gerhard Richter
Fuji (839-12)
Estimate $200,000 - 300,000
Sold for $215,000
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18
Martin Kippenberger
Leiden Warum, Leiden Wozu (Suffer Why, Suffer What For)
Estimate $350,000 - 450,000
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19
Jacob Kassay
Untitled
Estimate $100,000 - 150,000
Sold for $188,500
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20
Ron Arad
“Oh-Void 2” chair
Estimate $120,000 - 180,000
Sold for $122,500
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21
Richard Prince
Untitled (Massage)
Estimate $100,000 - 150,000
Sold for $146,500
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22
George Condo
The Monk at the Brothel
Estimate $200,000 - 300,000
Sold for $266,500
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23
Maurizio Cattelan
A Perfect Day
Estimate $150,000 - 200,000
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24
Gilbert & George
Wheel
Estimate $70,000 - 90,000
Sold for $104,500
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25
Louise Lawler
Going
Estimate $50,000 - 70,000
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26
Jim Hodges
The Good News, Ta Nea, 3/20/2007 (Athens Greece) 3/20/2007
Estimate $30,000 - 40,000
Sold for $30,000
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27
Ken Price
Oh Gee
Estimate $150,000 - 200,000
Sold for $314,500
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28
Sylvie Fleury
Eternal Wow on Shelf (cyan/purple)
Estimate $80,000 - 120,000
Sold for $80,500
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29
This lot is no longer available.
30
Tom Friedman
Inside Out
Estimate $100,000 - 150,000
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31
Anselm Reyle
Untitled
Estimate $50,000 - 70,000
Sold for $98,500
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32
T.V. Santhosh
Enemies' Enemy II
Estimate $150,000 - 250,000
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33
Eric Fischl
The Cattle Auction (A Study)
Estimate $80,000 - 120,000
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34
Thomas Houseago
Untitled (Coin Mask I)
Estimate $40,000 - 60,000
Sold for $74,500
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35
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Untitled (3 Text Pieces)
Estimate $80,000 - 120,000
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36
Richard Prince
Eden Rock (oil rig and cowboy)
Estimate $100,000 - 150,000
Sold for $200,500
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37
Francesco Clemente
Zip
Estimate $80,000 - 120,000
Sold for $68,500
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38
Karel Appel
Personage
Estimate $100,000 - 150,000
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39
Ahmed Alsoudani
You No Longer Have Hands
Estimate $150,000 - 250,000
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40
Elliott Hundley
Garland
Estimate $40,000 - 60,000
Sold for $104,500
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41
Os Gêmeos
Landscape
Estimate $80,000 - 120,000
Sold for $134,500
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42
Studio Job
“Perished” table
Estimate $50,000 - 70,000
Sold for $68,500
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Contemporary Art & Design Evening Sale

7 March 2013 New York

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Provenance

Catalogue Essay

Artist Biography

Richard Prince

21

Richard Prince

Untitled (Massage)

Contemporary Art & Design Evening Sale

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7 March 2013
New York