Ruscha Print Sets Record

Ed Ruscha seems to be having a great year. London’s Hayward Gallery feted him in a massive retrospective, the philanthropic group Americans for the Arts awarded him its Artistic Excellence Award, and now bidders have set a new record price for his prints at auction.

Buyers competed vigorously on Tuesday at Bonhams and Butterfields, pushing the price of the artist’s Standard Station (E.5) (1966) well above its $30-40,000 estimate to an astounding $170,000. It is the highest price ever recorded for one of the artist’s prints on the auction block. The previous highpoint for a Ruscha print was set in 2007, when an edition of his Hollywood print went for $133,000.

Perhaps most remarkable about the price is the fact that the work — which depicts a red gasoline station (one of Ruscha’s most iconic images) against a gradient background of orange and gray — is numbered 33 of a fairly sizable edition of 50. After the triumphant evening last night, it will be interesting to see if collectors decide to cash in other Ruscha prints or hold them even more tightly.

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