James Rosenquist, Playmate, 1966.
Playmate. 1966.
Oil on canvas in four parts, wood, metal wire.
244 x 535 cm (96 x 210.6 in).
• Masterpiece from the heyday of American Pop Art.
• Part of the legendary 1967 “Playboy” project “Playmate as Fine Art”, to which Andy Warhol, Tom Wesselmann, George Segal, and others also made contributions.
• Strawberries and pickles: sensual desire and sweet cravings.
• In 1966, the year it was created, the art critic Lucy Lippard ranked him among the “New York Five”, the key figures of American Pop Art (Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Tom Wesselmann, James Rosenquist, and Claes Oldenburg).
• Second largest work ever offered on the international auction market (source: artprice.com), the largest is at the Museum of Modern Art, New York).
Accompanied by a photo certificate from 1966, signed by the artist.
The work is registered in the archive of the Estate of James Rosenquist, New York, under the number "66.10".
PROVENANCE: Playboy Enterprises, Inc., Chicago.
Peter Raczeck Fine Art, New York.
Private collection Southern Germany.
EXHIBITION: Beyond Illustration: The Art of Playboy, travelling exhibition, Central Museum of Art, Tokyo, February 13 - March 11, 1973, Umeda Kindai Museum, Osaka, March 15 - April 8, 1973, Bunda Kaikan, Fukuoka, May 15 - 26, 1973, Lowe Museum of Art, University of Miami, Coral Gables, July 25 - September 9, 1973, Florida State University, Tallahassee, October 8 - November 11, 1973, Morgan State College, Murphy Fine Arts Center, Baltimore, December 2 - 22, 1973, Philadelphia Art Alliance, Philadelphia, February 8 - March 3, 1974, Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, March 26 - April 28, 1974, Syntex Art Gallery, Palo Alto, May 19 - July 15, 1974, New York Cultural Center, New York, August 10 - September 20, 1974.
The Art of Playboy: From the First 25 Years, travelling exhibition, Alberta College of Art Gallery, Calgary, November 12 - 28, 1976, Saskatoon Gallery and Conservatory Corporation, Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, February 9 - March 6, 1977, Priebe Gallery, University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, March 2 - 28, 1978, Art Institute of Atlanta, Atlanta, Aug. 1978, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, December 19, 1978 - January 20, 1979, Auburn University, Auburn, February 12 - March 12, 1979, Colorado Institute of Art, Denver, June 1979, Art Institute of Ft. Lauderdale, Ft. Lauderdale, Nov. 1979, University of Michigan-Flint, Flint, Jan. 1980, Mulvane Art Center, Washburn University, Topeka, Jan. 1980, Daytona Beach Community College, Daytona Beach, Sept. 1980, Oklahoma Arts Center, Oklahoma City, October 24 - November 28, 1980, University of Wisconsin, Plattsville, February 16 - March 14, 1981, Museum at Sao Paolo, Sao Paolo, March 22 - May 13, 1981, Rio Palace Hotel Gallery, Rio de Janeiro, May 20 - June 3, 1981.
Image World: Art and Media Culture, Whitney Museum of American Art, November 8, 1989 - February 18, 1990, New York, p. 211 (titled "Playmate", with the exhibition label on the reverse).
The Figure and Dr. Freud, Haunch of Venison, New York, July 8 - August 22, 2009.
LITERATURE: The Playmate as Fine Art, Playboy Magazine, vol. 14, no. 1, Jan. 1967, pp. 141-149 (color illu. on pp. 146f.).
Gene Swenson, The Figure a Man Makes (Part I), Art and Artists 3, no. 1, April 1968, pp. 26-29, here p. 29.
Michael Compton, Pop Art. Movements of Modern Art, London, New York, Sydney, Toronto, 1970, p. 110 (illu.).
Beyond Illustration: The Art of Playboy, with an introduction by Arthur Paul, Chicago 1971 (illu.).
Evelyn Weiss, James Rosenquist: Gemälde-Räume-Graphik, Cologne 1972, p. 128.
The Art of Playboy: From the First 25 Years, with an introduction by Ted Hearne, Chicago 1978 (illu.).
Ray Bradbury, The Art of Playboy, Alfred van der Marck Editions, New York 1985 (illu. pp. 76f.).
Walter Hopps, Sarah Bancroft, James Rosenquist: A Retrospective, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York 2003, p. 375.
Ingrid Sischy, Rosenquist's Big Picture, Vanity Fair, no. 513, May 2003, here p. 229.
Karen Rosenberg, Art in Review: The Figure and Dr. Freud, The New York Times, August 14, 2009.
James Rosenquist, David Dalton, Painting Below Zero: Notes on a Life in Art, New York 2009, p. 174.
Dave Hickey, The Playmate as Pop Art, Playboy Magazine, vol. 59, no. 5. June 2012, pp. 76-79 (illu. on p. 79).
"I painted Playmate, a pregnant girl suffering from food cravings."
James Rosenquist, Painting Below Zero, New York 2009, p. 174.
"I consider myself an American artist: I grew up in America, I was concerned about America. I wouldn't be who I am, wouldn't do what I do, if I had lived in France or Italy."
James Rosenquist, quoted from: Kritisches Lexikon der Gegenwartskunst, vol. 48, issue 32, 1999.
Called up: June 7, 2024 - ca. 18.38 h +/- 20 min.
Bid on this lot
Playmate. 1966.
Oil on canvas in four parts, wood, metal wire.
244 x 535 cm (96 x 210.6 in).
• Masterpiece from the heyday of American Pop Art.
• Part of the legendary 1967 “Playboy” project “Playmate as Fine Art”, to which Andy Warhol, Tom Wesselmann, George Segal, and others also made contributions.
• Strawberries and pickles: sensual desire and sweet cravings.
• In 1966, the year it was created, the art critic Lucy Lippard ranked him among the “New York Five”, the key figures of American Pop Art (Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Tom Wesselmann, James Rosenquist, and Claes Oldenburg).
• Second largest work ever offered on the international auction market (source: artprice.com), the largest is at the Museum of Modern Art, New York).
Accompanied by a photo certificate from 1966, signed by the artist.
The work is registered in the archive of the Estate of James Rosenquist, New York, under the number "66.10".
PROVENANCE: Playboy Enterprises, Inc., Chicago.
Peter Raczeck Fine Art, New York.
Private collection Southern Germany.
EXHIBITION: Beyond Illustration: The Art of Playboy, travelling exhibition, Central Museum of Art, Tokyo, February 13 - March 11, 1973, Umeda Kindai Museum, Osaka, March 15 - April 8, 1973, Bunda Kaikan, Fukuoka, May 15 - 26, 1973, Lowe Museum of Art, University of Miami, Coral Gables, July 25 - September 9, 1973, Florida State University, Tallahassee, October 8 - November 11, 1973, Morgan State College, Murphy Fine Arts Center, Baltimore, December 2 - 22, 1973, Philadelphia Art Alliance, Philadelphia, February 8 - March 3, 1974, Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, March 26 - April 28, 1974, Syntex Art Gallery, Palo Alto, May 19 - July 15, 1974, New York Cultural Center, New York, August 10 - September 20, 1974.
The Art of Playboy: From the First 25 Years, travelling exhibition, Alberta College of Art Gallery, Calgary, November 12 - 28, 1976, Saskatoon Gallery and Conservatory Corporation, Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, February 9 - March 6, 1977, Priebe Gallery, University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, March 2 - 28, 1978, Art Institute of Atlanta, Atlanta, Aug. 1978, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, December 19, 1978 - January 20, 1979, Auburn University, Auburn, February 12 - March 12, 1979, Colorado Institute of Art, Denver, June 1979, Art Institute of Ft. Lauderdale, Ft. Lauderdale, Nov. 1979, University of Michigan-Flint, Flint, Jan. 1980, Mulvane Art Center, Washburn University, Topeka, Jan. 1980, Daytona Beach Community College, Daytona Beach, Sept. 1980, Oklahoma Arts Center, Oklahoma City, October 24 - November 28, 1980, University of Wisconsin, Plattsville, February 16 - March 14, 1981, Museum at Sao Paolo, Sao Paolo, March 22 - May 13, 1981, Rio Palace Hotel Gallery, Rio de Janeiro, May 20 - June 3, 1981.
Image World: Art and Media Culture, Whitney Museum of American Art, November 8, 1989 - February 18, 1990, New York, p. 211 (titled "Playmate", with the exhibition label on the reverse).
The Figure and Dr. Freud, Haunch of Venison, New York, July 8 - August 22, 2009.
LITERATURE: The Playmate as Fine Art, Playboy Magazine, vol. 14, no. 1, Jan. 1967, pp. 141-149 (color illu. on pp. 146f.).
Gene Swenson, The Figure a Man Makes (Part I), Art and Artists 3, no. 1, April 1968, pp. 26-29, here p. 29.
Michael Compton, Pop Art. Movements of Modern Art, London, New York, Sydney, Toronto, 1970, p. 110 (illu.).
Beyond Illustration: The Art of Playboy, with an introduction by Arthur Paul, Chicago 1971 (illu.).
Evelyn Weiss, James Rosenquist: Gemälde-Räume-Graphik, Cologne 1972, p. 128.
The Art of Playboy: From the First 25 Years, with an introduction by Ted Hearne, Chicago 1978 (illu.).
Ray Bradbury, The Art of Playboy, Alfred van der Marck Editions, New York 1985 (illu. pp. 76f.).
Walter Hopps, Sarah Bancroft, James Rosenquist: A Retrospective, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York 2003, p. 375.
Ingrid Sischy, Rosenquist's Big Picture, Vanity Fair, no. 513, May 2003, here p. 229.
Karen Rosenberg, Art in Review: The Figure and Dr. Freud, The New York Times, August 14, 2009.
James Rosenquist, David Dalton, Painting Below Zero: Notes on a Life in Art, New York 2009, p. 174.
Dave Hickey, The Playmate as Pop Art, Playboy Magazine, vol. 59, no. 5. June 2012, pp. 76-79 (illu. on p. 79).
"I painted Playmate, a pregnant girl suffering from food cravings."
James Rosenquist, Painting Below Zero, New York 2009, p. 174.
"I consider myself an American artist: I grew up in America, I was concerned about America. I wouldn't be who I am, wouldn't do what I do, if I had lived in France or Italy."
James Rosenquist, quoted from: Kritisches Lexikon der Gegenwartskunst, vol. 48, issue 32, 1999.
Called up: June 7, 2024 - ca. 18.38 h +/- 20 min.
