1972
Although he insisted that he and his fellow Pop artists developed their art-making styles independently, American painter James Rosenquist belonged at the table with Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein.
Known for his distinctive use of visual montage, Rosenquist produced large, vibrantly colored tableaux marked by fragmentation and overlap. He often employed familiar motifs and objects drawn from popular contemporary culture — hot dogs, lipstick tubes, American flags — which he manipulated to form disorienting compositions whose constituent elements are nearly unrecognizable.
Born in North Dakota to Swedish parents, Rosenquist was encouraged to pursue painting by his mother, who was also an artist. He studied painting for two years at the University of Minnesota, but dropped out at the age of 21 to attend the Art Students League in New York on a scholarship. A job as a billboard painter in the late 1950s set him up to pursue his signature style, which borrowed its bold graphics and remixed kitschy aesthetic from the visual vocabulary of advertising. Works like Flamingo Capsule (1983) embody his trademark visual dissonance, drawing cigarette-ad motifs into conversation with stripes from the American flag and aluminum foil wrappers.
In addition to enormous paintings, Rosenquist created drawings, prints and collages. The 2011 lithograph The Memory Continues but the Clock Disappears is a montage of melting clocks and confetti, all submerged in a pool of water. While wryly hinting at the inevitability of decay and deterioration — suggesting that life is a ticking clock — the composition also alludes to Salvador Dalí's signature motif, the defining symbol of Surrealism. Such compositions demonstrate how Rosenquist masterfully combined seemingly incongruous elements into a harmonious and poetic whole.
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Sightseeing James Rosenquist text Pop Art with Roses silver and bright orange
By James Rosenquist
Located in New York, NY
Sightseeing is one of a group of ten prints which the artist made at Petersburg Press in 1972, each based on one of his paintings. Rosenquist’s Sightseeing 1962 oil painting on canva...
Lithograph, Screen
Tube James Rosenquist Black and white abstract Pop art chrome based on painting
By James Rosenquist
Located in New York, NY
Printed in the same scale as the original James Rosenquist painting, this black and white, abstract pop art composition features a car door collaged over a gleaming, metallic chrome circle. The shining metal and automobile imagery is characteristic of Rosenquist’s work. Bold, minimalist and monochrome, with a hint of yellow and cobalt blue, Tube's circular composition became a recurring motif for Rosenquist. Circles appear in the artist’s prints from the late 60s – he was interested in the “circles of confusion”, or the phenomenon of a camera lens being pointed directly at the sun. Lithograph based on Rosenquist’s 1963 painting...
Lithograph
Flower Garden (color trial proof) James Rosenquist Pop Art in black and white
By James Rosenquist
Located in New York, NY
Based on Rosenquist’s 1961 grisaille oil painting Flower Garden, this work arranges a still life using an advertisement for gloves with part of an athlete’s torso. A number 1 can be ...
Lithograph, Screen
Bunraku, James Rosenquist, abstract Japanese puppetry monochrome Pop Art
By James Rosenquist
Located in New York, NY
This abstract monochrome print portrays large, shiny dark purple bubbles that cascade over a scribbled, dense background. The sense of moveme...
Lithograph
Brighter than the Sun, James Rosenquist: colorful abstract pop art rainbow
By James Rosenquist
Located in New York, NY
This vibrant red, blue, orange and yellow lithograph is based on the 1961 Rosenquist oil painting Brighter than the Sun (private collection), with fragmented images from advertising,...
Lithograph
Brighter than the Sun, James Rosenquist: colorful abstract pop art rainbow
By James Rosenquist
Located in New York, NY
This vibrant red, blue, orange and yellow lithograph is based on the 1961 Rosenquist oil painting Brighter than the Sun (private collection), with fragmented images from advertising,...
Lithograph
Black Triangle (State I)
By James Rosenquist
Located in Greenwich, CT
Black Triangle (State I) is an aquatint etching with pochoir on paper, 22.75 x 39.75 inches, signed 'James Rosenquist' and dated 1978 lower right; numbered 33/78 and titled lower le...
Etching, Aquatint
"Black Triangle, " Black Pop Art Etching signed by James Rosenquist
By James Rosenquist
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Black Triangle" is an original black etching by Pop artist James Rosenquist. The artist signed the piece lower right, wrote the title and edition number (72/78) lower left, and "2nd State" lower center. This piece is part of Rosenquist's "Tripartite" series, where he divides the composition into three juxtaposed images. This piece features a rocking chair and rocking horse, an irregular circle with a flower within, and a folded American flag...
Etching
For Gene Swenson (State II)
By James Rosenquist
Located in Greenwich, CT
For Gene Swenon (State II) is an aquatint etching on paper, 22.75 x 39.75 inches, signed 'Rosenquist' and dated 1978 lower right; numbered 67/78 and titled lower left. From the edit...
Paper, Aquatint
Large American Pop Art Color Abstract Lithograph James Rosenquist Glass Wishes
By James Rosenquist
Located in Surfside, FL
James Rosenquist (1933-2017) THE GLASS WISHES (Glenn 161) Color lithograph, 1978-1986, on wove paper, hand signed, dated, titled, dedicated for Jack Martin from a partner in crime. 1...
Color, Lithograph
Gravity Feed, State II (Glenn 147-A), James Rosenquist
By James Rosenquist
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: James Rosenquist (1933-2017) Title: Gravity Feed, State II (Glenn 147-A) Year: 1978 Medium: Etching, aquatint, stencil on Pescia Italia paper Edition: 12/78 Size: 22.75 x 40 ...
Etching, Aquatint, Stencil
New York Says It All, Pop Art Screenprint by James Rosenquist
By James Rosenquist
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: James Rosenquist Title: New York Says It All Portfolio: New York, New York Year: 1983 Medium: Screenprint and Offset Lithograph, signed and numbered in pencil Edition: 250 P...
Screen
