America Her Best Product
1974
31 3/8 x 23 1/2 in. (79.7 x 59.7 cm)
Edward Ruscha
United States
Object Type:
Print
Medium and Support:
Color lithograph
Credit Line:
Gift of Lorillard, New York
Accession Number:
1975.120.11
Location: Not currently on view
Printer:
Cirrus Editions Ltd., Los Angeles: printed by James Allen
Publisher:
Lorillard, New York
Portfolio:
Kent Bicentennial Portfolio: "Spirit of Independence"
In the Edward Ruscha catalog raisonne, the following comment appears: "Lorillard, a division of Loews Theatres, Inc., commissioned twelve artists to create prints for a portfolio commemorating the United States' bicentennial. According to the catalogue published to accompany the portfolio, each artist was free to choose his or her subject, with the stipulation that the work answer the question, "What does independence mean to me?" In the response he wrote to accompany his contribution, Ruscha observed, "Somewhere there should be a stamp or impression (I get the impression) that America has made herself. And isn't she her best product?" Other artists represented in the portfolio are Will Barnet, Colleen Browning, Audrey Flack, Red Grooms, Joseph Hirsch, Robert Indiana, Alex Katz, Jacob Lawrence, Marisol (Escobar), larry Rivers, and Fritz Scholder." (Their work is included in the permanent collection of the Memorial Art Gallery.)
[Gallery label text]