"Industrial Cottage" Original Lithograph by James Rosenquist
Industrial Cottage color lithograph by James Rosenquist (American, 1933-1991). Signed in pencil and dated 1978-1980 l.r. Titled and numbered 92/100 l.l.
The print is floated on linen backing with stacked linen liners under acrylic glazing. Maple frame with white wash.
27" x 48" (sheet)
34" x 55" (frame)
Some light wear to frame. There is also a scratch on the acrylic running about 1 foot horizontally above signature. More noticeable under bright lighting and difficult to photograph. If you'd like we can replace the acrylic glazing for a fee factored into the sale price.
Industrial Cottage reflects the patchwork of neighborhoods and industrial parks along Florida's Gulf Coast where Rosenquist settled in 1976. The artist was working his way out of debt following a catastrophic car accident, and the title expresses his wry opinion of himself as a "cottage industry."
Rosenquist divided the canvas into three zones, populating each with large forms that reflected his years as a billboard painter. In each zone, cold-hued machinery contrasts with softer forms and warmer colors. Rosenquist called the paintings from these years his "self-portraits," and the discordant images suggest that the professional pressures of earning a living—of "bringing home the bacon"—intruded on the comforts of home and his new relationship with the artist Susan Hall.
(Exhibition Label, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2006)