Curator

  • Art Institute Chicago
  • Harvard art museum
  • My Exhibition
A work made of blue ballpoint pen and graphite on textured off-white wove paper placemat (discolored to light yellow), with off-set lithography in yellowish brown metal ink.

Schrafft's Hollywood Study

1967

Ed Ruscha American, born 1937

United States

As with many of Ruscha’s motifs, around 1967 he took artistic ownership of the Hollywood sign, using it in a wide variety of media and compositions. Here he has dashed off two studies of the iconic sign, presumably while drinking a cup of coffee at Schrafft’s Restaurant (stains from a cup are visible at center). As with many of his word images, his conception of the sign echoes that of his famous 1962 photograph of a Standard Oil station, seen in three-quarter view with one-point perspective diminishing to the left.

Blue ballpoint pen and graphite on textured off-white wove paper placemat (discolored to light yellow), with off-set lithography in yellowish brown metal ink

Prints and Drawings