Hand Showing Book Cover

Photography and Media

1963

Ed Ruscha
American, born 1937

Groundbreaking conceptual artist Ed Ruscha became known for photobooks depicting mundane American subjects in series: palm trees, swimming pools, parking lots. Here a hand, belonging to fellow artist Joe Goode, holds the first of these books, Twentysix Gasoline Stations (1963), whose title mimics Ruscha’s deadpan “what you see is what you get” approach to image making. Even though the volume is slim and filled with two-dimensional images, this photograph brings out its sculptural quality.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Photography and Media

Artist: Ed Ruscha
Title: Hand Showing Book Cover
Place: United States (Artist's nationality:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: Made 1963
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Dimensions: Image: 24.1 × 19.5 cm (9 1/2 × 7 11/16 in.); Paper: 25.3 × 20.3 cm (10 × 8 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of the artist
Reference Number: 2011.60

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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