47

Richard Prince

(b. 1949)

Property Owner.

Monoprint with color aquatint, chromogenic prints, and notepaper with typed and handwritten text collage bonded to cream wove paper, 1976.
Signed, dated and numbered 1/5 in pencil, lower right. Printed by the artist. Published by Ellen Sragow, Ltd./ Prints on Prince St., New York.
Sheet: 20 3/4 x 33 1/2 in. (53 x 85 cm.), full margins.

  • Provenance:
    Ellen Sragow Gallery, Ltd., New York.
    Private collection, New York.
  • Exhibited:
    "Fugitive Artist: The Early Work of Richard Prince, 1974 - 1977," Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, January 28 - June 24, 2007.
    "Richard Prince, Early Works: A Private Collection," Ellen Sragow Gallery, Ltd., New York, December - January, 2008.
  • Literature:
    B. Genocchio, "Roots of an Artist, Traced Through His Appropriations," The New York Times, February 4, 2007.
  • Notes:
    Richard Prince's early works are rooted in his practice of appropriation and often include photographs accompanied by text. Prince began to create collages with photographs and text after arriving in New York in late 1973. By the late-1970s he incorporated found images from books and magazines into his collages, which anticipate his later use of Pop images. 

    Several early narrative collages exhibited in "Fugitive Artist: The Early Work of Richard Prince, 1974-1977' at the Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, were experimental and humble, several containing the phrase "Like most everybody else" and incorporating correction fluid. Collages from 1976 are notable for their simplicity and more often use typed text, like in Property Owner.

    Property Owner recounts the story of how Prince was given a free parking space as a reward for stopping a burglary at Air France Securities across the street from his Renwick Street studio. In the photographs, Prince proudly, and humorously, touts his newly awarded "property"; its boundaries clearly marked in the snow. 

    Ellen Sragow began to exhibit works by Richard Prince in the late 1970s, including three of his solo shows. The first of which, "Workout," March 12 - 19, 1976, included Prince's performance piece, Match in which the artist engaged player Richard "Boo" Marcom in a ping pong game. "Workout" was followed by the exhibitions "In Complete Control," September 25 - October 23, 1976, and "The Author," November 19 - December 17, 1977.
  • Condition:
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November 13, 2025 12:00 PM EST
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