Art © Estate of James Rosenquist/Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY
Interpretation
The title Coin Noir, French for "black corner," refers to the theoretical concept of the black hole, a term first used in the mid-1960s. Rosenquist plays with this notion by placing three spherical shapes—indicative of the moon as well as molecular and nuclear particles—in front of a black background speckled with white dots, creating a terrain akin to that of a starry night sky. With each astral element occupying the same amount of space, the size of the moon is equated to that of an atom. The artist, by setting up a tension between the macrocosmic and the microcosmic, insinuates that the universe abides by its own set of rules, that there is still much left for us to discover.
Information
- Title
- Coin Noir
- Object Number
- x1979-148
- Maker
- James Rosenquist
Printed at Aripeka Ltd. Editions and
Printed at Styria Studio, Inc.
Published by Sidney Singer
- Medium
- Color lithograph and screenprint on rolled white Arches Cover paper
- Dates
- 1977
- Dimensions
- sheet: 93.3 x 188 cm. (36 3/4 x 74 in.) frame: 94.5 × 189.5 × 2.5 cm (37 3/16 × 74 5/8 × 1 in.)
- Catalog Raisonné
- Glenn 125
- Credit Line
- Gift of Mario d'Urso
- Signatures
- Signed and dated in graphite, bottom right: James Rosenquist 1977
- Inscriptions
- Numbered in graphite, bottom left: 91/100 Titled in graphite, center left: Coin Noir
- Marks/Labels/Seals
- Styria Studio blindstamp, bottom right
- Materials
- Techniques
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