July 1999


Edward Ruscha, Steel   Edward Ruscha
American, born 1937
Steel  1960

oil on canvas
Collection Walker Art Center
Purchased with the aid of funds from the Clinton and Della Walker Acquisition Fund and the National Endowment for the Arts, 1980
 



Edward Ruscha (pronounced "rew-shay") likes the idea of a word becoming a picture and often plays with simple words as subjects for his paintings and prints. He does not illustrate the meaning of the word but, with great care and attention to detail, paints them in unexpected ways. In Steel, liquid-looking letters on a rust-colored background seem like they could drip right off the page




© 1999 Walker Art Center

The Artwork of the Month is part of the Walker Art Center's "New Definitions/New Audiences" initiative. This museum-wide project to engage visitors in a reexamination of 20th-century art is made possible by the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund.