Big Diamonds, from the portfolio Urban Landscapes No. 2

Richard Estes, Big Diamonds, from the portfolio Urban Landscapes No. 2, 1979, screenprint on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Jerome Canter, 1998.142.2.5, © 1978, Richard Estes
Richard Estes, Big Diamonds, from the portfolio Urban Landscapes No. 2, 1979, screenprint on paper, 27 1⁄2 x 19 5⁄8 in. (69.9 x 49.8 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Jerome Canter, 1998.142.2.5, © 1978, Richard Estes

Artwork Details

Title
Big Diamonds, from the portfolio Urban Landscapes No. 2
Artist
Printer
Publisher
Parasol Press, Ltd.
Date
1979
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
27 1⁄2 x 19 5⁄8 in. (69.9 x 49.8 cm)
Copyright
© 1978, Richard Estes
Credit Line
Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Jerome Canter
Mediums Description
screenprint on paper
Classifications
Subjects
  • Architecture Exterior — commercial
  • Architecture Exterior — detail — window
  • Object — other — sign
Object Number
1998.142.2.5
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1998.142.2.5

Artwork Description

Richard Estes moved to New York City in 1959 and worked first as a commercial graphic designer to support his art-making ambitions. After struggling to find models available in the evenings, he adopted the vernacular architectural details of the city, everyday spaces like shops, escalators, and subways, as his subject matter. Based on photographs he made wandering the city, Estes composed hyperrealistic paintings, as well as a trio of screenprint portfolios called Urban Landscapes. Typical of the series, this print meticulously captures a clothing store, whose glossy windows reflect nearby buildings, cars, and advertisements, including a jewelry store offering "Big Diamonds." Such jumbles of reflections invite viewers to consider the potentially alienating and dehumanizing landscape of the city, with layers of inaccessible and illusory spaces.

Works by this artist (744 items)

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William Zorach, Seated Girl (with hands under legs), 1930, cast and patinated plaster, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Tessim Zorach and Dahlov Ipcar, 1971.449.8
Seated Girl (with hands under legs)
Artist
Date1930
cast and patinated plaster
On view
William Zorach, Mother and Child (study), ca. 1926, plaster, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Tessim Zorach and Dahlov Ipcar, 1968.154.153
Mother and Child (study)
Artist
Dateca. 1926
plaster
On view
William Zorach, Study for Head of Moses, ca. 1950, unfired ceramic, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Tessim Zorach and Dahlov Ipcar, 1968.154.161
Study for Head of Moses
Artist
Dateca. 1950
unfired ceramic
On view
William Zorach, Kneeling Boy with Bird and Dog, ca. 1935, cast plaster, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Tessim Zorach and Dahlov Ipcar, 1968.154.137
Kneeling Boy with Bird and Dog
Artist
Dateca. 1935
cast plaster
On view

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