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Open today 10:00–5:00

Visit
Open today 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Admission is always free

6th and Constitution Ave NW
Washington, DC 20565

Celebrating American art and artists

Join us as we explore 250 years of American creativity from across the nation.
Learn more
Exhibitions & Events
Featured exhibition:

Mary Cassatt: An American in Paris
Now on view
Art & Artists
Play Artle

Test your knowledge with a new puzzle every day.
Play now

Stains

1969

Ed Ruscha

Associated Names

Ed Ruscha

Artist, American, born 1937

Heavy Industry Publications

Publisher

This is an image of a black portfolio standing upright, surrounded by sheets of square paper laid flat on the ground side by side, covered with various stains. In the center of the composition is the open black portfolio with the word "Stains" inscribed on its cover in silver letters. Two of the pages on the ground appear to be a title paper and a table of contents or index; each of the other pages is blank aside from a small stain right at the center of the square paper. The stains are in various shades, including brown, yellow, orange, or gray. They look like drops or splatters of liquid. The sheets are evenly spaced, creating a grid-like pattern that covers the floor.

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Artwork overview

Medium

unbound book of seventy-five stains on wove paper, with title page, checklist, and colophon page
Credit Line

Gift of the Collectors Committee
Dimensions

accessory size (closed): 31.75 × 29.21 × 4.13 cm (12 1/2 × 11 1/2 × 1 5/8 in.)
accessory size (open): 31.75 × 60.96 × 3.81 cm (12 1/2 × 24 × 1 1/2 in.)
Accession Number

2013.60.1.1-75
Catalogue Raisonné

Engberg 1999, no. B9

Stains: Los Angeles Tap Water

Ed Ruscha, Heavy Industry Publications

1969

Stains: Pacific Ocean Salt Water

Ed Ruscha, Heavy Industry Publications

1969

Stains: Eyewash (Murine)

Ed Ruscha, Heavy Industry Publications

1969

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(Gagosian Gallery, NY); purchased by NGA, 2013

Associated Names

Gagosian Gallery

Bibliography

1999

Engberg, Siri, and Clive Phillpot. Edward Ruscha: Editions 1959-1999, Catalogue Raisonné. Minneapolis: Walker Art Center, 1999: no. B9.

Inscriptions

upper center of colophon in blue ball-point pen: 67 / Ed Ruscha; lower right verso of title page in graphite by unknown hand: EX.81.242

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