Ed Ruscha

Rooftop (Rooftops Series #2)

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About this artwork

This photograph is from Ruscha’s ‘Rooftops Series’, a set of four prints looking down on Los Angeles intersections from a high vantage point. Ruscha has worked in and based much of his work on the unique characteristics of the city since he was a student in the 1950s. He had been working for an advertising agency between North Flores Street and Beverly Boulevard when he took these shots in 1961, early in his career. They run 360 degrees around the roof of his office building where he took his lunch. This image shows a bare rooftop with an old advertising sign for ‘Glace, Fruits, Groceries, Candy’ and a small triangle of the busy street below. Although taken in 1961, this photograph was only printed as part of the ‘Rooftop Series’ portfolio in 2004, by which time it had become a memento of Los Angeles’ past.

Updated before 2020

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  • artist:
    Ed Ruscha (born 1937) American
  • title:
    Rooftop (Rooftops Series #2)
  • date created:
    1961/2004
  • materials:
    Gelatin silver print
  • measurements:
    77.80 x 77.80 cm (frame 78.10 x 78.10 cm)
  • object type:
  • credit line:
    ARTIST ROOMS National Galleries of Scotland and Tate. Lent by Artist Rooms Foundation 2011
  • accession number:
    AL00236
  • gallery:
This artwork is part of Artist Rooms
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Ed Ruscha

Ed Ruscha