Untitled (there is only one Ritz)

Label Text

This work is in the manner of trompe d'oeuil (French for "fool the eye"). Paul Sarkisian's depictions of objects are the same size as the objects themselves, thus heightening the effect of reality. The misspelling the the word "Rizt" reminds the viewer that this is a painting and not a collage.

Sarkisian was born in Chicago in 1928 and, at the age of 10, received a scholarship at the Art Institute of Chicago. He studied also in Los Angeles and Mexico City. He taught at the Pasadena Art Museum and for short periods of time at the University of Southern California and at Berkeley.

Source: Bulletin, May-June, 1979.

Exhibition History"Words to be Seen," The Brunnier Gallery and Museum, Ames, Apr. 17 - Aug. 28, 1994

" Director's Choice," Thirty-four works of art purchased with the Director's Dicretionary Fund, 1973-1982 - A Gift to the Des Moines Art Center from the Gardner and Florence Call Cowles Foundation, Des Moines Art Center, Sept. 13 - Nov. 13, 1983
Published ReferencesDMAC Bulletin, May/June 1979, cover ill.

"Director's Choice," Des Moines Art Center, 1983, exh. cat. b/w ill.

DES MOINES ART CENTER: SELECTED PAINTINGS, SCULPTURES AND WORKS ON PAPER, Des Moines Art Center, 1985, ref. p.190

DimensionsOverall: 46 × 46 in. (116.8 × 116.8 cm)

Accession Number 1979.1

Classificationspainting

SignedPaul Sarkisian 77 (l,l graphite)

ProvenanceArtist. (Nancy Hoffman Gallery, New York); Des Moines Art Center [purchased from the previous, 1979]