Three Women
Richard Artschwager
American, 1923–2013
1963
A large painted panel in which Richard Artschwager renders a photographic runway scene as three life‑size female figures, using synthetic polymer paint on board to fuse photographic reproduction with handmade mark‑making and an industrial presence.
What strikes you is the cool, halftone‑like grain and rigid triptych framing—three stylized, mannequin‑like women in mottled gray punctuated by flat black shapes that read as both printed photograph and tactile object.
Straddling Pop and Minimalism, Artschwager’s use of industrial paint, photo‑derived imagery, and an emphatic metal frame questions what a painting is and helped pave the way for appropriation and conceptual practices that foreground surface and manufacture.
Medium
Synthetic polymer paint on board with metal frame
Dimensions
49 1/2 x 48 7/8" (125.7 x 124.1 cm) including frame
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of Edward R. Broida
Accession
647.2005
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
