James Rosenquist

James Rosenquist’s bold treatment of the interplay between realism and abstraction gave him a special status within the American art scene of the mid 20th century. He is considered a pioneer of Pop art, even though he rather described himself as affiliated with the Surrealists. In 1955, when he arrived in New York he made a living by painting billboards, this inspired him to insert pop-cultural images in his art. Rosenquist’s fascination with images of pop culture, especially from Time Magazine, made him seek out another path than the Abstract Expressionists who dominated at the time. However, his collage-like compositions also differed from those of other early Pop art artists. To Rosenquist, painting itself was more important than the actual depiction of the original motif.

In the catalog for the large retrospective exhibition at the Guggenheim in 2002, Walter Hopps wrote about how Rosenquist's painting technique differed from other pop artists':

”Another factor that sets Rosenquist apart from the other Pop artists is the degree to which he has relied on hand-painting. He has rarely used any mechanical means — the stencils or silkscreening that Lichtenstein and Warhol favoured. He is a superb painter in a very traditional sense, producing very untraditional images.”

”From Ladies of The Opera Terrace” is an important example of how Rosenquist refined his expression in the borderlands between collage and abstract painting. The motif comes from a mural he created for Operaterrassen in the middle of the 1980s, in the monumental format 228,6 x 640 cm. He had previously created a fresco for the iconic restaurant The Four Seasons in New York. This led to Operakällaren commissioning him to create a painting for its banquet hall on the second floor, Operaterrassen. Rosenquist described the commission as follows:

”I had been in Sweden a number of times.. .. I had gone out to bars and cafés and to the opera with him (Björn Wetterling). It’s cold in Sweden in the Fall and Winter. You go to these places, and there are just tons of beautiful single girls standing around, having a drink by themselves, chatting and so forth. At first, I was surprised at this, but then I realized that it didn’t have the kind of connotation it would have in the States. It was just a different custom. So, my first thought was to do something called the ”Girls of the Opera Terrace”. I wanted to address that cultural difference. In Sweden, because of the long darkness of the winter months, there has been a history of depression and all that. What people are like in Sweden is really disguised. They may be beautiful, but it’s really hard to tell what they´re like. They could be depressed or happy. For my painting, I thought of doing a very angry lady, a demure face, and maybe a demon lady – a demon surrounded by a lot of hot-coloured flowers. The reason for the colour of the whole composition is that I wanted the faces to look like flames. As I said, it's cold in Sweden. I figured that people would want to come into a warm place with a red-hot painting hanging on its wall. A real bright coloured, orange-red picture would be as welcome on a cold frosty night as a hot drink. Outside, through the windows, you can see these large stanchions burning oil. The building looks like an old fortress. So, this place is very nordic. Even in the Summer, I think it’s cool outside.”
Adcock, Craig. James Rosenquist's Commissioned Works. Stockholm: Painter's Posters in association with Wetterling Gallery, 1990.

In this painting up for auction, Rosenquist's painterly and colouristic mastery can be seen in how the strong and warm colours weave the woman’s face and the bouquet of flowers together. The vibrant flowers appear during this time in several of his significant paintings, inspired by the flowering plant life around his studio in Florida.