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Lot Essay
"The image of the cowboy is so familiar in American iconology that it has become almost invisible through its normality. And yet the cowboy
is also the most sacred and masklike of cultural figures. In both a geographical and cultural sense, a cowboy is an image of endurance itself, a stereotypical symbol of American cinema. He is simultaneously the wanderer and the mythological symbol of social mobility. Even today,
the image of the cowboy has not lost its luster"
(R. Brooks, "Spiritual America: No Holds Barred," exh. cat., Richard Prince, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1992, p. 95).
is also the most sacred and masklike of cultural figures. In both a geographical and cultural sense, a cowboy is an image of endurance itself, a stereotypical symbol of American cinema. He is simultaneously the wanderer and the mythological symbol of social mobility. Even today,
the image of the cowboy has not lost its luster"
(R. Brooks, "Spiritual America: No Holds Barred," exh. cat., Richard Prince, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1992, p. 95).