Painting Collection James Rosenquist Bowling Ball Galaxie (half of diptych) (1933-2017) James Rosenquist was one of the leading artists associated with Pop art, a term coined to identify artworks in the 1950s and 1960s that engaged popular culture, consumerism, and often politics. Born in Grand Forks, ND, Rosenquist moved to New York in 1955 and early on painted billboards across the city, an experience that would impact his style of painting. In his works, Rosenquist layered commercial and advertising imagery—often culled from old Life magazine clippings—stitching together these fragments for his painted compositions. His method married fine art with commercial techniques and materials, where his canvases were deftly painted without visible brushstrokes. The two paintings by Rosenquist in our collection are companion works, and playfully interact with one another. Bowling Ball Galaxie is painted on a shaped, circular canvas, taking the physical form of its inspiration: the Galaxie brand bowling ball, complete with three finger holes. Rosenquist creates an abstract, almost cosmic composition of bright, Day-Glo colors, mimicking the marbleized lines of the Galaxie ball. Bowling Ball Eclipse echoes the shape of the ball as a painted image on top of classic movie stars (think: Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant) locked in a lover’s embrace. Here Rosenquist is playful in layering imagery, encapsulating this intimate moment in the unlikely frame of a bowling ball. |
  
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