Ruth Smoking 1
Ruth Smoking 1
Signed Print
Julian Opie
£6,000-£8,500 VALUE (EST.)
$11,000-$16,000 VALUE (EST.)
$10,000-$14,500 VALUE (EST.)
¥50,000-¥70,000 VALUE (EST.)
€7,000-€9,500 VALUE (EST.)
$60,000-$80,000 VALUE (EST.)
¥970,000-¥1,380,000 VALUE (EST.)
$7,500-$10,500 VALUE (EST.)
This estimate blends recent public auction records with our own private sale data and network demand.
Screenprint, 2006
Signed Print Edition of 50
H 42cm x W 29cm
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Auction Results
| Auction Date | Auction House | Artwork | Hammer Price | Return to Seller | Buyer Paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2021 | Bonhams Knightsbridge - United Kingdom | Ruth Smoking 1 - Signed Print | |||
| April 2015 | Phillips New York - United States | Ruth Smoking 1 - Signed Print | |||
| October 2010 | Bonhams Knightsbridge - United Kingdom | Ruth Smoking 1 - Signed Print | |||
| September 2010 | Sotheby's Online - United Kingdom | Ruth Smoking 1 - Signed Print |
Meaning & Analysis
Ruth Smoking 1 is the first in a series of portraits of the subject, Ruth, smoking, by Julian Opie from 2006. The print is a three-quarter length portrait of a woman who looks out to the viewer, cigarette in hand and her shirt open to show her underwear. Rendered in Opie’s graphic style, characteristic of his work during the mid-2000s, the figure is contoured with thick, bold lines and her features are defined by a few marks.
Opie’s portraits engage with longstanding ideas that have characterised this art historical genre by questioning what intrinsic elements are needed to convey a person’s character. Ruth Smoking 1 presents the viewer with the absolute minimum by which the subject can be recognised, with buttons for eyes, two lines for a mouth, and the image created with flat, block colours.
Ruth Smoking 1 is representative of Opie’s strong interest in Ukiyo-e, a genre of Japanese woodblock prints from the 18th and 19th centuries that often depicted female beauties not meant for exhibition. Opie’s particular interest in Ukiyo-e artist Kitagawa Utamaro comes through in these portraits of Ruth, notably explaining that, "[Utamaro’s] models were radically cropped close up, the faces were very simply drawn, in some ways always very similar, but with great presence and individuality."
