Untitled (Ralph Williams)
1969
Michael H. Stone (American, 1945-)
Not on View

While Michael Stone was studying industrial design at UCLA in the late 1960s, he shifted his focus to photography and became part of the burgeoning photography community in Southern California. Stone developed artistically alongside local photographers and educators such as Robert Heinecken and Fred Parker and was equally influenced by filmmaking and sculpture. Like many artists of his generation, Stone became increasingly interested in the impact television made on consumer culture. In his inflatable plastic bags, intended to hang on a faux sales rack, he placed a laminated photograph that was shot directly from the television screen. Here he depicts a local celebrity: the ubiquitous used car salesman Ralph Williams. Packaged as though he was a comestible item, this television personality is up for sale.

Details

  • Artist Name: Michael H. Stone (American, 1945-)
  • Title: Untitled (Ralph Williams)
  • Date: 1969
  • Medium: Hand colored and toned silver print encased in vacuum formed plastic and vinyl
  • Dimensions: 8-1/4 x 6-3/8 in. (21.0 x 16.2 cm)
  • Credit Line: Norton Simon Museum, Gift of the Artist
  • Accession Number: PH.1969.50
  • Copyright: © 2008 Michael H. Stone

Object Information

Permanent Photography Collection

  • Pasadena Museum of Modern Art, 1973-09-12 to 1973-09-28

Gaze: Portraiture After Ingres

  • Norton Simon Museum, 2009-10-30 to 2010-04-05

Lost but Found: Assemblage, Collage and Sculpture, 1920-2002

  • Norton Simon Museum, 2004-11-05 to 2005-03-28

The Collectible Moment: Photographs in the Norton Simon Museum

  • Norton Simon Museum, 2006-10-13 to 2007-02-26
  • Gloria Williams, The Collectible Moment: Catalogue of Photographs in the Norton Simon Museum, 2006, cat. 386 p. 255

Additional Artwork by Artist

Untitled (George Putnam) Michael H. Stone 1969

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