I will not make any more boring art, 1971

colour lithograph on Arches paper

signed, dated 1971 and numbered “47/50” along the right edge Collaborating Printer: Robert Rogers

22.5 × 30 in (57.1 × 76.2 cm) (sheet)

Auction Estimate:$30,000 - $40,000

Sale date:October 24 - November 7, 2023

Price Realized

$43,200

(including Buyer's Premium)

Provenance

NSCAD Lithography Workshop, NSCAD University, Halifax

Literature

Garry Neill Kennedy, “The Last Art College: Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, 1968-1978”, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax/The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts & London, England, 2012, page 100 ; illustrated page 101

Christine Lalonde on John Baldessari, “I Will Not Make Any More Boring Art”: “This is one of the best-known prints created at a lithography Workshop. When invited to exhibit at the Mezzanine, Baldessari, with characteristic thoughtful wit, sent instructions for students to cover the walls of the space with the words. “I will not make any more boring art” - hand written as if in an act of penitence. The event was very successful and it was decided to create a print “from a photographic enlargement made from the sample writing that Baldessari sent.” For years after, these words became the unofficial insignia of the school.”