The Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale in New York totalled $325,259,750 / £253,317,562, to take the running total for the 20th Century season to $564.4 million. The auction was 89 per cent sold by lot and 96 per cent by value. Leading the sale was Hurting the Word Radio #2, an important early example of Ruscha’s ‘text’ paintings. Painted in 1964, the same year it was first exhibited at Los Angeles’ Ferus Gallery, the picture was acquired from the artist by Joan and Jack Quinn in the early 1970s. The couple became friends with the gallery’s stable of artists and keen collectors of their work. They were the only previous owners of Hurting the Word Radio #2, which sold for $52,485,000 (including buyer’s premium) — a new auction record for a work by Ruscha. ‘This evening was a tribute to the great artist Ed Ruscha and to my beloved husband
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