Robert Longo

Metro Pictures, New York
Acquired by the present owner from the above

Kassel, Documenta 7, 1982, p. 209, illustrated (woman only)
Washington D.C., Hirschhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Directions 1983, March - May 1983 (woman only)
New York, Artists Space, A Decade of New Art, 1984 (man and woman only)

Richard Marshall, 50 New York Artists, San Francisco, 1986, p. 71, illustrated (man and woman only)

This work is in good condition overall. There are several small horizontal tears along the right edge of the female figure, most noticeable in the bottom white area. There are areas of rubbing from the frame onto the sheet of the male figure along the bottom edge, which are visible as black accretions. Both artist frames show signs of overall wear and handling in the form of small losses and surface abrasions. The red central element has small scattered loses, surface irregularities and abrasions, the most noticeable of which have resulted in paint loss on the furthest protruding corners. Both figures are framed under Plexiglas.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

"The way people die in movies is a new subject matter – you watch the way James Cagney died in old movies – he kinda goes “Ugh-g-hnnn!” and falls off the chair, whereas now, somebody gets shot and they get blown through the wall. Before, people ran around a baseball diamond differently than they do now. Gesture changes." Robert Longo

During his youth Robert Longo developed a fascination with media, specifically movies, television, and magazines. After dropping out of the University of North Texas, he took up an apprenticeship under the sculptor Leonda Finke. He earned a grant to continue his artistic study at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence, Italy, and upon his return he began an MFA program at Buffalo State College, where he met fellow MFA student Cindy Sherman.

Longo's first critically acclaimed art works were his Men in the Cities series, to which this triptych belongs. The famous series depicts white men and women in black and white business attire frozen in active recoil. In this piece we see a man and woman, both dressed appropriately business-like, on either side of a red sculpture relief. The man faces us with his arms spread Christ-like as he appears to fall back. The woman is turned away from us with her head and torso collapsing over the side of her body. When one looks at the figures it is hard to discern if these people are dancing or dying. In explaining the origins of this series Longo clears up any ambiguity. He describes that he got the idea for the work “from the scene still from An American Soldier… from the scene at the end of the movie where two gangsters get shot.” One should note that Longo is trying to recreate the dramatization of death as well as the act of death itself. When making these drawings, Longo would throw objects at his models and tell them to pretend like they were just shot. The union of both the real act and its dramatization represents the growing importance and ubiquity of pop culture that existed in the 1980s.

Not just a statement about the media, this piece, and indeed the whole series, is very much connected to New York City. The pieces of this triptych were all made between 1982 and 1984, right when the Wall Street Boom and yuppie culture were taking off, and the figures are dressed in the banking uniform of suits and dresses. The red sculpture in the middle depicts three clear skyscrapers with the central one, the artist tells us, representing the Empire State Building, arguably the most iconic symbol of New York City.