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Stones: Will We Ever Get

Larry Rivers, Frank O'Hara, and others

Stones: Will We Ever Get

1958-1959

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Stones: Will We Ever Get

1958-1959

Physical Qualities Crayon lithograph, Sheet: 482 x 590 mm. (19 x 23 1/4 in.)
Credit Line Gift of Ruth M. Bernstein, Baltimore
Object Number 1974.55.13
"Stones" was the first project of publisher Tatyana Grosman, founder and director of the printmaking workshop Universal Limited Art Editions (ULAE). Pairing Larry Rivers with his good friend Frank O’Hara, Grosman told them she wanted to create “a book that would be a real fusion of poetry and art, a real collaboration, not just drawings to illustrate poems.” Over the next few years, Rivers and O’Hara worked together on all the compositions of this unbound volume, which was named after the lithographic stones from which it was printed. The spontaneous, playful, and fragmented dialogue between text and image underscore the experimental and collaborative nature of the project.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by gift, 1974; Ruth Bernstein, Baltimore; the artists (sleeve is dedicated to Bernstein)
Jan Howard, BMA, "Marking the Decades: Prints 1960-1990," February 23- April 26, 1992.

Rena Hoisington, BMA, "Off the Shelf: Modern and Contemporary Artists' Books," May Gallery, March 12 - June 25, 2017.

Inscribed: by O'Hara, lower left in graphite: "XVIII 12 O'Hara"; by Rivers, lower right in graphite: "Rivers '59"

Markings: Chopmark: ULAE

Artist

Larry Rivers

1922–2001

American, 1923-2002
Meet Larry Rivers

Poet

Frank O’Hara

1925–1965

American, 1926-1966
Meet Frank O’Hara

Printer

Robert Blackburn

1919–2002

American, 1920-2003
Meet Robert Blackburn

Explore the Collection Further

Larry Rivers
Berdie with Straw Hat
1955
Ellsworth Kelly, Stéphane Mallarmé, and others
A Throw of the Dice Will Never Abolish Chance
1991
Larry Rivers, Universal Limited Art Editions, and others
Face of Clarice II
1960
Honoré Daumier
The Adoption. - Well, really! Robert, my friend, so you are becoming a family man. You're considering adoption?... You will soon crown the maidens at the village fair... (Robert)- Yes, I adopted this child. I want to thrive in the joys of family life... (Wormspire) - You want to marry your ward... - Yes, I want her to get married. Yes, get her married to a rich man, prepare for my retirement. - Prepare for your retirement... get enough money for old age and win the Monthion prize... I know, I know!
1840
Larry Rivers, Frank O'Hara, and others
Stones: Where Are They
1958–1959
Honoré Daumier
A vanity suitably gratified. - Ah! Finally!.... the "Moniteur" has printed my "very good", naming me in full. Wonderful... at least my electorate will no longer say that I never speak up in Parliament
1843
Larry Rivers, Frank O'Hara, and others
Stones: Five O'Clock
1958–1959
John Sartain, William H. Furness Jr., and others
Reverend William H. Furness
1864
Larry Rivers, Frank O'Hara, and others
Stones: Energy
1958–1959
Odilon Redon
Illustration for "A Throw of the Dice Will Never Abolish Chance (Un coup de dés jamais n'abolira le hasard)" by Stéphane Mallarmé
1899
Larry Rivers, Frank O'Hara, and others
Stones: Melancholy Breakfast
1958–1959