Ed Ruscha's iconic gas station painting sets a new auction record, selling for US$68m

The rivalry between Los Angeles and New York has always been long-standing, whether it be through sports, wealth, or even art. When the American Pop Art movement was in full swing, New York was seen as the center, but eventually, Los Angeles emerged as a competitor in this area. Famed American artist Ed Ruscha was one of the major people involved in bringing Los Angeles to the forefront of modern American art. 

One of Ruscha’s most well-known series of paintings was his work depicting Standard Oil gas stations that he would see on road trips between LA and Oklahoma. Christie’s New York just sold one, and it shattered the artist’s previous auction record, selling for around US$68 million. Titled Standard Station, Ten-Cent Western Being Torn in Half, its auctioning on 19 November as part of Christie’s 20th Century Evening Sale marked the auction’s highest-selling lot.


Lot 26 A | Ed Ruscha (b. 1937) | Standard Station, Ten-Cent Western Being Torn in Half, Oil on canvas
Painted in 1964
165.1 x 308.6 cm
Provenance:

  • Ferus Gallery, Los Angeles
  • Mr. and Mrs. Donald Factor, Los Angeles
  • James J. Meeker, Fort Worth, December 1970
  • Acquired by the exchange of Standard Station, Amarillo, Texas with the above by the present owner, November 1976

Estimate on request (in excess of US$50 million)
Hammer Price: US$59,000,000
Sold: US$68,260,000


In a bidding session that lasted around six minutes long, the lot attracted much interest from bidders on the phone and the auction room itself. Bidding opened at US$35 million, and what seemed to be a slow start with a bidder in the room slowly raising the price to US$38 million, things took off when Christie’s staff on the phones on behalf of their clients entered the fray. 

Things quickly escalated to a bidding war between Deputy Chairman of the Impressionist & Modern Art Department Conner Jordan and Vice Chairman of the 20th and 21st Century Art, Americas Johanna Flaum. From US$46 million onwards, their clients incrementally drove up the price of the painting by US$500,000 for each bid, until seemingly the gloves came off when the Chairman of the Post-War & Contemporary Art Department Alex Rotter joined, and bids increased by US$1 million each time. 

Eventually, it was Jordan who won the lot for his client on the phone with the paddle number 2180 with the hammer price of US$59 million. After fees, the lot sold for over US$68 million, easily smashing the previous record set by a Ruscha painting, which was Hurting the Word Radio #2 (1964), which was sold by Christie’s New York in 2019 for around US$52.4 million.


A triumphant Vice Chairman Jordan holds up the paddle number of his client having won the lot for them over the phone

Edward Ruscha | Hurting the Word Radio #2, 1964 | Sold for around US$52.4 million by Christie’s New York, 2019 | The previous record holding Ruscha artwork
 

Ruscha was born in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1937, and this early life in rural America would be a major inspiration for his artwork. He was also often exposed to road trips in his youth, with the classic American vacation serving as his lens to view the world. Ruscha would personally state, “I don’t have any River Seine like Monet; I’ve just got U.S. 66 between Oklahoma and Los Angeles.”

When Ruscha first started working in the art world, he was originally a cartoonist before switching over to painting in the 1960s, having been inspired by Jasper John. Perhaps his greatest influence was Edward Hopper’s Gas (1940), a realist painting of a rural gas station. Ruscha’s other inspirations included minimalists, abstract painters, and graphic artists.

This emphasis on rural America and American culture, in general, became emphasized when he moved to Southern California and began painting iconic works that depicted symbols of American culture, such as Large Trademark with Eight Spotlights (1962), a painting of the 20th Century Fox logo, and Wonder Bread (1962), a work of the iconic American sliced bread. 

The first Standard Station painting was unveiled in 1963, and various variants followed throughout the rest of the decade. This includes this lot’s sister painting, Standard Station, Amarillo, Texas, painted in 1963 and exhibited in the Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. His experience on the highways of America gave Ruscha this perspective and inspiration to paint everyday American scenes, not unlike the Impressionists of France who painted life in Paris. 

Perhaps Ruscha’s fascination with the American West, Americana, and his past as a cartoonist led to this specific painting, as it features a ten-cent Western that is torn up in the upper right corner. This is a reference to a Western comic that would’ve depicted stories of cowboys in the American West, sold for ten cents back in the day. Such things were often found sold in places such as gas stations.


Variants of the Standard Station painting, including this lot’s sister painting Standard Station, Amarillo, Texas in the top right corner

The October 1946 issue of Popular Western vol. 31. no. 2, which Ed Ruscha featured torn in the upper right corner of this lot
 

The painting was first put on display at Ruscha’s gallery show at Ferus Gallery, Los Angeles. Visitors to the gallery would have been greeted by this current lot’s sister painting Standard Station, Amarillo, Texas, when they walked in through the front door. 

This lot was then acquired by couple Donald and Lynn Factor, who hung the painting in their modern LA home’s living room. The paintings were acquired by James J. Meeker, who then exchanged Standard Station, Ten Cent Western Being Torn in Half, for its sister painting Standard Station, Amarillo, Texas, with Sid R. Bass, who acquired the former in 1976. 

The heir to an oil fortune Bass was famous for his major investment in Disney. With a net worth of US$3 billion, he is considered the 359th richest person in America and often engages in philanthropy. From there, Bass loaned the painting as part of the critically acclaimed “Ed Ruscha / Now Then” traveling exhibit that displayed works in front of the artist’s career spanning from 1958 to 2022. This includes its recent display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York from September 2023 to January 2024.


Standard Station, Ten-Cent Western Being Torn in Half being displayed in the living room of the Factors in 1967


Other Highlight Lots:


Lot 37 A | Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966) | Femme qui marche (II), Bronze with dark brown patina
Conceived between 1932-1936, this bronze version cast in 1961
Height: 146.2 cm 
Provenance:

  • Prof. Serafino Corbetta, Chiavenna (acquired from the artist)
  • Anon. sale, Sotheby’s, London, 26 March 1985, lot 46
  • Galerie Beyeler, Basel (acquired at the above sale)
  • Acquired from the above by the family of the present owner, 20 December 1985

Estimate: US$20,000,000 - 30,000,000
Hammer Price: US$22,800,000
Sold: US$26,630,000


Lot 25 A | René Magritte (1898-1967) | L'empire des lumieres, Gouach on paper
Painted in 1956
36.3 x 46.8 cm
Provenance:

  • Alexander Iolas, New York (acquired from the artist, 1956)
  • Valerie and Alexander L. Berliner, New York (acquired from the above, circa 1959, until at least 1976
  • Elaine Ganz, New York
  • Acquired from the above by the family of the present owner, 1 December 1981

Estimate: US$6,000,000 - 8,000,000
Hammer Price: US$16,000,000
Sold: US$18,810,000


Lot 31 A | Joan Mitchell (1925-1992) | City Landscape, Oil on canvas
Painted in 1955
163.8 x 186.7 cm 
Provenance:

  • Stable Gallery, New York
  • Acquired from the above by the present owner, 1958

Estimate: US$6,000,000 - 8,000,000
Hammer Price: US$14,500,000
Sold: US$17,085,000


Lot 34 A | Willem de Kooning (1904-1997) | Untitled, Oil on canvas
Painted in 1982
152.4 x 137.2 cm 
Provenance:

  • Estate of the artist
  • Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York
  • Acquired by the family of the present owner,1997

Estimate: US$8,000,000 - 12,000,000
Hammer Price: US$11,200,000
Sold: US$13,290,000


Auction Information:

Auction House: Christie’s New York
Sale: 20th Century Evening Sale
Date: 19 November 2024
Total lots: 53
Sold: 41
Not Sold: 12
Sell Rate: 77.3%
Auction Total: US$302,007,600