Ruth Smoking 5
Ruth Smoking 5
Signed Print
Julian Opie
£3,750-£5,500
$7,500-$11,000 Value Indicator
$6,500-$9,500 Value Indicator
¥35,000-¥50,000 Value Indicator
€4,450-€6,500 Value Indicator
$35,000-$50,000 Value Indicator
¥720,000-¥1,050,000 Value Indicator
$4,600-$7,000 Value Indicator
AAGR (5 years) This estimate blends recent public auction records with our own private sale data and network demand.
There aren't enough data points on this work for a comprehensive result. Please speak to a specialist by making an enquiry.
Medium: Screenprint
Edition size: 50
Year: 2006
Size: H 121cm x W 82cm
Signed: Yes
Format: Signed Print
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Auction Results
| Auction Date | Auction House | Location | Hammer Price | Return to Seller | Buyer Paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 2022 | Christie's London | United Kingdom | |||
| June 2017 | Phillips London | United Kingdom |
Meaning & Analysis
Ruth Smoking 5 is a print from Julian Opie’s Ruth Smokingseries that features a half-length portrait of an art collector living in Geneva who commissioned the portrait. The sitter looks directly at the viewer with a deadpan expression, her features defined as two buttons for eyes, two dots for a nose and two lines for a mouth.
The figure is shown semi-undressed with her breasts partially exposed by Opie’s rendering of a thin blouse that hangs over her breasts to give the image a certain amount of depth. Opie created a video version of this print, depicting the same model with her eyes blinking, wearing a watch with the second hand ticking, and wisps of smoke rising from her cigarette. By creating moving images Opie brings his subjects to life, but paired with his reductivist visual language, these images produce a lingering sense of unease within the viewer.
Ruth Smoking 5 is indicative of Opie’s interest in Ukiyo-e, a genre of Japanese woodblock prints from the 18th and 19th centuries that often depicted female beauties not meant for exhibition. Opie’s particular interest in Ukiyo-e artist Kitagawa Utamaro comes through in these portraits of Ruth through his choice of eroticised subject matter and use of flattened colour, cropped format and simplified shapes.
