“The Black Leather Chair” from Ed Kienholz: Concept Tableaux, 1963 - 1967

The life-size tableau, the form of art making that Kienholz chose to explore, was time-consuming, costly, and exhausting to produce. So by 1986, after his successful, if controversial, exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, he was employing a more cost-effective strategy, in theory.

In many ways the Concept Tableaux demonstrated sound business sense. Kienholz would draw up, and have prospective buyers sign, a contract for every tableau. Each work would be divided into three quite distinct and separate steps. For a set amount of money, interested buyers would be able to purchase only the proposal - a plaque with a detailed description of the work, signed by the artist. In the next step, if the buyer proceeded, the tableau would be realized in the form of a drawing for an additional sum of money. The third part of the contract would be the completion of the tableau. The buyer would be charged only for the hourly wages and materials incurred by the artist.

Quote by Rosetta Brooks taken from “Kienholz: A Retrospective.” Whitney Museum of American Art in association with D.A.P., New York, 1996, p.110

The whole “Concept Tableau” series is currently on view at Pace Gallery, New York , in accompaniment with Ed and Nancy Kienholz’s seminal work “Ozymandias Parade,” on view through December 22, 2012.