Live Auction 302140th Anniversary Sale
Jan Cremer (b. 1940)
Lot 17

Jan Cremer (b. 1940)

Jan Cremer (b. 1940)

Closed20 November 2012

Price Realised

EUR 9,375

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Jan Cremer (b. 1940)
(i) 5 Cents cigar
signed twice, titled, inscribed, dated twice and with the artist's
stamp 'jan cremer New York 9 Aug. 67 "5 cents Cigar" 1967 cremer 12/9' (on the reverse); signed and inscribed 'cremer N.Y' (on the
stretcher)
oil on canvas
23 x 30 cm.
Painted in 1967

(ii) Untitled (toothbrush)
signed, inscribed, dated and with the artist's stamp 'jan cremer n.y
1967' (on the reverse); signed 'cremer' (on the stretcher)
oil on canvas
26 x 36 cm.
Painted in 1967

(iii) Hotdog USA
with the artist's stamp (in the centre); signed, titled, numbered,
inscribed, dated and with the artist's stamp 'hotdog USA. 1967 #5 jan
cremer. n.y.' (on the reverse); signed and inscribed 'cremer n.y.' (on the stretcher)
oil on canvas
25.5 x 35.5 cm.
Painted in 1967 (3)

John McWhinnie, New York.
Glenn Horowitz Bookseller, New York.

Specialist note

The three works are designs for a commission Jan Cremer received during his American Pop Art period (1965-1976). Ivan C. Karp had been co-director of the Leo Castelli Gallery, New York, from 1959 to 1969, a gallery that has been of major importance for the development of Pop Art, and he opened his own space in 1969, the OK Harris Gallery, New York. For the opening of this new gallery, Cremer was asked to make a series of silkscreens, titled Made in USA, portraying American clichés, such as the phrase: 'What this country needs is a good five-cents cigar' (this is what Thomas R. Marshall, vice president of the United States, is rumored to have said in 1917 during a debate in the Senate, when Senator Joseph Bristow during an extensive speech several times said 'What this country needs...').
Cremer made the test prints for the series, but the actual series was never to be published.
The title of the series is also reminiscent of Cremer's third book Made in USA from 1969, in which the writer describes the commercialization of sexual relationships in New York.