Stains: Motor Oil (Texaco 30W-HD)
1969
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
motor oil on wove paper
Dimensions
sheet: 30 × 27.31 cm (11 13/16 × 10 3/4 in.)
Classification
Portfolio
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of the Collectors Committee
Accession Number
2013.60.1.72
Art Historical Context
Ed Ruscha's *Stains: Motor OilTexaco 30W-HD)* (1969) is a playful yet provocative entry in his innovative *Stains* portfolio, series of 10 works that pushed the boundaries of painting in the Pop Art era. Created during a time when artists were redefining art through everyday consumerism and mass culture, Ruscha—a key figure in West Coast Conceptualism—captured the gritty essence of American car culture. By titling the piece after a specific Texaco motor oil product, he infused the abstract stain with linguistic wit, blurring the lines between commercial branding and fine art. The medium itsel...
About the Artist
Ed Ruscha
Edward Ruscha, born Edward Joseph Ruscha IV on December 16, 1937, in Omaha, Nebraska, grew up in Oklahoma City after his family relocated there in 1941. From a young age, he was drawn to cartooning, supported by his mother, and his early artistic spark was nurtured amid the American Midwest before he moved to Los Angeles in 1956. There, he enrolled at the Chouinard Art Institute (now California In...