Thomas Ruff

German, born 1958

Portrait (R. Eisch)

© Thomas Ruff / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Image downloads are for educational use only. For all other purposes, please see our Obtaining and Using Images page.

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© Thomas Ruff / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Image downloads are for educational use only. For all other purposes, please see our Obtaining and Using Images page.

© Thomas Ruff / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Image downloads are for educational use only. For all other purposes, please see our Obtaining and Using Images page.

Portrait (R. Eisch), 1999

Artwork Details

Collection Highlight

Materials

chromogenic color print

Edition:

4/4

Measurements

sheet: 82 5/8 x 65 inches (209.87 x 165.1 cm); framed: 82 3/4 x 65 1/16 x 1 9/16 inches (210.19 x 165.26 x 3.97 cm)

Collection Buffalo AKG Art Museum

Credit

Sarah Norton Goodyear Fund, 2001

Accession ID

P2001:5

Unlike many artists, Thomas Ruff does not believe it is possible for a photograph to express anything more than the surface appearance of an individual. In his series of enlarged photographic portraits of friends, such as Portrait (R. Eisch), the figures are just objects—each presented in a frontal pose on a neutral background and illuminated by a flash that creates a bright, impersonal light. The images are successful because Ruff’s subjects knew what the artist expected and acted accordingly. Once, when Ruff was asked if his goal was to elevate ordinary people to a kind of celebrity status, he responded that he was primarily representing his own interests rather than making a statement about democracy, commenting, “My friends are more important to me than any president.”

Label from Looking Out and Looking In: A Selection of Contemporary Photography, January 19–June 9, 2013

Other Works by This Artist