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The paradox of Rene Ricard is nowhere clearer than this sherbet-hued painting. Notorious for overindulgence, unpredictability and a sharp tongue, Ricard was simultaneously a sensitive, intuitive artist who juxtaposed beauty with decay by layering text over found images and spontaneous abstraction. Here, a burst of Chagall-gone-tropical color provides the backdrop for a brief, dark poem: “Crimes of Youth / rape / sodomy / murder / rape sodomy / murder”
Pastel and acrylic on museum board 40 x 18 in. / 101.6 x 45.7 cm
White finished poplar frame 41.5 x 19.5 in. / 105.4 x 48.7 cm with 1 in. moulding
Signed by the artist “RR ’90” in paint lower center
Crimes of Youth was exhibited at the artist’s first solo exhibition at the Petersburg Gallery, New York April 21 – May 23 1990.
Ricard was a poet and art critic who published numerous books of poetry, and his increasing use of text in his work over the 1980’s reflects this interest in the written word. Ricard’s confessional poetry is often handwritten over spontaneous drawings. Ricard’s confidence (and his bedroom-eyed allure) attracted the attention of Andy Warhol, and the young Rene (formerly Albert Napoleon Ricard) became his protege. He would appear in three Warhol films, even playing the Factory founder himself in “Andy Warhol Story”. Warhol would later call the famously acid-tongued Ricard “The George Sanders of the Lower East Side, the Rex Reed of the art world.”
By the early 1980s, Rene Ricard was a fixture in the New York art scene, not only as an accomplished artist, but as a critic. Penning enlightening and poetic essays for Artforum, he turned his attention to rising stars such as Julian Schnabel and Alex Katz. Ricard famously wrote the first major article on Jean-Michel Basquiat. “The Radiant Child” is credited with launching Basquiat’s career, and is considered a seminal contemporary art essay.
