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The Arts Intel Report

Ed Ruscha: Tom Sawyer Paintings

Ed Ruscha, Tom Sawyer #2, 2022.

Oct 19 – Dec 22, 2022
4 Rue de Ponthieu, 75008 Paris, France

Most of us have read Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, in which young Tom and his friend Huckleberry Finn run amok in Missouri. Tom is the smartest boy in the valley, and his gift for reverse psychology allows him to dump chores on his peers and get hold of their trinkets. Thinking of the scene that sees Tom tricking his friends into whitewashing a wooden fence, the American artist Ed Ruscha has created a new series—paintings of simple wooden slats. They’re on view in the gallery, alongside presentations by Jenny Saville and James Turrell. —Elena Clavarino

Photo: Jeff McLane/© Ed Ruscha