James Rosenquist, Where the Water Goes, from Welcome to the Water Planet, 1989

Monumental in scale and visually electrifying, Where the Water Goes from James Rosenquist’s celebrated Welcome to the Water Planet series stands as a masterful example of the artist’s ability to fuse Pop imagery with sweeping, cinematic abstraction. Spanning an impressive 102 ¾ by 58 inches, the composition immerses the viewer in a dramatic visual narrative where fragmented imagery—industrial forms, cosmic bursts of color, and sweeping gestural shapes—collide within a dynamic and surreal landscape. Rosenquist, renowned for translating the visual language of advertising into high art, orchestrates a powerful interplay of scale, texture, and color, creating an image that feels both monumental and immersive.

Executed using an intricate combination of pressed paper pulp, lithograph, and collage in colors on Rives BFK and TGL handmade paper, the work demonstrates Rosenquist’s extraordinary technical innovation in printmaking. The richly layered surface and sculptural pulp elements create a tactile dimension rarely seen in prints, elevating the work to the level of a monumental mixed-media composition. This example is hand-signed by James Rosenquist in pencil and numbered from the highly limited edition of only 32, underscoring its rarity and importance. Rosenquist’s works reside in the permanent collections of leading institutions including the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Guggenheim Museum, and the Tate. Where the Water Goes is an exceptional and museum-worthy work that captures the bold ambition and visionary scale that define Rosenquist’s celebrated oeuvre.

James Rosenquist Where the Water Goes, from Welcome to the Water Planet, 1989 is pressed paper pulp, lithograph and colage in colors on Rives BFK and TGL handmade paper, is hand-signed by James Rosenquist (North Dakota, 1933 – 2017) in pencil in the lower right and is numbered from the edition of 32 in pencil in the lower left.

Catalogue Raisonné & COA:

James Rosenquist Where the Water Goes, from Welcome to the Water Planet, 1989 is fully documented and referenced in the below catalogue raisonnés and texts (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoices that will accompany the sale of the work).

1. Glenn, Constance. Time Dust James Rosenquist: Complete Graphics: 1962-1992. Rizzoli, 1993. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 215.
2. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany this artwork.

About the Framing:

Framed to museum-grade, conservation standards, James Rosenquist Where the Water Goes, from Welcome to the Water Planet, 1989 is presented in a complementary moulding and optical grade Plexiglas.