Bonnie + Clyde. 1973.
Acrylic on canvas.
Signed "cply" and dated in lower right. Titled on verso of the stretcher. 81 x 66 cm (31.8 x 25.9 in). [CH].

• From the work series "X-rated" (1972-1975).
• Shown in 1974 as part of the seminal exhibition "X-Rated" at the New York Cultural Center, which was of fundamental significance for Copley's career.
• The painting was used for the official poster of aforementioned exhibition.
• Particularly iconic work by the provocative American Pop-Art surrealist.
• Other works by the artist are in possession of, among others, the MoMA and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam and the Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden.
• Since March 2020 the Kasmin Gallery, New York, shows the exhibition "William Copley: the New York Years".

This work is registered with the William N. Copley Estate, New York. We would like to thank Anthony Atlas for his kind assistance in cataloging this lot.

PROVENANCE: Galerie Lelong, Zurich (verso of the stretcher with the gallery label).
Private collection Switzerland.

EXHIBITION: CPLY/X-Rated. An Exhibition of New Paintings and Drawings, New York Cultural Center in cooperation with the Fairleigh Dickinson University, New York, March 22 - May 19, 1974 (verso of the stretcher with a typographically inscribed exhibition label).
CPLY: Easy to Read Storybook, Bawag Foundation, Vienna, July 9 - Septemebr 7, 2003, cat. no. 25 (with color illu. on p. 45).

"What other subjects are there besides sex? Painting is just the next best thing."
William N. Copley