"The pictures I went after, 'stole,' were too good to be true. They were about wishful thinking, public pictures that happen to appear in the advertising sections of mass-market magazines, pictures not associated with an author...It was their look I was interested in. I wanted to re-present the closest thing to the real thing."

Richard Prince (b. 1949), Untitled (cowboy), 1989. Ektacolor photograph, unique, 50 x 70 inches (127 x 177.8 cm)

In the early 1980s Richard Prince began to exhibit examples from his Cowboys in which he rephotographed Marlboro cigarette ads, cropping out all text and framing them like fine art. In doing so he had identified a rich symbol in American culture that embodied adventure, self-reliance, and rugged individuality.

Beginning in the 1950s Marlboro ads featured cowboys riding through the wide-open terrain of the Wild West. The cowboy was instantly recognizable in denim, leather chaps, boots, spurs, and Stetson hat. Almost exclusively white, he is portrayed as handsome, weathered, and fit. Both a role model and sex symbol, the cowboy appeals to men and women alike. By the mid-1960s the Marlboro Man, as this figure became known, was so recognizable and brand-identified that Philip Morris was able to drop all direct references to cigarettes in its ads in favor of subtly inviting smokers to come, and be part of, the epic Western landscape of "Marlboro Country."

According to Prince, "I started taking pictures of the cowboys. You don't see them out in public anymore—you can't ride down a highway and see them on a billboard. But at Time Life, I was working with seven or eight magazines, and Marlboro had ads in almost all of them. Every week, I'd see one and be like, 'Oh, that's mine. Thank you.' It's sort of like beachcombing."

Prince's Cowboy series makes the most of the lush, high-budget, art-directed aesthetic of the advertising campaign. After eliminating the text and enlarging the image, the artist did little to these already gorgeous pictures. They stand on their own as relics of an imagined, individualistic culture.

While Prince never moralizes, the Cowboy photos' origins in ads designed to lure everyone and anyone to a life of addiction is ever present. These cowboys may have been intended to emanate an image of health and virility, but that delusion was later shattered when two Marlboro models dying of lung cancer very publicly decried Philip Morris for promoting cigarette consumption.

• What words come to mind when you view this image?
• Discuss the qualities associated with this photograph that might be attractive to a consumer.
• In its original form Prince's image was part of a magazine ad that also included a slogan and picture of a pack of Marlboro cigarettes. How does the impact of the image change after it is taken from a magazine page, cropped, enlarged, framed, and placed on the gallery or museum wall? Discuss.
• This Marlboro advertising campaign was one of the most successful in history. What attributes do you think contributed to this success? What qualities associated with cowboys would be attractive to an advertiser? How has Prince changed the message?
• The photos we find in print ads are intended to help us not only identify the product but also identify with the target audience who will buy and use it. Who do you think would be the intended audience for this ad? How can you tell?

• Cigarette advertisers try to glamorize their product with positive associations—including promises that smoking will make you cool, attractive to the opposite sex, or successful—but the truth is that smoking will just make you sick.
  
  You can make your own "true ad." Just look through magazines for an ad that you can transform by making it truthful. Then redraw your own ad to show the true effects of smoking.
  
  Visit costkids.org/trueads/trueadframeset.htm to view true ads submitted by other kids.
  Visual Arts


• Americans are bombarded with images from ads. The average person sees at least between 400 and 600 ads per day.
  
  Look through several magazines and find an ad that appeals to you. Record your responses to the following questions suggested by the Center for Media Literacy:
  • Who created this message?
  • What creative techniques are used to attract my attention?
  • How might different people understand this message differently than I?
  • What values, lifestyles, and points of view are represented in, or omitted from, this message?
  • Why is this message being sent?
  Share the ad you chose and your responses with your classmates. Looking carefully at media messages will help to make you a more informed consumer.
  Social Studies