The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 13, 2025

Gift Wrapped Doll #3

1992

James Rosenquist

(American, 1933–2017)
America
oil on canvas
Unframed: 152.4 x 152.4 cm (60 x 60 in.)
Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund 1994.3
© Estate of James Rosenquist / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

As models for this painting and its related series, James Rosenquist placed dolls under strong artificial light in his studio.

Description

In Gift Wrapped Doll #3, James Rosenquist paints a doll’s face distorted by iridescent cellophane wrapping. The doll stares blankly at the viewer, waves of plastic splitting its large eyes and round cheeks. Up close, the painting dissolves into vibrant fields of color and light. As seen here, Rosenquist’s work often explores American consumer culture and commodification through the abstraction of everyday objects.
  • James Rosenquist: The Serenade for the Doll after Claude Debussy or Gift Wrapped Dolls and Masquerade of the Military Industrial Complex Looking Down on the Insect World. New York: Leo Castelli Gallery, 1993. Reproduced p. 10, pl. 3.
    New York, New York, Leo Castelli Gallery, James Rosenquist, Mar. 20 - Apr. 17, 1993.
    Russell, John. “A Painter Finds That Dolls Can Be Dynamite,” The New York Times, April 11, 1993. www.nytimes.com
    Tokyo, Akira Ikeda Gallery, James Rosenquist: The Serenade for the Doll after Claude Debussy or Gift Wrapped Dolls, September 1993.
    Chicago, Illinois, Feigen Incorporated, James Rosenquist: Gift Wrapped Dolls or Serenade for the Doll after Claude Debussy, Sept. 10 - Oct. 9, 1993.
    Cleveland Museum of Art, “Recent Acquisitions to the Cleveland Museum of Art Collection,” August 26, 1994, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. archive.org
    Heartney, Eleanor. “Malevolent Dolls,” ARTnews, Summer 1998, p. 167. p. 167
    Rosenquist, James, with David Dalton. Painting Below Zero: Notes on a Life in Art. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2009. Reference to series, p. 301–302.
    Cleveland Museum of Art. Museum Masters: 2016-17 Companion Guide. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2016. Mentioned: P. 25
  • {{cite web|title=Gift Wrapped Doll #3|url=false|author=James Rosenquist|year=1992|access-date=13 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1994.3