THE HIPPIE DRAWINGS: THE RICHARD PRINCE PURPLE BOOK

Published by: Purple Institute, 2005
Softcover
20 × 16 cm
88 pages
Language: English
Condition: Very Good. Light handling wear; interior clean and well-preserved.

The Hippie Drawings gathers a selection of Richard Prince’s iconic drawings produced in his distinctive appropriation based style. Published in 2005 by Purple Institute as Purple Supplement No. 3, the book forms part of the collectible series of artist-focused publications associated with the influential Purple cultural platform.

In these works, Prince revisits the visual mythology of the American counterculture hippies, road imagery, psychedelic motifs, and fragments of popular iconography reframed through his loose, deliberately naïve drawing style. As with much of Prince’s practice, the images blur authorship, nostalgia, and cultural recycling, transforming familiar symbols into ambiguous and ironic artifacts.

The publication reflects Prince’s broader engagement with American visual memory, where subcultural imagery and mass-media references intersect. Presented in an intimate format, the book functions less as a conventional monograph and more as a compact artist’s notebook direct, playful, and conceptually sharp.

As part of the Purple Institute series, The Hippie Drawings has become a sought-after collectible among followers of contemporary art publishing and Richard Prince’s work, representing a small but significant piece of early-2000s independent art-book culture.