Metro, Petro, Neuro, Psycho

1998

Getty: a retrospective of drawings and “Picture Without Words”

The J. Paul Getty Museum organises a retrospective devoted solely to his works on paper, and he is commissioned to produce a nearly thirty-foot (about 9 m) high vertical painting, “PICTURE WITHOUT WORDS”, for the lobby of the Harold M. Williams Auditorium of the Getty Center.

1999–2001

Retrospectives at the Walker Art Center, the Hirshhorn and the Reina Sofía

In 1999 the Walker Art Center mounts “Edward Ruscha: Editions 1959–1999”, a survey of his prints, books and graphic works (well over 300), the show travels to LACMA in 2000, and Ruscha co-authors the catalogue raisonné with curator Siri Engberg. A retrospective follows at the Hirshhorn Museum in 2000 and at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in 2001.

2000

The Achenbach Foundation buys his complete graphic archive

The Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, part of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, buys the complete graphic archive of 325 prints and 800 working proofs for $10 million, funded by the philanthropist Phyllis Wattis, and negotiates for impressions of future prints.