(Berkeley: Landweber/Artists, 1989, a total edition of 60), a portfolio of 12 Cibachrome prints, each matted with text on vellum interleaving, numbered, 1988; together with letterpress title/plate list/colophon, editioned '36/50' in pencil; accompanied by Are You Rea (Los Angeles: self-published, 1968), a portfolio of 25 lithographs; together with the colophon, signed and editioned '436/500' in ink, and preface by Alex Sweetman. Folio, white-lettered black linen portfolio

Acquired from the photographer, 1991

Robert Heinecken, Recto/Verso (Portland, 2006) (the complete set reproduced) 

Robert Heinecken (Chicago: Museum of Contemporary Art, 1999), pp𝓀. 53-9 and 86-7

Mark Alice Durant, Robert Heinecken: A Material History (Tucson: Center for Creative Photography/The Univer🐟sity of Arizona, 2003), pp. 36-41 and 84-9

Robert Heinecken: Object Matter (New York: The Museum of Modern Art♔, 2014), pp. 50-9 and 134-9

This portfolio is in overall excellent condition. Recto/Verso: The Cibachrome prints are in generally excellent condition. The colors are rich and saturated, with no apparent fading. Some prints are slightly soiled and there are a few scratches that do not appear to break the emulsion that are only visible in raking light. Specific condition notes are as follows: - Plate 1: A few fingerprints in the margin are only visible in raking light. There is an abrasion along the lower edge of the mat. - Plate 3: There is a tiny black deposit in the margin. - Plate 4: There is a tiny red deposit in the margin. - Plate 7: In raking light, two areas of chemical staining (possibly from processing), are visible. This does not affect the coloration. Are you Rea: The lithographs are in generally excellent condition. There is occasional soiling on the reverse and along the margins. There is a 1/2-inch red-colored area of indeterminate nature on the colophon. The case is slightly soiled and the joints are worn.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

In his two portfolios Recto/Verso (1989) and Are You Rea (1968), Robert Heinecken manipulated advertising imagery.  He used the same method of contact printing for both: a page from a mass-circulation magazine with images of fashions and products of everyday life on either side is placed on light sensitive paper and exposed to light. The resulting image, a photogram made without the use of camera or film, superimposes the visual and verbal information from the front and back of the magazine page.

As a reader turns magazine pages – page after page – the impact of the photograph is largely subliminal. With these aleatory photographs obtained by randomness and collapsing, Heinecken goes again this usual reading sequence. A leading West Coast figure of the Conceptual Art of the West Coast, Heinecken revealed and criticized with these two s⭕eries made over 20 years the construction and the superficiality of media culture.

Recto/Verso and Are Your Rea are in the following institutional collections: The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Tate Modern, London; L♕os Angeles County Museum of Art; The Art Institute of Chicago; The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago; and the Center for🅠 Creative Photography, Tucson.