Artist Monograph

Bill Owens, American

American, born 1938

Physical Scale

Scale bracket	Works	Share
Small (< 30 cm)	13	65%
Medium (30–100 cm)	7	35%

Range: 22.5 cm → 35.6 cm (largest side)

American Contemporaries

Catalogued Works

MoMA — 20 shown

Title	Date	Medium	Dimensions	Department	Credit line
Untitled Photograph Acc. 47.2010	1970	Gelatin silver print	8 × 10" (20.3 × 25.4 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Photography	Gift of Robert Harshorn Shimshak and Marion Brenner
I find a sense of freedom in the suburbs…. You assume the mask of suburbia for outward appearances and yet no one knows what you really do. Photograph Acc. 48.2010	1971	Gelatin silver print	14 × 11" (35.6 × 27.9 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Photography	Gift of Robert Harshorn Shimshak and Marion Brenner
Some days when there is no one to play with I build Glenn a tent play house out of two chairs and two blankets. Photograph Acc. 49.2010	1971	Gelatin silver print	8 × 10" (20.3 × 25.4 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Photography	Gift of Robert Harshorn Shimshak and Marion Brenner
We feel most people have the wrong attitude about sex, that it's nasty and to be only in the dark. With us sex takes care of itself. Photograph Acc. 50.2010	1971	Gelatin silver print	11 × 14" (27.9 × 35.6 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Photography	Gift of Robert Harshorn Shimshak and Marion Brenner
We really enjoy getting together with our friends to drink and dance. It's a wild party and we're having a great time. Photograph Acc. 51.2010	1971	Gelatin silver print	Image: 6 × 8 7/8" (15.2 × 22.5 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Photography	Gift of Robert Harshorn Shimshak and Marion Brenner
A lot of people say we're chunks of meat, like cattle, but we're not. We're all individuals with dreams and aspirations like everybody else. Being a beauty contestant has taught me about myself, other people, poise and public speaking., If I had it to do over again, I would. Photograph Acc. 52.2010	1972	Gelatin silver print	11 × 14" (27.9 × 35.6 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Photography	Gift of Robert Harshorn Shimshak and Marion Brenner
I believe in women's liberation. I'm tired of the image of the women who has the most sanitary toilet bowl, the cleanest floor, and the brattiest kids as the supermother., I want to be able to change with my children and to change with my life as I grow older. Staying at home and taking care of the kids doesn't help. Photograph Acc. 53.2010	1972	Gelatin silver print	11 × 14" (27.9 × 35.6 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Photography	Gift of Robert Harshorn Shimshak and Marion Brenner
I get a lot of compliments on the front room wall. I like Italian Syrocco floral designs over the mantle. It goes with the Palos Verde rock fireplace. Photograph Acc. 54.2010	1972	Gelatin silver print	11 × 14" (27.9 × 35.6 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Photography	Gift of Robert Harshorn Shimshak and Marion Brenner
It's a great pleasure to watch yourself make love in the six dozen mirrors that line the ceilings and walls. I've spent a tremendous amount of thought and planning to get the total effect of the bedroom., It's fascinating to watch our friends' reactions to seeing the luxury and sensuousness of the room. Our bedroom is the most enjoyable room in the house. Photograph Acc. 55.2010	1972	Gelatin silver print	14 × 11" (35.6 × 27.9 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Photography	Gift of Robert Harshorn Shimshak and Marion Brenner
Ronald Regan Photograph Acc. 348.1976	1972	Gelatin silver print	8 × 10" (20.3 × 25.4 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Photography	Purchase
We really enjoy living in a mobile home. My hobby is collecting coins and my wife plays her Wurlitzer for entertainment. Photograph Acc. 56.2010	1972	Gelatin silver print	8 × 10" (20.3 × 25.4 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Photography	Gift of Robert Harshorn Shimshak and Marion Brenner
We're really happy. Our kids are healthy, we eat good food, and we have a really nice home. Photograph Acc. 349.1976	1972	Gelatin silver print	8 1/16 × 9 15/16" (20.4 × 25.3 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Photography	Gift of the artist
Mardi Gras is an annual fund-raising event staged by the Pleasanton Juniors. King and Queen Candidates hold moneymaking events and the candidate who raises the most money wins., Last year we raised $12,800 for the senior citizens' transportation system and $1,000 for youth counseling programs. The climax is the Mardi Gras Ball. Over 500 people come to drink, eat, dance and celebrate the coronation. Photograph Acc. 57.2010	1973	Gelatin silver print	8 × 10" (20.3 × 25.4 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Photography	Gift of Robert Harshorn Shimshak and Marion Brenner
Untitled Photograph Acc. 62.2010	1973	Gelatin silver print	8 × 10" (20.3 × 25.4 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Photography	Gift of Robert Harshorn Shimshak and Marion Brenner
I really enjoy being here because it's my pleasure to help people. They'd have to fire me before I'd quit. I know I'm loved and vice versa. Photograph Acc. 58.2010	1975	Gelatin silver print	8 × 10" (20.3 × 25.4 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Photography	Gift of Robert Harshorn Shimshak and Marion Brenner
I've been a chiropractor for thirty-three years, working directly and indirectly with nerves through the spinal column. I'm thinking of retiring in a couple of years and going into worm farming. Worms are an asset to society. Photograph Acc. 63.2010	1975-77	Gelatin silver print	11 × 14" (27.9 × 35.6 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Photography	Gift of Robert Harshorn Shimshak and Marion Brenner
I've been a UPI correspondent, a publicist for an Italian film producer, a writer for the U.S. Army, a public relations man and an operations manager for record stores. Now I'm promotion and marketing director for a newspaper chain., Within a year, I'll be off to Turkey. It will be a jumping-off place. The world will be my oyster. Photograph Acc. 59.2010	1975	Gelatin silver print	8 × 10" (20.3 × 25.4 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Photography	Gift of Robert Harshorn Shimshak and Marion Brenner
Like everyone else, I'm caught up in the rat race. I work eighty hours a week and with my real estate investments earn $100,000 a year. I just got divorced., In the insurance business the public thinks we promise the moon but we can only deliver half a moon. Photograph Acc. 60.2010	1975	Gelatin silver print	8 × 10" (20.3 × 25.4 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Photography	Gift of Robert Harshorn Shimshak and Marion Brenner
Untitled Photograph Acc. 61.2010	1975	Gelatin silver print	8 × 10" (20.3 × 25.4 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Photography	Gift of Robert Harshorn Shimshak and Marion Brenner
Television cameramen are a special breed. When you read something in a book you say that's someone's opinion. When you see it on TV you say that's gospel. I have one minute, thirty seconds to make a statement., It had to be accurate, it has to be the truth. Photograph Acc. 64.2010	1976	Gelatin silver print	8 × 10" (20.3 × 25.4 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Photography	Gift of Robert Harshorn Shimshak and Marion Brenner