Schrafft's Hollywood Study

Schrafft's Hollywood Study — Ed Ruscha. 1967.

Medium: Blue ballpoint pen and graphite on textured off-white wove paper placemat (discolored to light yellow), with off-set lithography in yellowish brown metal ink. Dimensions: 20.3 × 30.7 cm (8 × 12 1/8 in.).

Collection record: Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago. Museum connection according to this source; current display unverified.

As with many of Ruscha’s motifs, around 1967 he took artistic ownership of the Hollywood sign, using it in a wide variety of media and compositions. Here he has dashed off two studies of the iconic sign, presumably while drinking a cup of coffee at Schrafft’s Restaurant (stains from a cup are visible at center). As with many of his word images, his conception of the sign echoes that of his famous 1962 photograph of a Standard Oil station, seen in three-quarter view with one-point perspective diminishing to the left.

Description: © Art Institute of Chicago, original record, CC BY 4.0. HTML formatting removed; wording retained. Other artwork metadata: CC0.

Source: official collection record. Metadata selected and normalized by Artline from the source export, accessed 10 September 2026; no museum endorsement. Reproduction rights are separate.