FLOAT

Hurting the Word Radio #2

Maker
Ed Ruscha
Year
1964
Rank
11 of 100

Hurting the Word Radio #2

Hurting the Word Radio #2 by Ed Ruscha (1964) is ranked 11 in the FLOAT 100 for Fine art. It sold for $52,485,000 on 13 November 2019. Ruscha's word paintings are his market core; this sale anchors his actively traded print editions.

What is it, and why is it in the FLOAT 100?

Ruscha's word paintings are his market core; this sale anchors his actively traded print editions.

Oil on canvas (signature word painting)

What is the best-sourced number for it?

Figure
$52,485,000
Kind
Realized at auction
Date
13 November 2019

Christie's New York, $52.485M (then artist record), native USD. Market liquidity for Ruscha is in his prints; this trophy anchors the name.

This is a realized sale. Somebody paid it. Source.

How this is made

The figure
One reference price, taken from a named public source and shown with its own kind. FLOAT does not average it with anything or adjust it for time.
Realized or not
A realized price is a completed sale. A market asking price and a price-guide value are not sales, and are labeled as such wherever they appear.
Why no grade ladder
Most FLOAT 100 entries are individual objects. There is one of this, so there is no population and no spread across grades to show.
Archive
2026-08-08