Lace collars have been a recurring part of my personal iconography for over two decades. The works featured here and several others not pictured were made at different times and in varying contexts. Art is often prescient, however. Nowadays I can’t look at any of them without thinking of “The Notorious RGB”. It feels as if they were always about her, even before I was aware of her existence. The late Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s iconic collection of collars were more than mere fashion accessories. Through them, she staked her claim on a traditionally male garment and at the same time, feminized it.
The wider significance of her collars is detailed in Vanessa Friedman’s article, Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Lace Collar Wasn’t an Accessory, It Was a Gauntlet, The New York Times, first published September 20, 2020:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/20/style/rbg-style.html
When he was commissioned to design a visual tribute to RGB for the front cover of THE NEW YORKER, October 5, 2020, illustrator Bob Starke created the following work:
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cover-story/cover-story-2020-10-05
Pictured above:
Remnants, 1999, acrylic on two canvases, 75.5 x 12.5 cm (top), 12.5 x 12.5 cm
(bottom)
Icons, Rob Starke, cover illustration, THE NEW YORKER, October 5, 2020
Pictured below:
Regeneration, 2020, linocut in progress, lino block 42.5 x 26.5 cm
Anonyme, 1998, linocut printed from three blocks on Japanese mending tissue, 73 x 62 cm
Untitled, 1998, linocut printed from two blocks on Japanese mending tissue, 73 x 62 cm
Coil, 2001, acrylic on seven canvases, 60 x 55.5 cm
Still Life with Lace collar, 2001, acrylic on three canvases (detail) 131.5 x 40.5 cm
Page from an Album, 2000, linocut printed from three blocks on Japanese mending tissue, 63 x 74 cm
Lace, 2000, acrylic on two canvases, 23.5 x 30 cm (upper) 20 x 25 cm (lower)
Web, 2000 - 2020, acrylic on 4 canvases, 35 x 25 cm
For more about Ruth Bader Ginsburg, go here:
https://www.biography.com/law-figure/ruth-bader-ginsburg
The acclaimed documentary, RBG, 2018, is also highly recommended:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RBG_(film)
The trailer for RBG is here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biIRlcQqmOc
R.I.P., RBG. Long may your legacy continue.
