Retrieved October 13, 2025.
Spiritual America was a short‑lived, artist‑run gallery at 5 Rivington Street on Manhattan’s Lower East Side that operated from October 28, 1983, to March 1984. The operation kept irregular hours and appointment‑only viewings. The gallery was founded by Kim Fine who mounted the first presentation of Richard Prince’s rephotograph of a 1970s image of Brooke Shields by Gary Gross, out of her apartment. Prince claims he decided to open his own gallery and that he "hired a woman to beard the place" after Metro Pictures dropped Prince from its rosters over the eponymous photograph.[3] Kimberly Fine had previously worked at the Museum of Modern Art’s membership desk and at Time Inc., where she met Prince; she recalls swapping Time shifts with Prince and an encounter with Alfred Stieglitz’s Spiritual America that inspired her to christen the shell gallery after the 1923 image. Fine received cease‑and‑desist threats by phone from attorney Richard Golub (then representing photographer Gary Gross) shortly before the inaugural opening. In a 2022 interview, Fine stated that Prince left New York for several weeks and that pro bono counsel later advised, after which viewing continued, by appointment, out of her ground-floor residence between Bowery and Christie st. On his blog, Prince accounted for the artist's proof of By Richard Prince, A photograph of Brooke Shields, By Garry Gross rendered in lieu of $150 to a drummer-plumber in exchange for fixing his toilet. Spiritual America (1983–1984) Spiritual America hosted four exhibitions/events during its run: Oct. 28, 1983 — By Richard Prince, a Photograph of Brooke Shields by Gary Gross (single work; appointment‑only after opening).Fine's presentation emphasized difficulty of access and a reverential preference for blacked‑out windows, black‑painted walls, and a single source of light. The initial black‑on‑white invitation cards read “By Richard Prince, a Photograph of Brooke Shields by Gary Gross and omitted hours and dates. Fine designated the word “TESTIMONY” as the doorcode for entry; the card survives in ephemera collections with Fine's name and address as the letterhead. Nov.–Dec. 1983 — Peter Nadin: Still Life(paintings). Visitors brought fruit; Nadin read poems from his book Still Life. Dec. 31, 1983 — New Year’s Eve event (temporary red‑paper wall murals by Walter Robinson; removed the next day; no surviving installation photos). Feb. 1–21, 1984 — POP (works by Jeff Koons, Sarah Charlesworth, Louise Lawler, Allan McCollum, Cindy Sherman and Prince). Related materials and provenance A bookseller listing documents Gross’s self‑published brochure Little Women, associated with the Brooke Shields session. Spiritual America: The Catalog 1983–1984 was published by Sandra Schulman in 2014. Schulman mentions the legal risk climate and the intentionally private staging of the 8x10 ektachrome largely considered to be Prince's breakout work. In a 2022 interview on Montez Press Radio, Fine recounted the crowded inaugural opening, a price of US$150 for the print, and a conspicuous absence of documentation. Today Spiritual America is #4 on the list of most expensive photographs ever sold. The storefront at 5 Rivington Street has subsequently hosted pop‑up exhibitions that reference the 1983–84 project and its history.[6] In a later deposition regarding Spiritual America Four, Prince stated that he would not object to others copying and selling the work, framing this view as consistent with his approach to appropriation. In an October 2025 Vanity Fair article, Prince is quoted reflecting on the limits of such protests given that artists rarely control who owns their works once they circulate in collections. Schulman, Sandra (2015). Spiritual America: The Catalog 1983–1984. New York: Slink Productions. ISBN 978-1511417693. Fine, Kim. "Montez Press Radio — Show 2973 (Interview with Kim Fine)". Montez Press Radio (Radio interview). Interviewed by Elizabeth Chatham; Victoria Campbell. New York City: Montez Press. Retrieved October 13, 2025. "Richard Prince - Birdtalk". www.richardprince.com. Retrieved October 14, 2025. Prince, Richard. "Birdtalk (site notes) — Glenn Branca band; plumbing sidebar". RichardPrince.com. Retrieved October 13, 2025. Sidebar: Stephan was a plumber by day… In the mid‑80s he did some plumbing for me and I gave him a print of Spiritual America. "Little Women — Garry (Gary) Gross (bookseller listing)". ZVAB (antiquarian marketplace). Retrieved October 13, 2025. Listing for Gross's self‑published brochure associated with the Brooke Shields images. "Exhibition at 5 Rivington Street (site of "Spiritual America") — Instagram post". Instagram. Retrieved October 13, 2025. Contemporary pop‑up acknowledging the history of the 5 Rivington Street space. "Deposition excerpt (Richard Prince) — Brooke Shields / Gary Gross matters (PDF)" (PDF). bookpdf.co.