Thomas Ruff – Gloire au grand Jacques Chirac / Glory to the great Jacques Chirac

1998

This thought-provoking photographic print by renowned German artist Thomas Ruff, titled Gloire au grand Jacques Chirac, offers a compelling and ambiguous commentary on political power and media imagery. The work references French President Jacques Chirac and his controversial role in resuming nuclear testing during the 1990s.

Hand-signed, dated, and numbered
Published by Texte zur Kunst, Berlin 

The image appropriates and manipulates a historical press photograph, placing Chirac in a god-like pose as jets fly and missiles launch at the wave of his hand. The mirrored French text along the image border—“Gloire au grand Jacques Chirac”—can be interpreted as both reverent and ironic, embodying the duality Ruff is known for. The subtitle, “Chiracs Kampf für das Verbot von Nuklearversuchen” (“Chirac’s Struggle for the Ban on Nuclear Tests”), adds to the tension between critique and parody.

Professionally framed, floated in a custom-cut, thick double acid-free passe-partout, in a high-quality, handcrafted white wooden frame with PLEXIGLAS Optical HC, scratch-resistant and UV-protected. 
Size framed 52 x 42 cm 

Thomas Ruff (b. 1958, Zell am Harmersbach, Germany) is one of the most influential photographers of his generation. A student of Bernd and Hilla Becher at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, Ruff is known for his conceptual approach to photography and his critical engagement with the photographic image. From portraiture to architecture, from pornography to space imagery, Ruff explores how photography shapes and distorts reality. His works are held in major public collections including MoMA New York, Centre Pompidou Paris, and Tate Modern London.