Ed Ruscha art in Fifty Shades of Grey

The painting of two ships in Christian Grey’s sleek office in Fifty Shades of Grey is Brother, Sister (1987) by the American Pop artist Ed Ruscha.

The real painting forms part of the Swiss bank UBS’s contemporary art collection, while another work in Ruscha’s tall ship series sold for $1,777,000 at Christie’s in New York in 2007.

Ruscha produced a series of silhouetted sailing ships during the late 1980s, airbrushing the vessels in shady, monochromatic style.