Chocolate Room
print in the National Gallery of Art (NGA 174035)
Chocolate Room is an installation artwork by the American artist Edward Ruscha. It comprises a room lined with chocolate, which has been screen-printed onto sheets of paper.
Chocolate Room was first exhibited at the 35th Venice Biennial in 1970. Over the course of the exhibition the chocolate slowly melted, and visitors carved anti-war slogans and symbols into the sheets. It was closed after it attracted large amounts of ants. Since 1995 it has been exhibited more than eight times, and was purchased in 2003 by the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles for an estimated US$1.5 million. The smell of the chocolate is a key element.
Background
Chocolate Room was not the first time Ruscha had used unconventional materials in his art. The year before Chocolate Room was first exhibited, he created "Stains", an unbound, 75-page book with each page featuring a silk screening of various found materials, including candle-wax, chocolate, Coca-Cola and witch-hazel. By placing these objects in the context of a book, their markings took on connotations of the written word.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Chocolate Room” as print in the National Gallery of Art (NGA 174035). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as print in the National Gallery of Art (NGA 174035). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q77010349. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1970, 1995 and 2003.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Chocolate Room”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Chocolate Room primary sources, Chocolate Room archive and Chocolate research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Chocolate Room”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Chocolate Room” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.