One of the original Pop artists, Claes Oldenburg was born in Stockholm. The son of a Swedish diplomat, he spent his early years in Stockholm and Oslo until the family moved to Chicago in 1937.
Oldenburg attended Yale University, then returned to Chicago, where he worked for a newspaper and also attended drawing classes at the Art Institute. He moved to New York in 1956.
Oldenburg’s early art in New York were works of urban realism in cardboard and paper that were influenced by the work of Dubuffet and the New Realists, and were seen as a brutal response to society. In 1961 Oldenburg rented a storefront on the Lower East Side and sold brightly painted plaster objects as well as three-dimensional and wall reliefs based on hamburgers, pastries, men's and women's clothing, and other commodities. The signature soft sculptures followed, objects of commonplace household objects made of vinyl or canvas stuffed with kapok. These pieces transformed the medium — the soft sculptures are intended to be sensual experiences and commentary on our material world of objects and our relationship to them.
In 1965, still working in vinyl, plaster and cardboard, Oldenburg began making large works termed “Colossal Monuments,” which are large public sculptures with public and private meanings. In the 1970s, Oldenburg was fabricating large-scale works in durable materials such as steel, and working with Coosje van Bruggen, he had received many such public commissions in the United States and Europe.
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(Biography provided by Art Commerce)
| Average Sold Price |
| $496 |
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"All Kinds of Love" original lithograph
By Claes Oldenburg
Located in Henderson, NV
Medium: original lithograph. Printed in 1964 and published by Eberhard Kornfeld for the 1 Cent Life portfolio in an edition of 2000. Image size: 10 1/2 x 10 inches (255 x 250 mm). S...
Lithograph
$1,500
H 36 in W 27.5 in
Figure and Phallus: erotic nude drawing of woman in heels in rainbow of colors
By Claes Oldenburg
Located in New York, NY
This etching features a nude woman in high heels. Whipping her head to the left, she gazes intently past the viewer through a wild tangle of tresses. A sunhat with a bow nearly floats off her head, a tongue-in-cheek nod to modesty. Taking a wide stance, she straddles a comically large phallus, which springs up eagerly from the ground like a plant. Unusually, this etching was drawn directly onto the plate from the artist’s imagination and not from a life model. This spontaneity is visible around the woman’s bust and arms, where Oldenburg sketched several variations of her anatomy, giving the impression of a figure in movement. Beside her left breast, Oldenburg extends this halo of lines by cheekily doodling a small, floating phallus. Paper 36 x 27.5 in. / 91.4 x 69.2 cm. Plate 23.5 x 17.7 in. / 59.7 x 45.1 cm. Etching in one color on white, thick, slightly textured Wookey Hole handmade paper watermarked with the artist’s signature. Signed by the artist and dated 1975 lower right in pencil. The edition of 60 includes ten prints in each of six different ink colors: Indigo blue, vermilion, mauve, burnt sienna, astral blue, and yellow-ochre. A copy of each color is available: this listing is for one copy in the color of your choice. As recorded in the artist’s unpublished notes: “In 1974 an ambitious project for a suite of large-scale etchings was hatched with Paul Cornwall-Jones, for production by Maurice Payne in Petersburg Press’s new Pembroke studios in London. The project would consist of meticulous transcriptions of a certain group of drawings...
Etching
$1,200
H 31 in W 37.6 in
Four Figures and a Head, on Giant Phallus by Claes Oldenburg erotic nude scene
By Claes Oldenburg
Located in New York, NY
This sensuous and playful scene is characteristic of Oldenburg’s printmaking ouevre: a veritable heap of women displaying various expressions of joy and come-hither coquettishness. T...
Etching
Typewriter Eraser
By Claes Oldenburg
Located in Greenwich, CT
Claes Oldenburg, Swedish, 1929–2022 title : Typewriter Eraser, 1970 Offset Lithograph on Rives BFK Paper Hand-signed by artist, dated and numbered Edition 131/250 + 5 AP Publisher ...
Lithograph
$1,125
H 37.75 in W 41.75 in
Study for a Monument in the Heroic/Erotic/Academic/Comic Style Claes Oldenburg
By Claes Oldenburg
Located in New York, NY
This sensuous and playful scene is characteristic of Oldenburg’s printmaking ouevre: a veritable heap of women displaying various expressions of ecstasy and repose. The loose sketches were drawn directly onto the plate by the artist, a master draftsman whose erotic etchings are largely unknown. The composition is based on the drawing: Clinical Study, Towards a Heroic-Erotic Monument in the Academic/Comic Style, 1965, ball-point pen on paper, 20 x 40 in. / 60 x 101.6 cm. *This print was etched in six gorgeous inks, each in an edition of ten: take your pick of color!* Oldenburg had an interest in imaginary monuments: he famously conceptualized works such as “Ball”, an unbuilt monument conceived of in 1967 which imagined two ballcocks – the round mechanism in a toilet tank...
Etching
$22,500
H 40.25 in W 33.25 in D 2 in
Study for Tongue Cloud Over London with Thames Ball (framed original drawing)
By Claes Oldenburg
Located in New York, NY
This gestural Claes Oldenburg drawing features subdued watercolor hues of green, orange, brown and grey. Pictured is “Ball”, an unbuilt monument conceived of in 1967 with Oldenburg’s wife Coosje van Bruggen. They imagined two ballcocks – the round mechanism in a toilet tank...
Watercolor, Pencil
Soft Alphabet
By Claes Oldenburg
Located in London, GB
Complete set of 41 sewn cotton, sand-filled bags, contained in a wooden box with screenprinted box lid, 1978, signed and numbered from the edition 13 of 16 (there are also 2 artist’s...
Cotton, Wood
$1,695
H 25.5 in W 22 in
Claes Oldenburg Abstract Lithograph, Signed, 1997, Notebook Torn in Half
By Claes Oldenburg
Located in Washington, DC
Artist: Claes Oldenburg Title: Notebook Torn in Half Medium: Lithograph Date: 1997 Edition: 97/97 Sheet Size: 25 1/2" x 22" Signature: Signed and numbered in pencil
Lithograph
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| $496 |
Average sold price of items in the past 12 months |
| $125-$1,128 |
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