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Claes Oldenburg

American, Swedish, 1929-2022

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)

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$942
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Parade of Women, from Deluxe, Hand Signed, 85/100 1 Cent Life Portfolio, Framed
By Claes Oldenburg
Located in New York, NY
Claes Oldenburg Parade of Women from the Deluxe hand signed edition of 1 Cent Life Portfolio (Acquired from the Estate of Robert Indiana), 1964 Color lithograph on wove paper Published by E.W. Kornfeld, Germany, Written by Walasse Ting, Edited by Sam Francis Hand-signed by Claes Oldenburg on the lower right front; numbered 85/100 on the colophon page a copy of which is affixed to the back of the frame -see photo Frame included: elegantly floated and framed in hand made museum frame with UV plexiglass, and colophon page with unique edition number affixed to the back. (see photos) This hand signed work is from the Deluxe hand signed edition of only 100 - not to be confused from the unsigned edition of 2000. (None of the works from the edition of 2000 were ever signed by Oldenburg.) Hand signed editions are rarely if ever seen on the marketplace. This original lithograph, splayed across two pages, is from the Deluxe edition of the legendary 1 Cent Life Portfolio, one of the most important and celebrated artistic collaborations of the 1960s. Chinese American artist and writer Walasse Ting, in collaboration with Sam Francis, assembled a group of the most significant Pop and Abstract Expressionist artists in America, including Pop Artist Claes Oldenburg, along with the European COBRA artists to create the definitive artistic portfolio, with text by Walasse Ting. The Deluxe edition, which features hand signed prints was published in a limited edition of only 100. This is one of them. Of the 100, editions numbered 60-100, or 40 portfolios, were reserved exclusively for Artists & Collaborators. This hand signed Claes Oldenburg lithograph...
Category

1960s Pop Art Claes Oldenburg

Materials

Lithograph

Parade of Women, from One Cent Life
By Claes Oldenburg
Located in Austin, TX
Artist: Claes Oldenburg Title: Parade of Women Series: One Cent Life Year: 1964 Medium: Lithograph Initialled in Plate, lower right Dimensions: 16.25 x 23" Provenance: Private Collec...
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1960s Pop Art Claes Oldenburg

Materials

Lithograph

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...
Category

1970s Pop Art Claes Oldenburg

Materials

Etching

Fagends Carved in Rock, De-Accessioned from the Denver Art Museum
By Claes Oldenburg
Located in New York, NY
Claes Oldenburg Fagends Carved in Rock, De-Accessioned from the Denver Art Museum (137, Axsom and Platzker), 1975 Offset Lithograph. Hand signed and numbere...
Category

1970s Pop Art Claes Oldenburg

Materials

Offset, Graphite, Lithograph

Claes Oldenburg, Voting Button in a Landscape (Axsom 187) Pop Art silkscreen S/N
By Claes Oldenburg
Located in New York, NY
Claes Oldenburg Voting Button in a Landscape (Axsom 187), 1984 6 Color screenprint on Essex Rag paper Pencil signed and numbered 51/150 on the front Printed by Maurel Studios, New Yo...
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1980s Pop Art Claes Oldenburg

Materials

Rag Paper, Screen

Notes in hand (London 1966)
By Claes Oldenburg
Located in Milano, IT
Offset lithograph 14.8 x 10.4 cm (plate) 25 x 20 cm (paper) cm. 52 x 47 (Cornice) Pencil seal on lower right margin "CO," print run at lower left: 4/100. On verso, on a backing board...
Category

18th Century and Earlier Pop Art Claes Oldenburg

Materials

Lithograph

Notes in hand
By Claes Oldenburg
Located in Milano, IT
Offset lithograph 14.8 x 10.4 cm (plate) 25 x 20 cm (paper) cm. 52 x 47 (Cornice) Pencil seal on lower right margin "CO," print run at lower left: 4/100. On verso, on a backing board...
Category

18th Century and Earlier Pop Art Claes Oldenburg

Materials

Lithograph

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 sketche...
Category

1970s Modern Claes Oldenburg

Materials

Etching

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Claes Oldenburg art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Claes Oldenburg art available for sale on 1stDibs. If you’re browsing the collection of art to introduce a pop of color in a neutral corner of your living room or bedroom, you can find work that includes elements of orange, blue, purple and other colors. You can also browse by medium to find art by Claes Oldenburg in lithograph, etching, paper and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the Pop Art style. Not every interior allows for large Claes Oldenburg art, so small editions measuring 6 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Albert Al Hirschfeld, Larry Rivers, and Romare Bearden. Claes Oldenburg art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $150 and tops out at $120,000, while the average work can sell for $2,800.

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