Tom Wesselmann Art

Created in 1981, this color screenprint on wove paper is hand signed by Tom Wesselmann (Cincinnati, 1931 – New York City, 2004) in pencil in the lower right margin and is numbered fr...

Smoking Cigarette #1. Original color etching and soft-ground etching on Arches watercolor paper, 1991. Edition of 65 signed and numbered impressions on Arches paper. Tom Wesselmann is one of the biggest American pop artists today. Even he did not like being labeled a pop artist, it is hard to imagine that his artworks featuring consumer goods and assorted American icons would be considered anything but pop art. At first he was a follower of abstract expressionism, but later switched to figurative art. In the late ‘50s he produced a series of small format collages, which became the basis for his future nudes and still lifes. In 1963 he married Claire Selley, his most faithful model from the series ‘Great American Nude’, and other nudes. In his search for creative styles he began to produce three-dimensional works with the technique of assemblage, using everyday objects such as telephones and televisions. In the ‘Still Life’ series he used advertising techniques and complemented traditional still lifes with mass consumption items taken directly from ads. In the ‘80s he began to work with metals and produced original works with a special laser. Over the next two decades he returned to large formats and the theme of the nude from the ‘60s, rounding off his career with The ‘Sunset Nude’ series, inspired by the works of Matisse. Tom Wesselmann went down in history as one of the greatest representatives of pop art due to his exciting commercial images, his aggressive intervention in three dimensions, his choice of trivial motifs, their monumentalisation, the use of stereotypes as a basis for his work and the choice of strong colors. Wesselmann’s aesthetic usage of everyday objects was done not in criticism of American consumerism and culture, but as a way to render Classical genres modern so as to explore the gap between art and contemporary life. The ‘Smoker Study’ series of works would become one of the most recurrent themes in the 1970s, which he developed throughout the rest of his artistic life. Characterized by the flattening and simplification of everyday subjects, here a single cigarette releases a precise stream of smoke. This burning cigarette on the first sight looks like just a banal representation of an everyday object, but it is more than this. Even cigarettes were one of the major consumer products, which we could previously often seen in different commercials with handsome men and pretty ladies, it also represents an allusion to the lips as an eroticized object...

Study for Drop-out Nude with Pink Stockings. Original colored pencil on Tracing Paper, 1984. Tom Wesselmann is one of the biggest American pop artists today. Even he did not like bei...

Blue Socks. Original color liquitex on Ragboard, 1968. Tom Wesselmann is one of the biggest American pop artists today. Even he did not like being labeled a pop artist, it is hard to...

Hedy. Original color steelcut (alkyd oil paint on cut-out steel), 1985/90. Edition of 25 signed and numbered impressions on cut-out steel. Tom Wesselmann is one of the biggest American pop artists today. Even he did not like being labeled a pop artist, it is hard to imagine that his artworks featuring consumer goods and assorted American icons would be considered anything but pop art. At first he was a follower of abstract expressionism, but later switched to figurative art. In the late ‘50s he produced a series of small format collages, which became the basis for his future nudes and still life. In 1963 he married Claire Selley, his most faithful model from the series Great American Nude, and other nudes. In his search for creative styles he began to produce three-dimensional works with the technique of assemblage, using everyday objects such as telephones and televisions. In the Still Life series he used advertising techniques and complemented traditional still life with mass consumption items taken directly from ads. In the ‘80s he began to work with metals and produced original works with a special laser. Over the next two decades he returned to large formats and the theme of the nude from the ‘60s, rounding off his career with The Sunset Nude series, inspired by the works of Matisse. Tom Wesselmann went down in history as one of the greatest representatives of pop art due to his exciting commercial images, his aggressive intervention in three dimensions, his choice of trivial motifs, their monumentalization, the use of stereotypes as a basis for his work and the choice of strong colors. Wesselmann’s aesthetic usage of everyday objects was done not in criticism of American consumerism and culture, but as a way to render Classical genres modern so as to explore the gap between art and contemporary life. This 'steel drawing' or doodle, as he called artwork from that series, shows Wesselmann's skills and innovation in terms of technology and media. ‘My original idea, that began the cut-outs, was to preserve the process and immediacy of my drawings from life, complete with the false lines and errors, and realize them in steel. It was as though the lines had just been miraculously drawn in steel. At the same time, I pursued another idea – to make tiny, very fast doodles, which I would then enlarge in cut-out metal, preserving the feel and spontaneity of the tiny sketch…' - said the artist. This laying model...

Study for Bedroom Blonde with Lavender Wallpaper. Original color pencil and liquitex on Ragboard, 1985. Tom Wesselmann is one of the biggest Americ...

Beautiful Bedroom Kate. Original color silkscreen on Museum Board, 1998. Edition of 90 signed and numbered impressions on Museum Board. Tom Wesselma...

Monica Cross-legged with Beads. Original color steelcut (alkyd oil paint on cut-out steel), 1985/2004. Edition of 25 signed and numbered impressions on cut-out steel. Tom Wesselmann ...

"Smoker #21" is a shaped canvas painting by Pop artist Tom Wesselmann. The painting is signed and dated on the overturn edge, "Wesselmann 75". Tom Wesselmann was born in Cincinnati Ohio on February 23 1931. He attended college from 1945-1951, first at the Hiram College in Ohio and then the University of Cincinnati, where he majored in psychology. He was drafted during the Korean War in 1952, and it was during this time that Wesselmann did his first cartoons. After he was discharged and had finished in degree in psychology, Wesselmann began to study drawing at the Art Academy of Cincinnati. He sold his first cartoon strips to two magazines, 1000 Jokes and True. In 1956, he was accepted to Cooper Union in New York and he continued his studies there. It was while he was studying in New York, specifically on a trip to the MoMA that Wesselmann became inspired by Robert Motherwell and Willem de Kooning. In 1958, a landscape painting trip to Cooper Union’s Green Camp in New Jersey brought him to the realization that he could make his career in painting, rather than cartooning. After graduation, Wesselmann became one of the founding members of the Judson Gallery, along with Marc Ratliff and Jim Dine. Wesselmann also began to teach art at a public school in Brooklyn and later at the High School of Art and Design. In 1961, Wesselmann began the series that would bring him to the attention of the art world, Great American Nude. After a dream concerning the phrase “red, white and blue”, Wesselmann decided to limit himself to a palette of only those colors (including colors like gold and khaki that are associated with patriotic motifs). This series incorporated representational images along the same patriotic theme, including American landscape photographs and portraits of the founding fathers. Wesselmann often collaged these images from magazines and discarded posters which required him to work in a much larger format than he was used to. As his works became larger and larger he approached advertisers directly to acquire billboards. Wesselmann’s first solo show was held in 1961 at Tanager Gallery. In 1962, Richard Bellamy gave him a one man exhibition at the Green Gallery. In 1962, Wesselmann participated in the group exhibition “New Realists” at the Sidney Janis Gallery and kicked off his international career. In that same year his first pieces with the title of Still Life, came about. In these works, Wesselmann concentrated on the juxtaposition of different elements, i.e. a cigarette ad...

Tom Wesselmann (1931, Cincinnati, Ohio – 2004, New York) Monica Legs Crossed, 1990 Signed in pencil and numbered PP 2/3 A printer's proof, aside from the edition of 26 Published by ...

Tom Wesselmann (1931, Cincinnati, Ohio – 2004, New York) Monica Reclining Towards Right, 1990 Signed in pencil and numbered PP 2/3. A printer's proof, aside from the edition of 26....

Rosemary with Socks, Arms outstretched. Original color steelcut (alkyd oil paint on cut-out steel), 1989/90. Edition of 25 signed and numbered impres...

Big Bedroom Blonde. Original color silkscreen on wove paper, 1997. Edition of 75 signed and numbered impressions on wove paper. Tom Wesselmann is one of the biggest American pop arti...

Tom Wesselmann (1931, Cincinnati, Ohio – 2004, New York) Rosemary Sitting Up Straight, 1990 Signed in pencil and numbered PP 2/3. A printer's proof, aside from the edition of 26. ...

"Seascape" (Foot) 1967 Screenprinted Vacuum-Formed Plexiglass In Colors Scratch-Signed, Dated and Numbered 92/101 14 1/4 x 12 15/16 x 3/4 in (36.1 x 32.9 x 2 cm). Known for his Pop-...

TECHNICAL INFORMATION Tom Wesselmann Rosemary Lying on One Elbow 1989 Laser-cut steel with alkyd oil 9 x 14 in. Edition of 45 Signed, titled, dated and numbered on verso Accompanie...

Tom Wesselmann, (1931-2004) "Still Life" (Stilleben) 1988 Porcelain with Polychrome Ed. 169/299 Porcelain Size: approx. 13 x 14 inches Overall Size: approx. 18 3/4 x 20 inches Foun...

Signed and numbered in pencil

Screenprint in 18 colours on Archivart 100% rag 4-ply Museum Board Signed and numbered in pencil with blindstamp

Lithograph on Rives BFK White paper Signed and numbered

Blonde Vivienne, 1985-86 Transfer-printed service plate in colors. Diameter: 12 in. (30.5 cm). published by Rosenthal, Limited Edition, Germany

Tom Wesselmann was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on February 23, 1931. He attended Hiram College in Ohio from 1949 to 1951 before entering the University of Cincinnati. In 1953 his studi...