Lot details

Pop art composition (wrist-watch).

Mixed media on paper. Size of the present painting is 29 x 20 centimeters. Signature Oldenburg, inscribed in initials CO., can be found in the lower margin of the painting. This artwork is also marked on reverse by a previous collection mark (reference number in pencil and stamp). The work is in very good condition for its age, colors create the desired contrast, are vivid and are well preserved, but we also notice yellowing of the paper. The artwork is described and offered as unique artwork, in manner of the artist, sold as-is. For more details and condition of the artwork please view the images.

With his saggy hamburgers, colossal clothespins and giant three-way plugs, Claes Oldenburg has been the reigning king of Pop sculpture since the early 1960s, back when New York was still truly gritty. In 1961 he rented a storefront, called it The Store, and stocked it with stuffed, crudely-painted forms resembling diner food, cheap clothing, and other mass-manufactured items that stupefied an audience accustomed to the austere, non-representational forms in Abstract Expressionist sculpture. These so-called "soft-sculptures" are now hailed as the first sculptural expressions in Pop art. While his work has continued to grow in scale and ambition, his focus has remained steadfast: everyday items are presented on a magnified scale that reverses the traditional relationship between viewer and object. Oldenburg shrinks the spectator into a bite-sized morsel that might be devoured along with a giant piece of cake, or crushed by an enormous ice pack. His work shows us just how small we are, and serves as a vehicle for his smart, witty, critical, and often wickedly funny insights on American culture over the past half-century.

Oldenburg's objects, no matter how apparently insignificant in themselves, become expressive entities, almost like characters in a stage play.