Claes Oldenburg Works

Claes Oldenburg Soft Drum Set, 1972 Lithograph 29 1/2h x 41w in

Claes Oldenburg - Color lithograph on Arches, 1990. 255x255 mm; 10 1/8x10 1/8 inches, full margins. Initialed and numbered 164/250 in pencil, lower margin.

Claes Oldenburg, Soft Screw in a Waterfall, 1976, Lithograph, signed and numbered 31/35, 67 1/4" x 45"

Claes Oldenburg - Color offset lithograph on Rives BFK, 1970. 480x205 mm; 19x8 1/8 inches, full margins. Initialed, dated and numbered 147/250 in pencil, lower margin. Printed by Imprimeries Réunies, Lausanne.

Claes Oldenburg - Colossal structure in the form of a Clothespin - compared to Brancusi's Kiss 1972 screenprint in colors on Arches image: 21½ h × 13¾ w in (55 × 35 cm) sight: 24 h × 16 w in (61 × 41 cm)

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.

Claes Oldenburg

1929 - 2022

Seraphin Gallery, Philadelphia, PA